Positives to living in Taiwan vs your home country

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
21

Heh, all this time I thought you were a man.

22

Coming from Canada, my fav thing about Taiwan is, no snow!
:big-grin:
I can ride my bike all over the place all year round.

And the MRT is awesome. I love the go-go cards!

My biggest disappointment is coming to a tropical island
Called Formosa, and you can’t find a decent beach, and if you do, they won’t let you go in the water!

23

I split my time between urban Taiwan and rural Japan and it’s the perfect balance.

1 Like
24

Having an amazing subway and public transport system is one of the biggest positives compared to the home country.
Much lower rent taxes and insurance is another significant positive.
Warmer winters is also nice.
Great Asian food and fruit rocks.
Stuff generally gets done on time and no strikes.

25

Another thing I experienced today. My fridge’s ice maker was broken. I called in this morning and they said they would come at 330. Came at 315 the same day.
In the US, if anything was broken, be prepared to wait a week and given a time window of like between 2-5pm and have the guy come at 6. Only to have the repair guy tell you he doesn’t have the part and has to order another one waiting another couple days. And then they hit you with the bill at the end the 3x what it would be here.

The repair guy came, didn’t have the part, went and got it and is coming back. This is unfathomable in the US.

3 Likes
26

Take out repair guy and add in cable guy to your post.

Seriously, the time frame repairmen give you in the states is ridiculous.

27

isn’t that a bit over the top?

28

Not if he makes it look like an unfortunate crap wiring-related accident.
Shit happens, man.

29

Um, no trump.

2 Likes
30

Dang.

31

Meant to say “substitute” repair guy and put in cable guy to the post. They have the same habits.

32

He knows. He’s just yanking your chain.

hashtag cheapthrills

33

And this whole time I thought I had gone insane

34

That is one unfortunate aspect of the USA. There are too many blowhards, and they exist because there is a high tolerance for them. Individuality is prized so highly that people can get away with being more confident than their knowledge/skills merit.

Safety in Taiwan versus the USA is a huge plus in living here.

Cheaper medicine by far.

Public transport and Ubike are great.

But I like the system of tipping in the States. You get better service. Though I’ve heard customer service has gone downhill since the economic crisis.

35

Taiwan:

Affordable cost of living.
Excellent public transportation.
Universal healthcare.
Minimal amounts of religious nuttery affecting public policy.
No guns.
Cheap, unlimited Internet.
Proximity to Southeast Asia and Pacific islands.
Fee for withdrawing money from an ATM of a bank different from the one that issued your card: just NT$5.
Sales tax is included in the price of the item you buy. What you see is what you pay. (In the US, they’re able to accomplish this amazing feat only with gasoline.)
I can walk clear across town through sketchy-looking alleys and under bridges at 3:00 a.m. and not worry about being mugged.

US:

Availability of stuff that can’t be bought here, like Tums, shoes that fit my feet, and mega-bottles of ibuprofen.
Family.
Cleaner air (for the time being…)
Water that can be drunk straight from the tap.
Proximity to Latin America and the Caribbean.

1 Like
36

Pros
Don’t have to live w racist white people (not saying all white people are racist, the people who were racist to me were white, also not saying asian people can’t be racist)
Don’t have to talk about sports
Clean and convenient Subway/bus/ubike
Nicer people - I get invited to events without asking
Safety
Don’t have to speak English anymore (I only type in English on here cause English is the official language on here)

Cons:
Air is less fresh
I miss bagels and pizza that isn’t italian style

37

[quote=“Jimmycrackcorn, post:34, topic:158475, full:true”]
That is one unfortunate aspect of the USA. There are too many blowhards, and they exist because there is a high tolerance for them.[/quote]
Taiwan has its fair share of blowhards: know-it-all company management types who don’t actually know what they’re talking about but demand respect and praise. The kind who think they’re English is better than that of native speakers, because they actually studied it in school.

1 Like
38

The kind who think they’re English is better than that of native speakers, because they actually studied it in school.

Ahem …

Isn’t their sum grammar equivalent of Po’s Law, where any post critiquing grammar invariably has a mistake of it’s own?

(And it’s entirely possible you were being sarcastic.)

39

I’ve heard it called “Skitt’s Law”.

These days, however, autocorrect is to blame for many typos. I’ve even had autocorrect change “its” to “it’s” when “its” is proper.

40

I don’t mind sport. I just hated how American football is talked about 24/7 7 days a week when they play one game a week!!! And only 12 games a year.