well…i just finished my third trip to taiwan for business. first trip was in jan for 2 weeks…2nd in april for 2 weeks…and i just finished my 3rd, and final, trip which was 5 weeks. i spent most of my time in kaohsiung, but did get to travel a little. while there i made a TON of local friends and had a great time. i am now back home in miami florida, where i have a great job, great woman, and basically a great life, but i am depressed and can’t stop thinking of my time in taiwan and how i didn’t want it to end! i am 31 now and havn’t had the crazy emotional feelings that i have been having for MANY years. it really scares me. i am hoping that a little time will get me back in the swing of things but as for now i just want to be back. not even sure why i am posting this other than i think there are probally many people on here who understand what i am going through. it is something that i did not expect, and can not help. i think my woman would shit herself if she knew how bummed i am to be home!!haha…so anyways…thanks for reading my ramblings! looking forward to reading any responses!
I suppose it depends on what you were exposed to in Taiwan. I feel the opposite at the moment although when I see the other side of Taiwan, I realize that my Taiwan is not Taiwan.
Sancho,
What was your favorite part of the trip?
Sancho,
What was your favorite part of the trip?[/quote]
wow…that’s a tough question. not really one favorite part. i think i was very lucky with the friends i met there. it allowed me to kind of become a ‘local’ in a way. just the simple day to day life is what i liked best. go to work…come home…text some friends…meet up…hang out…go out…late night food…basketball…do i make any sense?
He says he’s in “lust” with Taiwan, it ain’t hard to figure out what his favorite part of the trip was. 
Ya come on Sancho – spill the beans!!!
why not?? are you not having a good time?
hahaha…i have no idea what you are talking about!! but even if i did understand…there is a lot more to it than that;)
Sancho,
if you do not stop now, you never get out of here again.
Repend! Your soul can still be saved.
If you stay here you are dooooooomed.
No joke. Look at my avatar, would I be lying?
Honestly, you are in phase 1 of the culture shock, only seeing the gals.
Phase 2 is hatred - if you are here longterm, phase 3 is the borderline phase between you and the rest of Taiwan, phase 4 is a sober relation to it.
Have fun
[quote=“bob_honest”]
Honestly, you are in phase 1 of the culture shock, only seeing the gals.
Phase 2 is hatred - if you are here longterm, phase 3 is the borderline phase between you and the rest of Taiwan, phase 4 is a sober relation to it.
Have fun [/quote]
He’s right. The initial phase of cultural adjustment is, for most people, one of “Wow I love it here! Everything’s great!” You’ve visited an exotic land for a short period of time, and you’re very exited about the experience. Take it for what it is. Most of us experience the same thing so, sure, we can relate. Just don’t let your current feelings get out of hand. Realize that they are based on illusions.
One more idea for you–most foreign residents of Taiwan who stay, marry here, learn to speak and read fluent Mandarin, start businesses, pay taxes, have loads of local friends, etc., are never accepted as locals. If you think you’ve been accepted as a local, you’re probably fooling yourself. It doesn’t mean Taiwan is a rough place to live–I really enjoy living here. A firm grip on reality will save you heartache down the road.
Good luck.
Uncle Tomas
Crap … so was I … I thought, until recently, after 12 years … now I start hating it … well not really but it’s going be less love :s
This sense of euphoria is probably reserved for people from western countries only - cos it’s SO different from everything back home. And TW people are definately a friendly and accomodating lot. They are all exceedingly nice to guests and friends. TW people are as friendly if not friendlier than the people in South East Asia (Except Singapore though, they’re too robot-like :p) So different from PRC and HK Chinese!
haha…funny and good comments…i just think of it as here in miami what do i do in my day to day life that is any better? i spent a little over 2 months there since jan. so i feel like i got a pretty good feel for everything. there is something that some of you brought up that would worry me if i ever moved there…what about 4, 8, 12 years down the road? what then? hhhhhhmmmmmmmm…i’m actually thinking that i may try and do some contract work there to pay for my trips and get my ‘fix’. as much as i want to give it all up and move my life i think that something like that would be the more logical :loco: thing to do. i don’t know, i’ve only been home for 48 hours and 46 minutes (haha) so i’m still not thinking straight. i’ll give it a couple of more weeks and see how i feel! thanks for the posts…feel free to keep 'em coming 
Sancho,
What was your favorite part of the trip?[/quote]
wow…that’s a tough question. not really one favorite part. I think I was very lucky with the friends I met there. it allowed me to kind of become a ‘local’ in a way. just the simple day to day life is what i liked best. go to work…come home…text some friends…meet up…hang out…go out…late night food…basketball…do I make any sense?[/quote]
Just in my experience… for what it’s worth…You will never be a local in Taiwan.
