yeah it sucks… I’m a big advocate of being able to move freely to the most suitable location for someone to be, so it pains me that people get sucked into life permanently in one location, especially if they don’t necessarily like it that much there 
I hope things will change in the future where we can rely less on human labor and we can focus on what matters, developing/evolving and creating, and treating each other with love
Every country has laws literally designed to enforce this.
You know this because you need visas to go to any country. Even “visa free” is still a visa.
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What…? 
No it’s not. Visa-free/visa exemption programs aren’t visas by definition. It’s in the name.
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I would hope (well I’m sure) that in about 100 years the main factions of this world will stop imprisoning people in countries and allow them to move freely to the place they most resonate with 
it’s not nice
I think they are technically, at least, how I see it is visa exemption is an agreement between countries that allows people from one country to automatically receive a visa upon entering the country, or at least, I get a stamp (both an ink one and a paper one, I believe) in my passport whenever I come in, so…
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It’s still a visa. It can be denied (like in the US if you ever been denied a visa, you lose it forever), and it has conditions. It’s technically a tourist visa that is granted on arrival. If it’s conditional, it’s a visa.
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OP,
Sorry to hear you are down and out in Taipei. It happens to all of us sometimes. Try and think of it as a bizarre dystopian computer game, and you might get through.
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If you go to the markets in the morning, you can get a huge bunch of sweet potato leaves, water spinach, or other greens for 25TWD. Two of them and you will be stuffed for the whole day. I have done that many, many times. Green food, even though it can be a drag to eat, is one of the most healthy options.
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You said, in your first post, that various churches etc are “too far away to walk”. If you are broke, and have nothing to do, even 2 hours walk might be alright. Unless, of course, you are unable to walk far, for reasons unknown.
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Many churches will probably give you some food, if you come off as sincere and hardworking. You may even find some English tutoring ‘work for food’.
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You can cold soak noodles in 30 minutes. Noodles plus dark leafy greens is one of my staples. I eat tons of it… its very very inexpensive, and its also one of the best foods on the planet.
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If you go to a church etc… focus on your strengths, and goals for the future, instead of over-emphasizing your sad story. Once they are convinced you really want to tutor for food, you will probably be alright.
If you found five churches near to you… you are most likely going to find a path out of here. They have afternoon and weekday services, so you could assemble a timetable, if you think clearly and lucidly. -
If you find someone who can assist… I would not lean on one person too much. 5 people and you might be alright.
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If you are dejected, watch Game of Thrones videos. It will improve your sense of strategy and tactics.
Good luck in The Great Game.
~O~
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He should come to Danshui, and you guys can form some kind of Militia.
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Alright, you are technically correct with the visa stuff… but… what… realistically, are the chances of OP getting busted by a Taiwanese SWOT team if he spends a week or two on a kindly Taiwanese person’s farm?
About 10 million to one? Maybe less.
The Taiwanese police can barely make it to the constabulary in the morning, let alone actually track anyone down.
The sitaution is in the hands of the Gods now.
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Hard to believe Taiwan was the cheapest place to go from Japan. The Philippines almost always has cheaper airfare and significantly lower cost of living. It also has far more widely spoken English. Op, if you can manage to raise enough money, I’d reccomend the Philippines over Taiwan to save money.
As for free food, I don’t know about anywhere that’s got free food other than samples at carrefour (and Costco but need a membership for that) carrefour samples usually only on weekends from what I’ve seen.
I didn’t see where you are at but I think there’s a Buddhist soup kitchen type place in Datong. I think that’s what it us but I’m not 100% on it
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OP, please be aware that about a third of Taiwanese people will be really helpful. A third neutral… and unfortunately, there will be 10 to 30% who really enjoy seeing a Western person down on his luck. They will do everything they can to keep you trapped in The Looking Glass, so to speak. For them, it’s kind of like a slow burning Squid Game.
I lost my wallet a month or two before I left Taipei. The guy in the post office wouldn’t let me withdraw money with only my passport as ID. He was all BuhaoYisi about it, but I could tell he was really enjoying it.
So choose wisely. If you told 10 churchgoing (or the right Buddhist temple) people of your situation, and presented yourself cleanly, the odds of you succeeding are fair.
