[quote=“mesheel”]I couldn’t agree more. But sometimes I think it’s the proudness of having a local girlfriend, that makes these guys unfriendly and arrogant. It’s like they want to show off with her. They seem to be trying to say, look at how beautiful my girlfriend is, listen how good I speak Chinese, guess how long I’ve been here and how good I fit in. [/quote]In my case it’s nothing like that, I’m just an unfriendly git.
Besides, if you’re with a pschyo xiaojie, is it safe to smile at someone else ?
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”][quote=“mesheel”]I couldn’t agree more. But sometimes I think it’s the proudness of having a local girlfriend, that makes these guys unfriendly and arrogant. It’s like they want to show off with her. They seem to be trying to say, look at how beautiful my girlfriend is, listen how good I speak Chinese, guess how long I’ve been here and how good I fit in. [/quote]In my case it’s nothing like that, I’m just an unfriendly git.
Besides, if you’re with a pschyo xiaojie, is it safe to smile at someone else ?[/quote]
Then how do you deal with it, Matthew. Being a famous folk singer / environmentalist / wolf hugger, I’m sure you’re being approached by attractive women and men all the time.
I try to be friendly to anybody who approaches me, but not that many do. Guess I’d better change my deodorant.
This is probably the most romantic thing I’ve read on this forum, in a tigerman sort of way. I’d accuse him of being drunk, but there aren’t any typos in his message.[/quote]
I’m the same, Tigerman (except, of course, that I’m still devilishly handsome). I don’t understand this preoccupation with good looking/ugly, either, but it really isn’t very pleasant. I can only presume that the people making these judgements will be the ones who dump their wives/husbands when they get old, flabby, wrinkled and ugly (and they WILL). Sad.
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]
Besides, if you’re with a pschyo xiaojie, is it safe to smile at someone else ?[/quote]
Matthew! You mean you’d look the other way if I passed you on the street rather than giving me a big fluffy hug in front of your xiaojie?? 
A potentially racist observation of my own here: most of the pointing, staring, spitting, standing still on the escalators types seem to be talking Taiwanese rather than Chinese. And don’t even get me started on what it’s like being stuck behind one of those people at supermarket check-outs.
Are the Mandarin-speakers genuinely more sophisticated?[/quote]
I think those people who have such great difficulties with people looking at them should lobby the city government to designate one car on each MRT train as foreigner only. They should also ask for that car to carry free tissues for those who are crying after being stared at on their way to it.[/quote]
Gee willikers, Jimmy…the view from up on that high horse must be nice. I am so jealous at your skills of living in oblivity. 
Funny, most of the foreign guys I see seem to hook up with ordinary, average-looking Taiwanese gals. The real beauties are always latched onto a Taiwanese boyfriend. But that may be because I’m in Tainan, not Taipei - in Taipei there are hordes more Taiwanese gals to choose from who are willing to go with a waiguo guy. There’s an entire “foreigner groupie” subculture in Taipei that doesn’t really exist in other parts of Taiwan. Really, most of the white guys walking around with their Chinese girlfriends in these parts, the girls are nothing special to look at. Like I said, the real beauties have already been snapped up by the local guys, from what I can see.
What I was trying to say is, that I guess, foreigners and Taiwanese have a different idea of beauty. Which actually is a good thing, like this every Jack will find his Jill.
A potentially racist observation of my own here: most of the pointing, staring, spitting, standing still on the escalators types seem to be talking Taiwanese rather than Chinese. And don’t even get me started on what it’s like being stuck behind one of those people at supermarket check-outs.
Are the Mandarin-speakers genuinely more sophisticated?[/quote]
I think those people who have such great difficulties with people looking at them should lobby the city government to designate one car on each MRT train as foreigner only. They should also ask for that car to carry free tissues for those who are crying after being stared at on their way to it.[/quote]
Gee willikers, Jimmy…the view from up on that high horse must be nice. I am so jealous at your skills of living in oblivity. [/quote]
Gee williker, Tommy, it ain’t no high horse, it comes from observations at ground zero. I’m no fan at being stared at either. But I’m even less a fan of continual whining.
