Being stared at

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
21

Make a funny face next time.

22

Double fuckin A, pal.
The truth is, the actuality is more like “Staring at foreigners isn’t rude, because they aren’t exactly people.”
Mrs. the chief, born and raised in Chia Yi.
Stare at her, I fuckin dare you.
Go, on, I mean it, I’ll wait…

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That’s what I was thinking reading this thread. In Pune, the staring was not that intense. Probably similar to what I’ve experienced in Taiwan overall. (I’ve spent two weeks touring the island so I have more experience than just Taipei.) But outside Pune. :astonished:

On a trip to see a Vedic ritual (yes, a Vedic ritual; I shit you not), our small group stopped in a village. As soon as we got off the minivan, we found ourselves surrounded by an mass of villagers quite eager to check out the strange foreigners which stopped in their village. We needed to buy stuff so we walked up and down the main street. The locals walked up and down with us. Not at a distance behind us, with us, shoulder to shoulder: like we were big buddies or something.

We needed to buy different things so we eventually split up. That caused some serious problem for the locals because then they had to take a pick as to which foreigners would be most entertaining to watch.

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[quote=“the chief”][quote=“Marty”]
Get used to it. Prepare some business cards. You might find yourself making contacts with some really kind or useful people. Maybe even potential employers or private students. :slight_smile:[/quote]

Uh, yeah, some fuckin rube who stares at foreigners, that’s my dream employer, imagine how he treats them when they work for him…[/quote]Maybe they’re trying to build up the courage to talk to you. You never know. Try being optimistic. I’m sure you’ll enjoy life a little more that way :bow: .

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:laughing: A mouth operated tard-reflective forcefield is the only path to enjoyment, I’m afraid…

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[quote=“Marty”][quote=“the chief”][quote=“Marty”]
Get used to it. Prepare some business cards. You might find yourself making contacts with some really kind or useful people. Maybe even potential employers or private students. :slight_smile:[/quote]

Uh, yeah, some fuckin rube who stares at foreigners, that’s my dream employer, imagine how he treats them when they work for him…[/quote]Maybe they’re trying to build up the courage to talk to you. You never know. Try being optimistic. I’m sure you’ll enjoy life a little more that way :bow: .[/quote]

What drugs are you on, and where do you buy them?

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[quote=“TomHill”]Punch one of them. News soon spreads around the collective that you are violent, and they will move away from you.

Some tard once told me ‘if you stop looking at them looking at you the problem will dissolve.’ I think he was calling me an idiot.

In Japan I saw a lovely sight. Two very nosy people staring at me and me big white body, and didnt notice they were about to walk into each other. Just before impact I signalled to them both to look forwards, which they did, cauing a full frontal face to face impact. One of them hit the deck. Most satisfying.[/quote]

Hilarious! Can you film that next time? I have a new goal…

I go through phases where staring can still irk me sometimes, but usually the social interaction is entertaining. In Taipei its almost non-existent if it weren’t for the fact that I’m always reading my Chinese textbook on the MRT, and people literally lean half way over to read along with me. Then if they’re accompanied by friends, they’ll start discussing whatever I’m reading. They usually won’t directly talk about me though so I just ignore them. Some people will actually address me though, and I’ve had plenty of good conversations from it.

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SOB Nobody ever stares at me. I must be fearfully menacing or hideously deformed.

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Try doing something embarrassing. That’ll get you some stares. Always does for me.

“Oh, look! The waiguoren sent his seaweed roll flying across the room!”

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[quote=“lemur”]Try doing something embarrassing. That’ll get you some stares. Always does for me.

“Oh, look! The waiguoren sent his seaweed roll flying across the room!”[/quote]

Nah. My malevolence permeates everything. They avoid my gaze like it’s optical bubonic plague.
Aha! Just had an epiphany! Methinks the people who are whining about being stared at might really miss it if it stopped:
a) They won’t have anything to whine about anymore
b) They’ll feel all lonesome and needy
c) They have eventually become assimilated (the horror, the horror!)