I think that Ximending, Yuanshan, Xindian and Tamsui are probably the best places to be in this situation, in Taiwan.
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No, it’s not. I’m really not sure how (or why) you come up with this nonsense sometimes. The countries that issue them don’t regard them as visas, which is why they call them — wait for it — visa exemptions or visa-free entry.
It’s permission to enter without a visa. A visa granted on arrival is something else entirely — called, unsurprisingly, a visa on arrival.
Also, no. Your description is again a visa on arrival.
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Do you play The Morningstar Game?
Maybe he is trying to starve OP out.
Nah, I’ve never heard of it. 
No idea what he’s doing, except for inserting more irrelevant and unhelpful wrongness into yet another thread. 
I think we’re quite fortunate as westerners to have pretty lax visa-free schemes for a lot of places, and I’ve definitely taken advantage of them myself, but I can understand why countries aren’t really keen to have people coming who aren’t able to properly support themselves while they’re here.
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I definitely understand the subtleties and nuances of the situation. No one wants to encourage situations like these… but realistically, how many foreigners are doing this in Taipei right now? Very few, and OP seems sincere.
Taipei can definitely absorb this for a few weeks.
So… in general… why would a local appear on this thread…
… to subtly, and persistently, try and intimidate someone away from even swapping English tutoring for a few bowls of food? Or getting informal work on a farm, which seems like a viable path. Why try and scare them off?
So why would some locals act like this is Bladerunner, or Neuromancer… and OP will get swarmed by lawbots if he stretches the bounds of his non-visa in an emergency situation?
As others have said, the Philippines might be a better option.
Having lost my wallet a few times. I just plain realized that some developing world / Oriental people get a massive kick out of seeing a Westerner down on their luck.
What if Paris Hilton lost all her credit cards and ended up trapped in South Central LA for a month? Its kind of like that.
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Nailing down a stable source of income would be even better. I was just in Manila. They have enough poor hungry people.
She could just uhm flash her cooch?
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I was wondering… what percentage of people in Manila are genuinely underweight, and look like they don’t get enough food? Maybe 10-20%? I don’t know.
Im sure some of them are really having a difficult time. I know there’s a lot of poverty in PH.
But I just went through, in my head, all the times someone tried to guilt trip me out of money these past few years. In about 5 different countries. 8 out of 10 times the person playing on White Guilt was pretty obese.
Im not singling out any country, as it happens all over. And this has nothing to do with OP.
I just wonder if they realize how comical it looks. An overweight person trying to stiff money out of people who exercise and eat right.
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Poor people can be obese. Garbage calories.
I noticed that years ago. They eat a lot of rice and beans, and that can be high carb.
Im judging them or being naive.
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When a person from Thailand / Laos / Indonesia / The Philippines looks at a tourist and says “My mother is sick // water buffalo is sick // my children no have food”- how often does a donation get spent on what they claim it’ll get spent on? Maybe 30 to 50% of the time? About 3 weeks ago this fat guy was trying to guilt trip me out of food “for his family”. It was hard to bite my tongue.
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People have the right to eat what they want… but should slim people be going without food so fat people can eat even more? Why should I go without macadamia nuts or protein powder, so some fat dude can buy an extra ration of pork chops?
I saw that in East Timor. A village where 30% of people were close to dangerously skinny, and 20 to 30% of them (the leaders) were massively overweight.
I went to one of their meetings. There were skinny farmers queuing up to give money to the fattest couple in the village.
I usually make a point to give money to the highway exit panhandlers in NY. I tip generously to the working folks in Manila, taxi or grab drivers. They’re the ones who take care of their poorer family members.
It’s quite humbling. I’d probably kill myself before I’d beg from strangers. Protestant upbringing I suppose.
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I had the same situation many years ago. My passport and wallet was stolen and the bank manager with a huge smile wouldn’t even give me 2000nt to go to Taipei to get a replacement even though she saw me the week before when I opened the account
Then I had an adult student find it amusing that a company wouldn’t hire me since they don’t hire foreigners with an APRC.
Many people also like the fact that a foreigner has to renounce to become a citizen. A lot of passive aggressive anger with some people who feel all foreigners have a specific purpose. SEA people for factories and taking care of Amah and whites to teach their bratty kids English. Know your role
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