What a strange attitude. My wife is the most beautiful woman I know and anyone who disagrees with me must be … well, I don’t give a shit what other people think. She’s my life partner, not some kind of fucking trophy or walking, talking fashion accoutrement. Some people seem to have really immature opinions when it comes to the opposite sex.
What a strange attitude. My wife is the most beautiful woman I know and anyone who disagrees with me must be … well, I don’t give a shit what other people think. She’s my life partner, not some kind of fucking trophy or walking, talking fashion accoutrement. Some people seem to have really immature opinions when it comes to the opposite sex.[/quote]
Wait… my wife is the most beautiful woman I know… I hope it’s not the same woman. 
Beauty is fading but a woman with a brain is to be praised.
My sentiments exactly. 
Well, that’s hardly the type of opinion that comes across from most of the foreign men dating local women I meet is, nor here at Forumosa judging from the numerous posts of guys here bragging about what a babe their girlfriend/wife is. Or how many Taiwanese women they’ve gotten into the sack. It’s a competition to many guys here.
[quote]Or how many Taiwanese women they’ve gotten into the sack. It’s a competition to many guys here.
[/quote]
Why include “Taiwanese?” Why not just “women?” Shagging lots of women is a competition to many guys everywhere. All that means is there’s a lot of young, callow blokes around. Usually they wise up as they mature.
It’s not just young blokes. Perhaps the biggest braggart I’ve met here so far was an elderly gent pushing 70.
Just an hypothesis as to why some of us foreigners ended up married to beautiful, self-confident women:
Pretty women can often be self-confident, more independent. Self-confident women, conversely, can often pull off an aggregate sexiness unthinkable for sheeplike women – bootstrapping themselves into higher categories of attractiveness beyond merely their physical looks.
Self-confident women are willing to make up their own minds about things, are more open to evaluating new things.
In a relatively homogeneous society (“we have all kinds of Chinese here!”), making a long-term commitment with a person from outside that society requires a more-open mind.
Therefore, the pool of women willing to make a go of a long-term relationship with a foreigner is going to include a disproportionate number of confident women – a pool that, in turn, will has a disproportionate number of attractive women.
Does this hypothesis get to advance to being a theory? Does it work out for Taiwanese men willing to get into long-term relationships with foreign women?
I assume you’re not suggesting that “competition” is generally the motive for “shagging lots of women”, are you Sandman? The emperors of China could hardly be considered as competing with anyone when they enjoyed the favours of the thousands of beautiful women and girls in their harems. Nor could any of the other countless potentates at all times in history and in all parts of the world who have taken advantage of their absolute power to enjoy indulging their instinctive desire to bed unlimited numbers of beautiful women. Most men will follow their example if they have the opportunity to do so, simply because we happen to have been genetically primed to derive tremendous pleasure from having sex with lots of different attractive females. That urge might be overriden by adherence to certain strongly held values or beliefs, or falling in love with a particular woman, but it’s always there in our nature. And while promiscuity may in some situations be spurred by a desire to compete, I’d say that’s the exception rather than the rule.
In earlier years, when I was still indulging in a modest degree of promiscuity (before I settled down to a life of fidelity with my wife-to-be), I wasn’t trying to compete with anyone else, but just enjoying myself as best I could. I’m sure most fellows are more or less the same. Wasn’t that so with you as well, in those more youthful philandering days at which you’ve hinted in several of your posts?
That’s why I said they usually wise up – even the lascivious Omni, if his post above is to believed . Some men, alas, remain pricks all their lives, but they’re by no means confined to foreigners in Taiwan. You must have led a sheltered life.
Ah, but … but that was different! I was merely distributing my largesse for the benefit of the greater good. Erm … yes, that’s it. That’s what it was.
No, my real thrust was at the whole “foreigners in Taiwan” thing, as if such behaviour was in some way different from male behaviour elsewhere.
And the bragging part of it as mentioned by Mod Lang – that’s pretty lacking in class, wouldn’t you say? But again, far from limited to foreigners in Taiwan.