[quote=“jdsmith”]My son, the character that he is, will answer a vociferous HWEI-AH! when someone asks whether or not he can speak Chinese.
And when they ask Can you speak English (when I’m standing right there lol) he’ll say, “Dang Ran!”[/quote]
:bravo: :bravo: :bravo: Atta boy! Now teach him a good right hook!!! 
Does anyone else’s kid besides mine get the “si meiguo ren” thing?
She hasn’t stopped hearing this for five years…Just last week the boys stopped her from entering the classroom because “It’s only for Taiwanese” :fume:
I remember back in 99 she came out of school visibly upset and muttering…It wasn’t until she got close enough to the car that I could hear what she was saying through tears and clenched teeth…“Sticks and stones may break my bones…”
Nothing a great big hug from Dad couldn’t fix though…
Glad to hear you were there to give that hug! My dad wasn’t.
I went through the same thing, in another country. I was a “foreigner”, even though it was my father’s country.
I remain insistent that it was a positive influence, in terms of becoming a person with an international perspective. But the taunting can really hurt, when you’re a kid. Glad to hear you’re there for your kid to help ease the sting!!!
Are you insinuating that all people who speak derivatives of Hoklo are racist? Isn’t that being a bit racist yourself?
It’s a plain and simple fact that many (not all) Taiwanese tend to have what we may call “racist” moments … many times it’s probably just ignorance, but it’s definitely a problem that shouldn’t exist in a place with such a high-standard of living and high literacy rate. There needs to be more education about accepting other kinds of people and not judging people based on race. Again, the problem is you can’t “test” this kind of thing, so the chance of it getting into the school curriculum is next to nil.
So, what I do is when I hear racist comments from people I know (or sometimes people I don’t), I’ll point it out to them, and tell them just why their views are outdated, ignorant, or based on ludicrous stereotypes. We can only individually do our own part, and try to set good examples of “foreigners.”
As for the specific examples of little mixed kids (I hate this term though), I think the best way is to get a list of names of the perpetrators, go to the principal of the school or the guy responsible for discipline (not the teacher, they’re too apathetic), and make a fuss about it. Especially at such a young age, that’s not good for a kid’s self-esteem. If you move back to your home country, it may make them want to totally forget their Chinese heritage, not want to speak the language anymore, or if they stay here, they may stop wanting to speak English (or whatever language they speak) and forget about their other heritage. The educators need to be educated about racism first before the kids can be … so give the principal a good talking to.
Its does seem that one of the big issues for parents is the zoo display category the kids can end up in such as up in the mountains on a busy walking trail.
One instance I was a party to must happen to many parents. It looked like I was the Dad sitting with a Taiwanese wife and her obviously mixed kids. well up a mountain trail.
It ended up that a crowd gathered taking pictures of the children. She became quite distressed and yelled at them.
Not sure what procedure would be best but her distress must have rubbed off on the children, about 3-5 years old.
Ironman, next time try saying something like this:
這裡並不是動物園﹐更別說我們不是動物﹗走開啦﹗
(This isn’t a zoo, and it goes without saying that we’re not animals, so go away!)
[quote=“MJB”]Does anyone else’s kid besides mine get the “si meiguo ren” thing?
Nothing a great big hug from Dad couldn’t fix though… [/quote]
You might mention the example of Hsiao Bih-Kim who aparrently went through the same thing as a kid in Tainan. Very few would dare to say she wasn’t Taiwanese now!
:fume: I had to go through similar things as a kid here.
Anyway, I am not sure that the government is doing a good job of introducing and encouraging tolerance. Recently, I noticed that the second grade Chinese Text book that school children use here has a chapter about the new “foreign neighbors”. I was quite impressed until the teacher read “jokes” from the Teacher’s Book about mistakes foreigners make when trying to speak Mandarin (the whole class roared and practiced mimicking foreigners). I was quite pissed when their 期末考 (Mid-term Test) had a “funny” paragraph about a foreigner who mistakenly said “Ma ni hao” instead of “Ni hao ma” and got yelled at by a Taiwanese woman, retorted “Who are you calling Mother?” Great material for increasing tolerance.
What exactly does “shi meigwolen” mean? In English swearology?
死美國人 (si meiguo ren), literally means “die/dead american”, but a more free translation would be something like “damn American,” “f**king American” (or “foreigner”, since “meiguo ren” is often used as a general term for foreigner). It’s definitely not nice … although my bf calls me that when I call him a “tai ke” 台客 
Kids can be cruel anywhere, but it seems especially bad outside the city centers. She was the first foreigner to attend this school, and has had to take the brunt of the abuse for the other 6 foreign kids now enrolled there.
She’s graduating this year, and hopefully this nonesense will stop there.
does anyone move back to the states just for the year of the pregnancy?