thanks for the info about 'importing' your girlfriend, thats exactly what i needed to know.
another quick question for those expats living in Taiwan or elsewhere in Asia (or the Middle East)... are you somewhat of a "tight-knit" group when you're there? as in: is it easy to make friends once you're out there, get together for beers when you're off, meet other similar expats to hangout with... or is it an every man for himself kind of deal? making friends with locals is all good too of course, but sometimes its nice to have some type of social structure already set up when you arrive. at my airline here in the West its hard to meet other F/Os, we all have our own thing going on. when we go to work - its to work. then we go our own way and do our own thing after... maybe as an expat pilot its different?