Sometimes I feel kinda pathetic cause I frequent this forum. I mean, after all, I haven’t lived in Taiwan for a long time. My date of removal:
November 1, 1999. That’s over six years ago. And I’ve been back to Taiwan for a visit only once since then. In fact, come to think of it, I’ve now been back in Canada just a bit longer than I was in Taiwan in the first place. Time flies!
My excuses for frequenting this forum? Here they are:
I had a great time in Taiwan.
I enjoyed the expat community in Taiwan when I was there, and at times I really miss it. This is one way of participating in it.
My job (Chinese translation) and my wife (Taiwanese) keep up the ties and the association with the place and the language.
This is a pretty good forum, all told. It’s an interesting mix of personalities and topics.
So, has anybody out there been gone from Taiwan longer than I have while still posting on or viewing Forumosa? Or am I the only (sad, pathetic) one who can’t get on with his/her life?
Well, you’re doing better than me, my trip to Taiwan was cancelled due to SARS, so I never made it, and the combination of economics and immigration status will probably keep me out until at least next year. My wife (Taiwanese) put me onto the site as a place to maybe pick up some advice about how foreigners do in Taiwan.
I last lived in Taiwan in 1970 though I’ve been back for many visits.
(Yes, 1970. You guys have no idea of how much Taiwan has changed since I first lived there in 1965. I’ve been married to a Taiwanese since 1966.)
I’m a more recent ex-expat, having left in July 2005, and I would add one more excuse to your list:
Bored at work.
Funny enough, my #5 was also a primary excuse for reading Forumosa when I was in Taiwan. As long as there are interesting things to read and I am bored at work, I see no reason to avoid Forumosa in an attempt to prove that I have “moved on” in my life. I’ve lived approximately 8 years of my life in Taiwan, starting in 1989, and like many foreigners, I maintain a love/hate relationship with the place with more of the love flowing the farther I am from it. In order to balance things out, I’ll be in Taiwan in about a week for a visit after a China business trip so that I can get some of the hate flowing again.
