Dealing with the shock of just arriving

And not a single Aunt in the family…

haha what/where’s luxy?

Luxy is a club. Near zhongxiao dunhua station. It’s a pretty typical club, and if you get there before 11 pm you don’t have to pay the cover charge so that’s awesome.

yeah get out of the house, wander around. Meet up with some other young dudes your own age and just take it slowly.

Plenty of locals speak basic english but nt enough to have a conversation on your level.

Also speak slowly it helps with the locals as not everybody can understand furriners when they speak so fast.

Damn, I realized I may have been living in Taiwan since before you were born laddy.

And not a single Aunt in the family…[/quote]

…and Aunt Catch-22. How’s that?

I only wrote the avuncular stuff because he’s a lad :wink: .

And not a single Aunt in the family…[/quote]

…and Aunt Catch-22. How’s that?

I only wrote the avuncular stuff because he’s a lad :wink: .[/quote]

Lol…I’d rather not be an Aunt, thanks. I’m a wee lass still :wink:

I’m wondering how the OP is doing right now…

I’m almost as white as he is… and my Chinese is pretty good… I’m coming to Taiwan in September and I’d be more than happy to lend a hand. :bravo: I won’t know anyone there in Taiwan and I’ll need friends, anyway…

Aaaaah! I’m in the wrong place … should have gone to the Philippines instead? :whistle:

And not a single Aunt in the family…[/quote]

Yup, a bunch o’ inbred bromance stuff goin’ round 'bout these parts.

If you are just walking up to people and saying Nihau, they may think you are a Jehovah witness. Foreigners here also ignore each other. If you cross the street and there is a foreigner coming towards you, you can expect the foreigner to

a) hide behind a person
b) slowly move to the other side of the pedestrian crossing
c) look at their watch
d) look for something in their bag
e) check the moles on their arms
f) say Hi…do you have a minute? I want to tell you about my church.

you are here to study, so you will soon have a whole lot of people in a similiar situation to bond with. Living with your tutor’s family…how is that working for you? That would make me feel really flustered…but you are going to be speaking Chinese soon. This doesn’t always help though. I have found that language barriers aren’t always the reason people don’t want to talk.

I’ve been here for 9 years. This is an awesome place. Millions of different people, different clubs, different stores, different vibes. You will find what makes you happy soon. IF you’re feeling lonely make a blog and walk around taking pictures of weird things. This may keep your mind off the fact that you’re walking the streets alone.

Get out and do stuff - cycling as part of a group, rock climbing, hiking - any kind of group activity where there are other foreigners but also local Chinese. I started rock climbing when I was in Taipei and it was brilliant - I learned all sorts of weird vocab which threw my colleagues at work. :slight_smile:

Because we are foreigners in TW it doesn’t mean that we have to talk or just say hi to each others …
why not just saying hi to everybody ?
I disapproved that kind of behaviour in France so I won’t act like that here.

If I’m back home and somebody just talks to me on the street it usually gives me a kind of icky feeling. It’s not the Taiwanese…it’s just not normal to just walk up to people and start a conversation.
You shouldn’t have any problems once the semester starts. Also, it’s much easier meeting people at clubs and gigs. Buy the Taipei Times on Fridays (at convenience stores). They have a weekend gig guide on Fridays. There is an event calendar on Forumosa, but they seldom post the kind of information available in Taipei Times. Hang out at restaurants in Shida Road. People in that area are usually very non-Taiwanese friendly. People at live music events are usually also very easy to talk to. I guess it’s because you’ll be with people that you know have a similar interest.

Good luck!

Because we are foreigners in TW it doesn’t mean that we have to talk or just say hi to each others …
why not just saying hi to everybody ?
I disapproved that kind of behaviour in France so I won’t act like that here.[/quote]

The foregoing comes up time and time again. If I walk past you and youre “my kind of person” I may well smile and nod, but will I stop and chat just because you’re a foreigner, probably not. That’s just city life. If you’re a 20yo playa, probably wouldnt acknowledge you.

I think snadman, that friendly joyous scotsman came up with the best observation. Why do you think that just because someone is white/foreign they want to talk to another whitey/foreigner on the street?

There are foreigners here who have been here for 10-20+ years, some are actually more local than foreign and have either seen 100+ young’uns come to learn chinese, get an MBA and become a big shot banker or maybe even been that same kid. Do they want to meet another one? Sometimes its nice to impart knowledge learned on a young’un, othertimes its a pain. Some foreigners also have a whole social group, family,… and mightn’t be interested in your astute observations that Taiwanese chicks are hot and skinny, short shorts are so short, the food is cheap, or English teaching is like the best thing in the world…

The point is people gravitate towards groups in which they belong, after living here for a while some people no longer reach out for the ‘foreigner bond’ - I have zero friends from the UK here and maybe only a few ‘foreign friends’, doesnt stop me meeting more, but doesnt mean I want to be approached on the street by a “young dumb and fulla cum quarterback punk”

Also, some kids walk up to a foreigner without thinking, I had one naively strut up and ask me about how cool taiwan was and where to scope out hot chicks when I was arguing with my wife, who was standing next to me and ignored by the young’un, he was oblivious to the social situation!

Anyways, in the right situation and circumstances it is perfectly normal to engage in conversation, sitting in a bar seems fair game to me, but joining a guy at dinner with his family not.

I also know that some foreigners here are very lonely and want others to reach out, so it is nice to smile and say hi, just don’t expect everyone to have time to chat.

There is a bar called Bravo BAr where many young expats hang out. A bit of hanging out with them will alleviate to some extent the brutal culture shock you are going to have to go though.

I am still in a state of shock after 21 years here. :smiley:

So as one young expat to another, try and avoid foreigners like the plague, especially if your goal is to learn the language and experience the culture. We all need our touch of home from time to time, but the expat community in any community is filled with people who were just “looking for home” but got trapped in the social circles.

Instead of looking for English speakers, walk around until you find locals doing something interesting then sit down with them like it is totally normal. I know this sounds strange and you wont be able to communicate, but be polite and you will eventually fit in. Some people might be pricks about it and take offense to you showing up, but these are the wrong kinds of people anyways. Just smile and move on. Following this advice has set me on the path for some of the deepest friendships and craziest relationships in my life.

For example, i used to go to practice at the batting range in Xinzhuang (大新莊) near my university. No one talked to me, i didnt talk to anyone either. One day i decided to buy a bat there but unfortunately i broke it right away (wrong spot). So i went back to the shop and i asked why that happened ? The guy gave me a 2nd one and told me that at the batting ramge they have coaches. Went to ask him, using my poor chinese. He knew me from a long time. They were just speculating on my situation. The same night I enrolled the local team and the next week i was on the field. Since then I found new team players, met a lot of people, learned to swear in taiwanese etc …