MuchaM I live in Taiwan for about 13 years, married with a child and I experience mentioned things on a regular basis and I do not like it. If you have different problems here, voila’ I am sure you like to post about it sometimes.[/quote]
Then you need a vacation. Sorry but it is so blindingly obvious you are stressed out and getting worked out of shape by extremely trivial matters.
One thing to consider about people talking to you in English and acting awkward is that the education system has forced English on kids for the past 2 decades. Have a little compassion for the 7-Eleven clerk who literally may have been beaten for not learning English well in his bushiban or kindie class. If he sees you maybe he is reminded of getting whacked on the knuckles or the time his parents forced him to go and talk to the foreigner and he felt ashamed.
People use a little English because they get confused or think it is the right thing to say because some teacher in the past taught them this. Does this mean they disrespect you or simply don’t know how they should behave? I’d say the latter.
Stop assuming people are being disrespectful and maybe the problem will go away.
There are many things people may not like, but overall is there so much dislike over the other enjoyment you get from living here?
You don’t like the locals speaking to you in English. Just reply in Chinese that you are from Germany, and don’t speak English. Problem solved.
You are banished from your native lands and curses life, your spirit demoralized. Rennt Touduke, rennt
I am glad to get out of Taipei and go home. Home for me is in the mist covered mountains in Alishan where I am now. My guess is you still think of home as not being Taiwan. I am accepted here by pretty much everybody. I get more expats saying I cannot be accepted here because of their own personal views. Not one Taiwanese person has told me I am not accepted here.
I haven’t been back to my country of birth for longer than you have been in Taiwan, but it’s not my home.
My wife just came back from visiting Germany, she had a good time there, the people there are nice and polite, but she wouldn’t want to live there. Maybe you need a vacation back in Germany with some of your friends and relatives.
Let me ask YOU a question. Why does not feeling fully accepted get you so completely bent out of shape that you actually sound kind of hysterical. MM’s right. You need a vacation.
Trust me, this is less annoying than Asians who speak to you in their own dialect/language, then get critical when you don’t reciprocate (because you look Asian):
e.g.
Koreans who will get angry at me, and keep on speaking to me in Korean, even getting in my face, because they think I’m Korean and am refusing to speak Korean with them.
Cantonese who belittle me for not speaking Cantonese, because I look Chinese, but then somehow it’s ok if their Mandarin is crap. hello!!! Not all Chinese speak Canto…
Let me ask YOU a question. Why does not feeling fully accepted get you so completely bent out of shape that you actually sound kind of hysterical. MM’s right. You need a vacation.[/quote]
When I lived in Brunei I always felt I was a foreigner, and I was only going to be there for a short term. 2 years in Brunei. You would count the first year racking up how long you had stayed and the second year to how much time you had before you would leave.
I’ve always felt accepted here once I decided that this country is my home country, something I believe you won’t do in a hurry Touduke. Nothing wrong with that but it does shape your attitude to living here.
[quote=“Jack Burton”]1. Koreans who will get angry at me, and keep on speaking to me in Korean, even getting in my face, because they think I’m Korean and am refusing to speak Korean with them.
Cantonese who belittle me for not speaking Cantonese, because I look Chinese, but then somehow it’s ok if their Mandarin is crap. hello!!! Not all Chinese speak Canto…[/quote]
When I was in Korea with my wife Korean men would get angry just seeing a foreigner with an Asian lass. They seem to have a problem with that. I meet plenty of Asian Americans who can’t speak Chinese at all. They have it pretty tough here sometimes from people who expect that they should speak Chinese.
I have found that if I only speak in Mandarin to other non Chinese speaking expats here they get all riled up about it. I get Germans who speak to me in German because they say I look German. It’s just my fathers side of the family is German. Its really fun being in Germany with a German name not being able to speak a lot of German. Reading and writing it is easier.
[quote=“Satellite TV”]
I meet plenty of Asian Americans who can’t speak Chinese at all. They have it pretty tough here sometimes from people who expect that they should speak Chinese.[/quote]
Now THAT’s always entertaining. I love it when I have to tell the Taiwanese that the Asian person he’s directing all his comments at doesn’t have a clue what’s going on.
