Why does Taiwan have so many weird foreigners?

Search Forumosa for weird, strange, odd, loser foreigners, it seems like a never-ending reading list.

Taiwan is a middle-ground for people who can’t make it somewhere better or worse in Asia.

Other countries in Asia also have weird foreigners, and those other countries have a higher percentage of “non-weird” to offset the noticeability of the weird ones. Taiwan doesn’t have a high percentage of non-weird foreigners.

Does that sound weird?

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I’ve seen ‘weirder’ foreigners in other places in Asia than Taiwan.

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Lots of wierd foreigners in the Philippines. As in middle aged pedophiles.

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Yes

/Thread

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Yeah, this was the first thing I noticed after moving to Taiwan. I’d especially advise against these online meetups that get posted every now and then. They’re the annual international weirdo convention.

If you’re willing to move to a totally different country, you’re already probably a little weird. And then if you live here for a while, you’re inevitably going to become somewhat out-of-touch. I haven’t lived in North America in over twenty years now, and when I go back for annual visits I can tell I’m often a little … off. Not freakish (I hope!), just not quite managing eye contact right, not quite following the small talk topics, a bit too enthusiastic about my niche interests and a bit too oblivious about other topics.

I searched the forum a bit because I’m sure this has been a thread before. Didn’t find the specific topic, but did find this, if anyone wants to waste time reading stories that made me feel extraordinarily lucky/unlucky at the merely run-of-the-mill weirdness I’ve run into:

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There are both pull and push factors with migration. Foreigners aren’t always coming to Taiwan in their droves because of the lure of the smell of stinky tofu.

IME there used to be more weird foreigners in Taiwan. However, that may be due to me getting older and moving in different circles. One thing that amazed me when I first arrived was the amount of foreigners who were willing to kick off with complete strangers. I’d never experienced that level of aggression before. I’ve seen foreign guys in their 40s or 50s rolling around outside 7-Eleven fighting over some nonsense and they’d only just met. If nothing else it’s really risky because you have no idea who you’re starting a row with. Some people have skills.

Does Taiwan make people odd? Yes, I think it does over time.

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For sure this is a big part of it for me. I no longer see anywhere near as many weird foreigners as I used to. I’m also not in bars at 2am anymore. I suspect the two are correlated. Another factor: I no longer enjoy the truly odd the way I once did, so I probably ease out of some conversations before I realize just how memorable my interlocutor could turn out to be.

Mind you, on “there used to be more”: have a look at the thread I linked to above. Even at my peak “Eh, it’s only 3am, the night is still young!” days I don’t think I encountered people like those - and I guess they’re talking about people from the early 90s, or even earlier.

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Or maybe you also became weird so you don’t notice :grinning:

One of us! One of us!

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That’s probably another factor. One becomes much more adept at spotting the odd 'ens early on and giving them a wide birth. They’re only amusing for a very short time. I remember the guy I met just after I arrived who seemed cool, albeit very talkative, and invited me to his place to watch rugby. He turned out to be a meth addict. The TV remote control had been taken apart (he wanted to find out what was inside it) and there was this bizarre shelving all round the apartment that he’d obviously knocked up while high. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Oh damn, that went from ok seems like a normal story about a normal guy who enjoy rugby to he’s a meth addict reading it.

I thought the file was included in the pedi… :sunglasses:

Holy shit. That’s me. I qualify as a nutter. I’m honored

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(sticks finger between lips, twiddling and humming to make funny noise)

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can’t really agree, nor do i think taiwans laowai population is deserving of being shat on.

sure we don’t get the business suit and tie types here like in hong kong and singapore but taiwan isn’t on that level either. most foreigners are english teachers.(and students?) which is better than white monkeys like you get in china. better than sex tourists of south east asia and much better than unwashed back packers. i’d say we were pretty lucky here. i saw a ratty looking backpacker playing nursery rhymes on a recorder in a failed attempt at busking last time i was in hong kong. i’m thankful i’ve never saw such a pathetic sight in taiwan.

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Aww that was quite a walk down memory lane. Especially the names. Thanks.

Kinda allways feel like this.

I mean now really someone can explain me straight, what is there for white guy in taiwan ?

  • apartments are shitty
  • bosses are crazy and conservative
  • on family level there is a lot of politics. You must take a lot of bla bla, would never ever happened at home. But u know we are taiwanese, our culture, oh our face bla bla
    -Food is usually low quality with all those food scandals
  • Except labour, everything is expensive. Western food, cars, electronics, clothes brands, proper furniture, even flight tickets taiwan - europe are like double price comparing to europe - taiwan way tickets. . And taipei is allways like at least 20 % more than other asian cities. Even taipei mrt is not cheap… Ok local gas is cheap, ok utilities are cheap…
  • either low salary or no life balance at all, usually
  • hard to make friends with locals, they are shy, akward, poor english, work whole day, and spend weekends with mummy ( but thank god is crowded, so you can meet a lot of cool people)
    -air pollution

Let say you are hardworking, smart, inteligent, in shape with good degree. And out of nowhere you decide to come to taiwan? You must be a bit weird in the first place. I could make more money elswhere, but i was in taiwan. Probably am a bit weird. I mean in the end, taiwan is not “very likeable” by western standards. So you just must be a bit different with different priorities, to come to rock in the first place. Back in the west you can be seen as weirdo indeed

And you must be a hell of weirdo to stay. Or you can be just laid back guy, who likes warm weather, cheap stuff, and convience. Might get a luck wit job. Might get smoking hot wife. No all jobs are crap indeed,and happy, good , sexy wife = good life.

But sure yea, is such a high density of people, you will see extremes more often.Both negative and positive

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I think the sudden absence of ordinary social restrictions has an influence on some people who are on the odder side of the spectrum, perhaps pushing them out towards the outer boundaries if they are not inclined or able to reel themselves back in a bit.

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I don’t you’d be amused for very long either if you were having a wide birth. :hushed:

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Question 1: How many foreigners did you meet back home?

I didn’t meet foreigners until I came to Taiwan and people started pointing at me and using that word.

“I have met many cool foreigners here but I have many that are very weird.”

Question 2: How come you didn’t start a thread titled: “Why are there so many cool foreigners in Taiwan?”

Are you an oddball?

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