I don’t understand how this is relevant…[/quote]
Perceptions Super Hans Perceptions. People sometimes believe my wife to be a foreigner and then are surprised at her Mandarin, because she is totally fluent :roflmao:
Some foreigners have spoken to my wife not in English assuming she maybe from the same country as they are from. Now my wife is fortunate to have lived and studied abroad so has learnt a few foreign languages. It does bring up some amusing moments.
NO, they probably try to avoid each other.
[/quote]
Interesting! Anyone else second that?
I don’t get too worried about it. But it is a strong indication that we seem to them to be very different.
[quote=“Satellite TV”]We have a lot of backpackers coming up to my village in Alishan from Europe. It’s funny when some of the local kids get all excited by the presence of some foreigners and come
rushing over to my house to say there are some foreigners visiting. What about me I ask? They reply, what about you? To the kids I am not a foreigner just a local they have known their whole lives. The kids are just nervous they might not be able to communicate with those visitors. Often the local guest house will call my wife and ask her to help out with translating to some of the visitors.[/quote]
I am sure that the long term existence of someone in a small community is very different than someone in a city like Taipei or Taizhong, especially one who has only been there for a while.
<---- Me pretending not see you, averting my eyes and crossing to the other side of the street. Foreigner? What other foreigner?
Bugger off! I’m communing with the Asian zeitgeist here! :fume:
'sup.
I was having lunch with Maoman today, and he was telling me how at Lotus Hill it is a mecca of mixed race families where a lot of the kids play together speaking both English and Chinese. One poor local lass was in a play group with some other girls of mixed heritage, one girl asked the local girl if she also had a foreign parent, the local lass answere no both her parents were from Taiwan.
The mixed lasses response, “Oh you’re weird” because all the other kids she knows at Lotus Hill come from mixed parentage.
MY son was lucky to grow up here pretty much before the current explosion of lots of mixed kids being around. When he was living in Alishan he was just another aboriginal kid to
those visiting our village. One morning when he was about 12 years old some foreigners and locals visiting were near my house being rather noisy early in the morning. My son asked the locals in Chinese if they could ask their foreign friends to be a bit quieter as I was still sleeping. Actually I was in bed but had been woken up by these noisy people.
The locals repeated to their foreign friends the polite request in English. The response from those foreigners was to tell my son to shut up and fuck off. So he just shouted back in English, well you’d better be quiet before my father comes up here with that 3 foot machete hanging by the window, cuts of your head, and shits down your neck.
I thought it was pretty funny actually. He caught them out by total surprise because they perceived he couldn’t understand English.
But he’s never had a problem at local schools here for being of mixed heritage. Anyways, for 6 years at the American school in Taichung he was one of the few kids of mixed heritage. Never had any issues living in the Chung as he had Uncle Chaon to play Axis and Allies and other war games like Risk and Chess.
We all know Chaon knows how to take care of kids :roflmao:
I was having lunch with Maoman today, and he was telling me how at Lotus Hill it is a mecca of mixed race families where a lot of the kids play together speaking both English and Chinese. One poor local lass was in a play group with some other girls of mixed heritage, one girl asked the local girl if she also had a foreign parent, the local lass answere no both her parents were from Taiwan.
The mixed lasses response, “Oh you’re weird” because all the other kids she knows at Lotus Hill come from mixed parentage.
MY son was lucky to grow up here pretty much before the current explosion of lots of mixed kids being around. When he was living in Alishan he was just another aboriginal kid to
those visiting our village. One morning when he was about 12 years old some foreigners and locals visiting were near my house being rather noisy early in the morning. My son asked the locals in Chinese if they could ask their foreign friends to be a bit quieter as I was still sleeping. Actually I was in bed but had been woken up by these noisy people.
The locals repeated to their foreign friends the polite request in English. The response from those foreigners was to tell my son to shut up and fuck off. So he just shouted back in English, well you’d better be quiet before my father comes up here with that 3 foot machete hanging by the window, cuts of your head, and shits down your neck.
I thought it was pretty funny actually. He caught them out by total surprise because they perceived he couldn’t understand English.