Now THAT’s always entertaining. I love it when I have to tell the Taiwanese that the Asian person he’s directing all his comments at doesn’t have a clue what’s going on.[/quote]
Yes I made the mistake of speaking to my Taipei neighbour in Mandarin, American of Chinese descent who couldn’t speak a word of Chinese. We just had a good laugh over it. Nothing to get excited about. Even I make the same mistake. When my wife and I vacaationed in Korea last year, we met quite a few Korean mothers with their children who were born and raised in the USA on vacation in Seoul. Those kids just refused to speak any Korean at all even though they could with their mothers. I asked the kids if they liked visiting Korea and got a resonding no. They didnt like Koreans at all they told me. :roflmao: :roflmao:
We also found that the Koreans would speak to us in English first if they could.
If I am willing to give up my Canadian passport, as ST, Omni, Poagao and others have, then this country will accept me as a full citizen with no restrictions. So yes, I feel this country is fully accepting of me becoming one of its own. That said, the process could be better, there is definitely xenophobia in the bureaucracy, and I disagree with having to give up my Canadian passport.
As for the people, what does that even mean? Do you literally mean each and every person? I wouldn’t expect that. Not here or anywhere. If you are German you are well aware that some groups will not accept immigrants even if they have been in the country for generations. Even in Canada the government didn’t accept Japanese as full citizens during WWII and many today still would not accept Chinese, Indians, Muslims, Greeks, Pakistanis, etc.
So no I don’t expect everyone will accept me. But I don’t need that. I do need a broad acceptance and an ease with having me join the society. And that I have found.
this is a remarkable statement, which will really make me think about my own position.[/quote]
Why is it remarkable? With very few exceptions, it seems to be pretty much the norm among most of the people who have lived here extensively. Otherwise, you know, they’d be elsewhere moaning about the natives THERE, no doubt.
I DO, though, find the strange case of touduke to be most unusual. He’s lived here a fairly long time, yet these still these things upset him to what seems a large extent. You have to question why? I’d have left years ago if I shared his perceptions. Maybe some people actually ENJOY feeling alienated?
this is a remarkable statement, which will really make me think about my own position.[/quote]
Why is it remarkable? With very few exceptions, it seems to be pretty much the norm among most of the people who have lived here extensively. Otherwise, you know, they’d be elsewhere moaning about the natives THERE, no doubt. [/quote]
If any locals want to talk to me about how native they are, I just advise them to speak to my wife, whose family have been in Taiwan several thousand years. Long before China was even a country ffs.
After all, if a foreign born person like me is entitled by citizenship to run for public office, or for president, which I can, then I’d say that’s really being accepted. Getting elected is another matter.
Even poor old Arnold S can’t run for president of the USA being foreign born. But look what happened the last time an Austrian became the leader of another country.
I have to ask if Touduke can accept me as just another Taiwanese? Or does he think I’'ll always be a foreigner?
thanks Mucha Man. Indeed remarkable and interesting. Please accept that people might struggle in different ways than you do.
Sandman, on a ‘hysterical scale’ between 1 and 10 I would place you firmly on 13 and give myself a 3. You are all over this board with often rather insulting and brash statements, I wonder if you enjoy posting here or if this is simply a routine to let steam off.
thanks Muzha Man. Indeed remarkable and interesting. Please accept that people might struggle in different ways than you do.
Sandman, on a ‘hysterical scale’ between 1 and 10 I would place you firmly on 13 and give myself a 3. You are all over this board with often rather insulting and brash statements, I wonder if you enjoy posting here or if this is simply a routine to let steam off.[/quote]
I don’t thinks it’s remarkable at all. People here are very accepting all who live here. There might be the odd one or two who are not. Have you ever been told to get out of Taiwan you’re not welcome here? I haven’t.
We have all gone through struggles here Touduke. We would go through the same struggles in our country of birth as well, except for maybe the language factor.
As for Sandman, you just don’t understand Sandman culture.
WTF are you wittering on about now? Pretty much everyone posting on these boards is well-aware that I’m quite possibly the nicest poster here and CERTAINLY the most well-balanced and well-endowed to boot. I’ll tell you right now that you are making it VERY difficult to accept you as anything other than a foreigner – OOPS! Looks like you’re doing it again!
