Looks back at my many years working in Taiwan.
Tries to stay objective.
Taiwanese are not very straightforward though.
Americans are wildly friendly i reckon. In starting conversations in shops and buying you a beer way. Might just be having a British accent though
1 Like
I often found I have to venture a lot of personal information or opinions to get some conversation going.
But what I get back is almost nothing. I honestly find Taiwanese guys especially hard work. The Macho culture here is really annoying. I mean your average middle manager here or company owner or govt worker. I say this as a typical hetero guy too.
Itâs partly my fault as I donât speak Taiwanese, not into cars and brands and my Mandarin is just ok I guess .
2 Likes
Im finding Taiwanese easier to speak with these days, but not more friendly. People are traveling more, becoming more political, having more hobbies, better sense of self identity, watching more international TV, following news etc
Im talking people in Taipei under 45.
Tbh, I prefer this development than any kind of awkward friendliness
1 Like
Yea if you try to talk to Taiwanese guys theyâll talk a lot but say nothing. I have trouble making friends with any Taiwanese because they are like a robot without a soul.
Hobby is play video games, watch movies. Aspiration is make money. Itâs like Taiwanese have the freedom but act like they have none.
But when they make 30,000 or less and a third of it goes to their parents for raising them, then itâs hard to have a hobby.
Any hobbies like guitars, rc airplanes, are all populated by independently wealthy people who have too much money but no sense.
2 Likes
Yep a huge divide in Taiwan society. I donât know what Taiwan society is sometimes. I think money and brands are the glue though.
1 Like
Its super easy for me to make friends with my British colleagues , culture goes a long way.
I find Taiwanese friendly but in a very passive way and as mentioned many people are timid and shy (except for the weirdos lol).
And unfortunately with the ubiquitiness (new word I seem to have invented ) of smartphones and the overwhelming education system many have no conversation skills whatsoever. LikeâŚNone.
Recently I went into a coffeeshop and noticed they didnât have any Taiwanese tea. Just as a bit of a conversation starter I asked the barista why they didnât have Taiwanese tea since itâs quite famous around the world (place had three customers, was not busy )âŚInstead of thinking for a second she immediately just tried to point to some teas that they had in the menuâŚ
Then she did the very common thing of âjumping to defenseâ here by claiming they did have one tea (not really) ,instead of saying you are right , thatâs weird, or yeah I never thought about that. Or , really you like Taiwanese tea ?
Or how about this one,this one is similar, or we just got this new teaâŚ
Just no conversation skill at all. Anyway I ordered a latte in the end. 
4 Likes
Speaking of Shanghai airport (Nov.22nd) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJG58Wqlacc&feature=emb_logo
Americans are a bit fake though, and multiple students from different countries have pointed this out. How many times have you heard an American say âhey we should hang out sometimeâ in passing⌠but if you actually followed up on that invitation theyâd look at you like you have three heads.
5 Likes
If you want to stop them in their tracks, whip out your scheduler and ask what day they are free.
2 Likes
Ha.
1 Like
Maybe youâre ugly.
3 Likes
I donât think ugly as much as unconsciously intimidating , for whatever reason. I mean just being white and walking up to a counterpersonâŚYou know how it goes sometimes
But this one was simply⌠No life skills.
Happens to me all the time, even with Americans in Taiwan. Frustrates me to no end. Lots of people promising stuff with zero intention of following through.
1 Like
Well, at least there are no doubts about Masalansâ position on the friendliness scale.
2 Likes
Sounds 100% like my wifeâs Taiwanese Boss.
I had a Taiwanese boss in the US for a year before I quit to a better job. He was the same.
1 Like
Iâd say Taiwanese are maybe just in generally speaking very friendly. Maybe just in a shallow way, perhaps? And yeah, they do claim to be very friendly and good to foreigners, which is true to some degree. Now, this superficial friendliness goes to shit when other more important factors than politeness, curiousity, awkwardness, shyness and similar are present. Like in Japan, youâre an outsider here too, and backstabbing and comments at work about foreigners being better or not than locals arenât things unheard of.
Also you canât judge a countryâs friendliness by the multicultural gangbang parties some of you and some of them attend.
2 Likes
True to a very low degree if you consider the actual situation of foreigners working in Taiwan.
Speaking very generally, itâs the aura of politeness brought on by curiosity. It doesnât typically go much farther than that, unless you are friends and have a special connection.
To be fair, itâs no different from a small town in North America where the townspeople are friendly at the corner store, but itâs more curiosity as to what new gossip there is rather than friendliness.
Yeah, i mean i was kidding, but maybe she just didnât want to have a chat with you and/or youâre ugly.
1 Like