Nothing worse than not being stared at. (Unless you’re the Elephant Man).

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I like to toss a nasty cruisy look their way…if you wanna keep staring you are gonna invite something!

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Welcome, Mr Cute!

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thanks, prezzy

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[quote=“jimipresley”]

Nothing worse than not being stared at. (Unless you’re the Elephant Man).[/quote]

I am the Elephant man :cry:

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I feel you, OP. I live in Kaohsiung, and I totally understand you even though I am not Caucasian.

I came back to Taiwan last summer and was diagnosed with cancer. The chemotherapy made me lose all my hair. Despite protest and threats from Mom, who thought I should only go out with a wig on, I went out the way I was. PEOPLE STARE at me everywhere. When they walk passed me on the street they walk back to STARE at me. People riding on scooters turn back to look at me. On several occasions I was approached by random passers-by on the street, in a restaurant, in stores, in parks, anywhere you can think of, who felt they were so entitled to ask me “Why are you bald?” or felt the need to share with me their thoughts, “Are you a boy or a girl?” “I thought you were a boy!” I tried to explain to them what happened, only to be plagued by more questions. “What type of cancer? How long? Where/which part of the body did you discover the tumor?..” I must say that I was pretty amazed at the lack of concept such as “privacy” in this part of the world. There is no such thing as “your own business”; it’s EVERYBODY’s business.

The thought of wearing something that says “FUCK OFF! MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS” has also occurred to me. I’ve yet found out how to write it in Chinese though. Or better, if I feel malicious enough, I’ll write, “Don’t ask; some day you’ll get it too.”

Sorry for the rant. The Taiwanese society has somehow made me into an anti-social individual by its conservative people and ways. I’m out of here as soon as I finish taking advantage of the medicare system. I know it sounds awful, seeing that I was born and raised in Taiwan, but rudeness and ignorance from the majority of Taiwanese I encounter every day has made me very much disillusioned about this country. I look forward to the day I will finally able to leave.

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Oh, and I just want to add that staring back does nothing for the locals, at least not the ones I encountered. The degree of shamelessness of the people here surprises me everyday.

So if anyone knows how to keep these stupid people off please let me know. Much appreciated.

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For now my daughters are getting the idea to stare back or smile and wave. That usually does the trick. When it’s little kids, I wave and say something in Mandarin, which blows their minds. When adults find out I speak Mandarin, I have to stand forever answering a ton of questions about work, my speaking ability, my daughters, etc. My daughters do seem to enjoy always being told they’re pretty though.
I know that a lot of people in the neighborhood will eventually get to know that we’re here for a while and we won’t be quite as much of a spectacle.
Oh yeah, watching people run into stuff because of staring is absolutely hilarious!

38

[quote=“oink”]Oh, and I just want to add that staring back does nothing for the locals, at least not the ones I encountered. The degree of shamelessness of the people here surprises me everyday.

So if anyone knows how to keep these stupid people off please let me know. Much appreciated.[/quote]

I think somebody had already suggested several techniques, which included picking your nose and such.

Staring back and giving a manic laugh is another one.

39

if I am with someone and someone else is staring at us, I will usually tap the person I am with and say: “Look at this fucking retard” or whatever witty comment comes to mind and make some joke about their appearance and point at the starer. I do it all while looking at the person who is staring at me (us). When the starer sees two people pointing and joking about them they usually fuck off pretty quick. They get the hint when the tables are turned.

Several people have pointed out that not all stares are malicious and I would agree with that. Sometimes a high school kid for example is just checking out your clothes or sneakers because he thinks it looks cool. Sometimes people stare and then you catch them staring and they say something like: “very good” in a sincere way (although they also take the piss sometimes too).

All in all it is to be expected overseas, but it can be MUCH worse in places like India and Bangladesh, and also worse in places like Korea. For some reason Southeast Asians are a really chilled lot and can do it in a cool way.

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Staring back and giving a manic laugh is another one.[/quote]

Love that one. Thanks Icon.