[quote=“redwagon”][quote=“joesax”]I want to wear a Panama hat and sit on the verandah sipping G & T’s.[/quote]Come on over Joe, I have a spare hat for you. 
[/quote]Great!
But do you have a verandah?
I have a pokey, windy balcony overlooking a main road. Not quite the ticket.
Enough G&T and you won’t notice the difference. 
Bring some lemon slices, I think I’m going to run out soon.
I have a great little garden and a bucket of lemons. bring the G&T. Come on over.
[quote=“purple people eaters”]I know I
Me,me,me … that’s me 
It’s nice to see that there are people here just like me. I have tried to learn Chinese and can get by if need be but basically my Chinese is crap. My listening skills are terrible and I have almost zero confidence in my ability to speak. This doesnt mean that I am stupid or not living the Taiwan experience. I’m a fairly quiet person and don’t even talk that much in English so how the hell am I going to talk to people in Chinese. I still try and learn new words and characters. I even try to make my way through a children’s book now and then but I don’t see myself ever becoming a Chinese language wizard. This is the same result as when I was studying French. I guess languages are just not my forte.
:bravo: That was my initial thought after having read the OP.
Interesting thread…and I may read Tyler’s new book as a result of it! 
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/books/review/21schillinger.html?ex=1148270400&en=e8cc6375b27243b9&ei=5087
from my short experience i would say that the “watch” analogy isn’t real.
it might be so in Taipei, but here in taichung there has been many occasion when you feel submerged in a sea of non English speakers.
and I
Bobepine
Sorry I can’t work the damn quotes out!
Anyway I have almost the opposite view of you. I always think of Expats as the ones who will go home. You know the “3-5 years away and head back to Blighty for tea an tiffin” type. I think most long term (professional) expats wonder whether they will manage to stay away for the duration given that the number of expat positions is shrinking as education in developing coutries improves.
Given that the “Engrish” teacher crowd tends to be more transient anyway I wonder what percentage of us actually manages to go bush, and whether that will change dramatically in this generation Vs previous generations?
I met a guy in Vietnam who had stayed on since the war and ran an abbatoir business. He was probably the most successfully imbedded expat I have ever seen but I think he kind of harbours a vague longing to return home despite the fact that he (and everyone who has met him) knows he could never fit in.
Anyway I am rambling. for me Ex-pat means going home one day Vs Bush which means staying forever and ever and is really much rarer.
Interesting.
I’m thinking that expatriating yourself is a choice and if the choice is a permanent one, then it makes you an expat. It’s that simple to me.
Some people may be unsure how long they will be able to continue working and making a living in Taiwan. If the work runs out, they will seek employment in another country where they will also be expats but they have no intentions of ever returning home. Somewhere else but not home and if they end up at home, they’ll soon leave again on a new journey. Being home is what’s temporary for an expat, not being away from home. That’s an expat to me.
In other words, where is home for you? For me it’s where I lay my head at night because home isn’t an option. Something I have to live with. My mother was given a few years to live as she is very ill. My brother currently lives in a detox home in Quebec and he’s not the person I used to know. He’s bound to suffer an overdose any day sadly and there’s very little I can do about it, he’s a grown man with a mind of his own. What’s left of it anyways. Short of an overdose, his body will shut down, organ failure, you name it. It already happened last fall, the cops picked him up on the street and his blood sugar was so low he was about to die. Within a few years, I may not even have family left in Canada.
My decision to be here is a heartfelt one especially since I only have a few years left which I could spend with family but yet I can’t see myself moving back there. I bought a computer for my mom during my last visit and I had a friend set it up for her and teach her the basics so we can keep in touch better though MSN and emails. All my buddies are married, have kids and they have very busy lives. “Home” is a lonely freaking place for me. I like to visit but every time I do, I end up wanting to come home and that’s here on the ninth floor of a building in north Kaohsiung.
Maybe that explains it a bit. 
bobepine
Ah Bobepine, you are not alone. Your story rings true and my hope is also never to return home. Few people understand. Not sure I will ever go Bush though so the Expat tag will do for me.
I have a few qualities that would make me an “expat’s expat.” I, like I believe Toasty said earlier, have not become accustomed to the local food. And after almost 4 years here, I don’t see the problem. It just doesn’t suit my taste buds. No one makes Chinese or Taiwanese immigrants to The States subsist on mashed potatoes, country fried steak, and apple pie, for example. I’d love it if they made me do that! 
That said, I do speak a bit of Chinese. I have as many Taiwanese friends as I do Western. I do plan on eventually going home, but as to whether I’ll fit in? Who knows. I never really fit in in the first place as I am a little bit too sarcastic for the Midwest. 
Good point. Plenty of immigrant communities in the West have little use for English. Do you ever wonder why those guys in the office with US MBAs have such poor English? Because they went to the States, and hung out with other Taiwanese, and paid someone to write their thesis. They don’t need English, they just need the appearance of being able to speak English, just as the fact that I can speak Chinese (in some people’s eyes) makes me look superior to some other job applicant who can’t, even though my job requires no Chinese at all.