Sounds like the normal business trip thing, out drinking with the Sales team. Hmmm… I wonder if he went to a “KTV”
Rub n tug anyone
Sancho,
What was your favorite part of the trip?[/quote]
wow…that’s a tough question. not really one favorite part. I think I was very lucky with the friends I met there. it allowed me to kind of become a ‘local’ in a way. just the simple day to day life is what i liked best. go to work…come home…text some friends…meet up…hang out…go out…late night food…basketball…do I make any sense?[/quote]
Just in my experience… for what it’s worth…You will never be a local in Taiwan.[/quote]
i think you misunderstand what i am saying…i could care less about being a local. i am perfectly happy with my texas hick accent and “black” (i am white with a tan) skin. what i mean/meant by that is that i got to do a bunch of local things. i ate most of my meals at the night market and local places. i traveled by scooter, played basketball quite a bit and sat through the terrible taiwan/chinese love songs that my friends love to sing at ktv. in other words i didn’t live on room service at the splendor, and ruth chris every night! i was able to get a feel for what it is like to really live there, and not just the “tourist” side of it. that’s what i mean by what i said 
I am here for 3 months now…
When I did my reconnaissance visit 5 months ago, everything looked nice as it was for you. Great HOTEL with ROOMSERVICE.
GREAT FOOD (as only the BEST is good enough for foreign guests)
And I do not know about the gals… sorry.
Now , I am counting the 21 months still to go before I can feel free again.
Taiwan is like a smiling dragon… untill you come to close…everything looks just great.
Save your soul indeed pall !
Of course, it depends what you think you would like to establish when you are here.
Basketball, scooters and night market food are even better in other Asian countries I bet !
and “tourism” is something which does not excists in Taiwan(though they would like to ) ,except Local ex-pats who go to Kending to escape Taipei.
Be sure, if you come over to book a return ticket… 
[quote=“Bassman”]Sounds like the normal business trip thing, out drinking with the Sales team. Hmmm… I wonder if he went to a “KTV”
Rub n tug anyone[/quote]
thanks for adding another ray of light to the thread! well i hope you do not make your living as a psychic, because you are not a very good one!
- i don’t drink…not a drop
- no sales team…over there by myself overseeing a boat build.
- hey you kind of got one right…ktv a couple of times but with local friends.
thanks for such great insight though! :loco:
I guess Bassman wanted to say, you see Taiwan through the outsider/fun perspective, because it was an exotic trip.
Yeah, I was mostly like you, but then married a woman here and found myself in an apartment, which is more like a slum back home. Scooters and pollution at the mainstreet driving me crazy, wife’s mum wants USD 500 per month for … being wife’s mum …
Wife wanted to teach me to behave like a good Chinese citizen and turned out her dragon face.
Pollution and climate made me sick, I hated my job, my apartment, my neighbours (who are constantly calling me a foreigner and use the stair case as a toilet for their dog and as a spit pot).
My wife’s family thought I am an exotic clown for their amusement
THIS IS PHASE 2, and it is HELL.
It all turned out good, wife’s mum turned out to be a fine old lady kinda loving me, once she saw the person and understood a foreigner is not automatically rich. Wife understood I will never be Chinese and do not want it.
I now like a lot here, love some things and hate a few others but keep away from them (that is phase 3).
But do not think living here is easy. Well, unless you are your companies representative here in a foreigner area (clean, no spit!) or an upperclass apartment (upperclass locals do not spit in the staircase) and do not marry here.
Do not put any anti-Taiwanese stuff in my mouth, I love my wife’s mum!
Gave me fruit again today