Jimmy Hunt, An Australian Teacher In Hsinchu, Taiwan

Meet Jimmy Hunt, an Australian teacher who has been teaching at a Reach To Teach school in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Jimmy is a young and adventurous guy with a real thirst to see the world. He has explored a great deal of South East Asia, South America, New Zealand and the USA, and he has recently arrived in Taiwan.

1. Please tell us a little about yourself.

I’m from a small-ish town in Australia where I was managing a semi-pro basketball team before coming to Taiwan.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting paid to watch basketball, but being accountable for budgets, sponsorship sales, and 30 other people took away from the enjoyment so I’m loving the lower stress levels I have with my new job.

2. How have you enjoyed teaching in Taiwan to date?

Teaching has been awesome, and so has my school. Native English speakers here are used more for verbal activities than written, which means more fun, and less planning and marking. My school provides lunch and snacks, a great timetable with no weekends, and the local teachers are really friendly and helpful.

3. What are your first impressions about Taiwan?

There is very little English spoken in Hsinchu, but other than that it’s reasonably similar to Australia or America – it’s safe (actually much safer), modern (with some ancient buildings and traditions thrown in), and there’s great food. I was in Cambodia for a month beforehand and that was a big change, but it didn’t take me long to get settled. Reach To Teach were really helpful and told me everything I needed to know before arriving.

4. Do you have any advice for teachers who are new to Taiwan?

Learning to speak Chinese would be a huge benefit, but I’ve gotten by with very little so far. Google ‘language exchange’ in your city and you’ll make local friends quickly. People seem reserved at first but once you make a few friends you’ll see how nice the people here are.

5. Have you had the opportunity to travel much in Taiwan or in Asia?

I spent a week in Taipei before starting work and saw all the sights there, as well as taking a day trips to Pingxi and Yehliu. I’ve only been here a couple of weeks but soon I’ll start exploring the island on weekends, and when I have longer breaks I will definitely visit neighbouring countries. I’ve been

I’ve been to South East Asia before and absolutely loved it. You can read more about that (and the many other places I’ve visited) on my blog, jimmysworldtour.

6. Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about?

Taiwan is an easy country to live in for Westerners – it’s much safer and more modern that most Asian countries. Reach To Teach were great at helping me find and get the best job for me.

7. Do you have any favorite blogs or websites about Taiwan that you’d like to share with our readers?

I have a travel blog which I really only started for my own memories, but it does contain some good info on all of the places I’ve been around the world – jimmysworldtour.wordpress.com. The main sites I use for travel are Tripadvisor and Wikitravel, but you can find some great blogs which will tell you about people’s specific experiences from the Reach to Teach Community Blog.