SSAB - May 26, 2026

Steve, if you’re not going to do cultural stuff, why are you still in Taiwan?

Off to the museum today, how as it? Cheap!

Fingerprints, apostille and visa applications, how is it going?

How is the hostel? YOUNG! Lots of recent grads taking a few weeks off before finding or starting a job. They talk about going to all the places I’ve been!

And an interview with another expat, Russ, from the USA! Hear what level of Chinese he’s at already! What was his key to success?? The cycling book: https://onsgo.org/a-cyclists-guide-to-taiwan-is-out-now/

Donate to the show! PayPal link below!

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Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

And on Notion: https://stevensirski.notion.site/SSAB-The-Audio-Blog-of-Steven-Sirski-00acfe344e164bfab191d3cddf6952b2?pvs=4

Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com

Language vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog

Google Stock Tracker Sheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbpCC2cieuq23zYyr0-WznPRogVX0aS86BF4_vPvgMY/edit?usp=sharing

Hope you have a great one!!

00:00 Taipei Trip Setup

01:37 Fingerprint Job Paperwork

02:26 Apostille Explained Frustrations

04:30 Why Taiwan Content Practice

07:41 Livestream Math Costs

09:38 Hostel People Stories

14:17 More Fingerprint Logistics

19:35 Museum Peace Park Visit

22:29 Gold Silver Tael Rabbit Hole

27:39 Teasing Russ Interview Topics

34:26 Meet Russ At The Bar

35:18 Russ APRC And Health Insurance

37:12 Russ Taiwan Timeline Return

39:22 Why Taiwan Geography Access

40:53 Why Taiwan Happened

42:04 Mandarin Accents Talk

42:38 Residency And Citizenship

43:38 Taiwan Pay Reality Check

45:52 Stay Or Return US

47:27 Public Health To Data

48:28 Broken Systems And Faxes

50:17 Coding Stack And Workarounds

52:08 Taiwan Work Culture Shock

54:24 Freelance Clients In AI Era

56:12 Vibe Coding Security Risks

01:00:26 Taipei Itinerary And Hikes

01:03:01 Beyond Taipei Day Trips

01:03:14 Taroko to Hehuanshan

01:03:51 Tainan Colonial History

01:04:03 Outer Islands Overview

01:04:36 Cold War Bunkers

01:04:57 Island Defense Geography

01:06:27 Exploring Tunnels Yourself

01:07:24 Beating Taipei Humidity

01:08:10 Arcaded Sidewalk Architecture

01:09:11 City Life vs Outdoors

01:10:35 Driving Taiwan vs China

01:11:56 Cycling Around Taiwan

01:14:35 Bike Routes and Road Safety

01:16:55 Weather and Solo Touring

01:18:07 Spiders Snakes and Strays

01:20:00 Deer Bears and Wild Pigs

01:22:13 Dogs and Safety

01:22:26 Taiwan Bucket List

01:23:00 US Job Logistics

01:24:20 Chinese Level Check

01:25:11 Why Chinese Gets Rusty

01:26:50 Learning Journey Abroad

01:29:20 Motivation and Tones

01:32:04 Study Resources and Hanzi

01:34:48 Favorite Words and Slang

01:37:05 Taiwanese Language Basics

01:39:21 Bopomofo vs Pinyin

01:42:03 Wrap Up and Thanks