But he’s never had a problem at local schools here for being of mixed heritage. Anyways, for 6 years at the American school in Taichung he was one of the few kids of mixed heritage. Never had any issues living in the Chung as he had Uncle Chaon to play Axis and Allies and other war games like Risk and Chess.
We all know Chaon knows how to take care of kids :roflmao:[/quote]
Yes, but what we all want to know is: did you buy the banner ad? 
I don’t get too worried about it. But it is a strong indication that we seem to them to be very different.
You are different, that’s a good thing for kids to learn there are many different people they are going to meet in their lives.
For many young expats who have moved here to live it is there first time to live in a foreign country ( Don’t include mouseheads that move to yankee doodle dandy land ) where even communicating with the locals was fairly difficult. Go back 20 years in Taichung and not many locals spoke English. I wasnt even sure if Chaon spoke English back then as all he could say was 可不可以
Yes well we all go through adjusting to a new life in new cities. I got here in 1988 and lived in Taipei before moving to Taichung in early 1990. I used to get stared at by foreigners
at the local Frog and other bars just because I drove a new car. When I was studing Chinese at Feng Chia Uni I drove up to the front gate one day and the guard asked me who I was, so I told him 我是講師 instead of saying 我是張仕安 ( dropping the last part of my name and of course getting the pronunciation wrong ) he would nod and wave me in and would park my car inside the university campus. It took them a few months to find that “lecturer” who was parking there without a university permit was studying Chinese :discodance:
Life here being different to everybody else is a blast.
Yes, but what we all want to know is: did you buy the banner ad? [/quote]
Watch this space
Yes, but what we all want to know is: did you buy the banner ad? [/quote]
Watch this space [/quote]
He made you, via hpnoisis, place that ad.
Super Hans: My questions are:
I’m just wondering how differently, if at all, other cultures are in this respect. Plenty of native English speakers are really anal about it.
I share dbbowman’s suspicion that many westerners here aren’t worth much time. yet they do have that certain je ne sais qois…
That should be je ne sais quoi
I was having lunch with Maoman today, and he was telling me how at Lotus Hill it is a mecca of mixed race families where a lot of the kids play together speaking both English and Chinese. One poor local lass was in a play group with some other girls of mixed heritage, one girl asked the local girl if she also had a foreign parent, the local lass answere no both her parents were from Taiwan.
The mixed lasses response, “Oh you’re weird” because all the other kids she knows at Lotus Hill come from mixed parentage.[/quote]
Well, the kids of “mixed parentage” are local too, right?
And those of “non-mixed parentage” better get used to it (or get reproducing), 'cos things, they are a changing.
Yesterday, after work, I went to a Family Mart on the way to visit Scooter Sam. A Taike bloke had stopped at the same time as me and his gf/wife had gone into the FM. As I walked past him he was “eyeballing” me. My first thought was, “WTF are you looking at?” So, remembering this thread I smiled and nodded (the “hi” nod). He smiled and nodded back.
I think I’m going to do this more.
A smile covers a multitude of sins.
Indeed it does, Doc. Indeed it does. 
My smile has metamorphosed into a guffaw - my cup runneth over, me thinks!
One time I was on a crowded bus and I suddenly thought of this joke that had me kinda chuckling to myself… suddenly there was a LOT of space between me and everyone else. IF you dont want to do what Bis did and just smile and nod, then you can chuckle to yourself and they will think you are 51.50 and leave you alone.
Thing is, I’ve been working on my demeanor recently. I have a permanent scowl and people tend to think I’m pissed off, so even if they would normally have said hi, they tend to leave me alone. I’ve been trying to remedy this by not scowling and coming across as more friendly. Hence my greeting all and sundry.
Yes like that greeting etched on a rock in Hawaii “SMILE IT NO BREAKA YOUR FACE”
[quote=“bismarck”]
Yesterday, after work, I went to a Family Mart on the way to visit Scooter Sam. A Taike bloke had stopped at the same time as me and his gf/wife had gone into the FM. As I walked past him he was “eyeballing” me. My first thought was, “WTF are you looking at?” So, remembering this thread I smiled and nodded (the “hi” nod). He smiled and nodded back.
I think I’m going to do this more.[/quote]
That almost always works, but some looks I can’t smile at. It depends