Hello. I’m a guy who’s considering moving to Taiwan. I hear alot of great things about it. But I also hear that places in Asia kinda have people who don’t like foreigners a whole lot. I hear vague information like “Taiwanese love foreigners” or things like “Taiwanese are too shy”. or whatever. I’d like to know some of your personal experiences when it comes to befriending the locals.
Cheers
Dude, most of the posters on this forum haven’t just “befriended” the “locals”, they’ve married them. 
I use food…leave little bits of food along the street…lures them right in.
Then I tickle them.
[quote=“darktoad”]Hello. I’m a guy who’s considering moving to Taiwan. I hear alot of great things about it. But I also hear that places in Asia kinda have people who don’t like foreigners a whole lot. I hear vague information like “Taiwanese love foreigners” or things like “Taiwanese are too shy”. or whatever. I’d like to know some of your personal experiences when it comes to befriending the locals.
Cheers[/quote]
Can do. I’ve got lots of local friends. It does take the right kind of situation, and can go wrong unexpectedly. But overall very doable.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]I use food…leave little bits of food along the street…lures them right in.
Then I tickle them.[/quote]
I only laughed out loud because I think it is probably true.
Taiwanese people are among the friendliest, most gentle people on the planet.
Unless they are driving. Seriously, a goodly number of Taiwanese people become evil, irrational monsters behind the wheel of a car.
But in person, especially if they know you, Taiwanese people are the best.
[quote=“Tomas”]Taiwanese people are among the friendliest, most gentle people on the planet.
Unless they are driving. Seriously, a goodly number of Taiwanese people become evil, irrational monsters behind the wheel of a car.
But in person, especially if they know you, Taiwanese people are the best.[/quote]
agree with this, but avoid the ones with PhDs from local universities, they are the most racist people on the planet.
[quote=“Tomas”]Taiwanese people are among the friendliest, most gentle people on the planet.
Unless they are driving. Seriously, a goodly number of Taiwanese people become evil, irrational monsters behind the wheel of a car.
But in person, especially if they know you, Taiwanese people are the best.[/quote]
Yep, and it’s not limited by age or education. Lots of small town hicks are incredibly warm to strangers, especially if there’s some kind of connection, which could be simply that you are staying at their friend’s B&B, or took an interest in their temple. Lots of old people will advise you to marry a local and are happy to see you set up roots here. People are also well off so you never need to question the friendship as you might do in poorer countries (though occasionally you might feel you are someone’s English teacher or foreign pet, but such people are easily discarded for better and truer friends).
I like them. Not so sure if they all like me, though.
A lot of them drink a lot, which is a definite bonus. They are often really good at pool. It can be a little embarrassing when they insist on paying for everything. However, some westerners might view this as a good thing.
Not just Taiwanese…
First, people are people everywhere- they are good, bad, friendly, sweet, mean, ugly, smart- pick an adjective, and it’ll describe someone from every nationality on the planet.
However, I’d say I’ve had a better than average experience in Taiwan with regards to ‘befriending’ locals. Some of my best friends are Taiwanese and everything I need/want from a friendship (fun, intelligent discussions, understanding, help, adventures) I’ve gotten from my Taiwanese friends (hope they can say the same about me 
There are times where I feel that people want to befriend me because I speak English pretty good 
and/or because it’s cool to have foreign friends, or, a slightly less annoying variety- people who just really want a window to the outside world. Sometimes we’re able to get past the ‘foreigner worship’ to a real friendship, sometimes not.
Overall though, you’ll find the people here friendly, kind, helpful, willing to laugh at your stupid jokes, willing to help you feel ‘cool’ (i’ve noticed there’s very little ‘one-upping’ here, ie, if I say “I’ve been skydiving 3 times.” the local response is more likely to be “Wow, you’re so adventurous!” or more likely “You have a very colorful life” as opposed to “Oh yeah, well I (insert cooler thing than skydiving here)” which is what I might have gotten in America.) really, it’s a pretty nice place to be. Especially if you’ve got lightish hair and blue eyes 
Yeah, well I’ve had the BEST experience.
My pets are Taiwanese. You can’t compete.
They befriend me because of my knowledge of PEARL, WINZIP, and international postal rates.
We never get past that. Why would we?
I’ve been to the top of Everest with a piece of Angelina Jolie’s silicone tit.
The fact about Taiwanese being very friendly is well known, and it should be a point well taken for anyone planning to come here.
However, the question wasn’t exactly, “Are the Taiwanese friendly?” but “Can you make friends with them?”
I’d say, yes, they are open to making friends outside their circle. Unlike, say, the average Hong Kong Chinese person, to my knowledge at least. Sometimes the friendliness can be oppressive: strangers coming up and asking too many questions, that sort of thing. But you can make normal buddies here too. Usually there is an empirical reason to be considered an insider; you are or were their teacher, or play basketball with them, etc.
Even then you can still be a token foreigner. But if you get to the point where you understand them well enough to connect with them (don’t wait for them to figure you out first) then you can certainly move beyond that.
That’s my 
I’ve been to the top of Everest with a piece of Angelina Jolie’s silicone tit.[/quote]
Fockkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk! How big was the piece? If it was bigger than Brad’s left nutt you’ve got me beat 
I’m going to go hang out with my Taiwanese friends again. They never would have brought Jolie into this convo. :raspberry:
[quote=“BigJohn”]The fact about Taiwanese being very friendly is well known, and it should be a point well taken for anyone planning to come here.
However, the question wasn’t exactly, “Are the Taiwanese friendly?” but “Can you make friends with them?”
I’d say, yes, they are open to making friends outside their circle. Unlike, say, the average Hong Kong Chinese person, to my knowledge at least. Sometimes the friendliness can be oppressive: strangers coming up and asking too many questions, that sort of thing. But you can make normal buddies here too. Usually there is an empirical reason to be considered an insider; you are or were their teacher, or play basketball with them, etc.
Even then you can still be a token foreigner. But if you get to the point where you understand them well enough to connect with them (don’t wait for them to figure you out first) then you can certainly move beyond that.
That’s my [/quote]
OF course they be freindly ! Heck they used to be headhunters and would invite you into their villages and EAT YOU 
Just kidding…Just kidding !! Taiwanese are friendly because they live on a big rock and are curious about aliens from other lands. CAnadians on the other hand are friendly cuz they are lonely (is what iv been told). 
Taiwanese ARE really friendly, and really open to making new friends. I remember talking to a Japanese friend, who was going to cancel on me because her TW boyfriend’s friends were going to KTV and they wanted her to come (and there was supposed to be about 5 of us going out that night). Well, KTV sounded like a pretty good idea to us, but I was a little unsure if we’d be welcome with a bunch of people we don’t really know. My friend paused for a second, then said ‘If this was Japan, I’d ask you not to come, but Taiwanese seem to think everything’s more fun with lots of people, so why don’t you come too??’
We went and had a great time with strangers. Who weren’t strangers after about 15 minutes. And that’s pretty much how life here rolls.
As for the OP’s question, 90% of my friends are Taiwanese. We don’t speak English or discuss IP or anything like that, so I don’t think it’s because I’m foreign… we all just happened to cross paths and mutually go ‘Hey, you’re pretty cool’. It is a LOT easier to become friends with friends of friends here than it is in the West.
Mine is snoring.
Don’t name them. Because then you get attached to them.
“Just what I always wanted. My owwwn little bunny rabbit. I will name him George, and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him …”
[quote=“tomthorne”]
A lot of them drink a lot, which is a definite bonus. [/quote]
A lot relative to, say, Saudi Arabia?