I just signed up to ask for some help. I do not think it’s normal here, but I’ve had to endure a lot of name calling when going out. At first it was just at Uni and it was appearance related, but then it got to the point where I cannot go to Jiufen or Fulong without hearing really nasty comments. Going by the gravity of the situation, and taking into consideration I stayed at Uni most of the time and didn’t have the opportunity to come face to face with everyone in Taiwan, I’m guessing there is some sort of cyber component to it. I am on a partial scholarship (the reason why I’m here on the first place) and I do want to pursue an academic career. So if I go back, it would reflect badly on my applications to other Universities. I’ve just have one year to go, but the stress of the situation makes normal interactions quite challenging for me.
Here is where the call for help comes into the equation, my mandarin skills are pretty limited, so I was wondering if anyone here could link me to some video/source where defamation and damage to reputation of a 20-something foreigner female is going on. I would be extremely grateful!!!
More than mocking, at first I think it was just curiosity. I am very tall and my features are quite ambiguous. So what I could get was mostly attractive/unattractive? Also I tend to look quite tense. I’ve had social anxiety in the past, so I tend to feel uncomfortable in crowded spaces and being observed. I’ve been getting better in that respect, but I think that increased the curiosity of people? Lately I’ve been getting more serious comments (crazy, problematic, bad), sometimes accompanied by gestures that are less ambiguous: outright mocking, taking pictures of me with flash, that gesture you do around your head to signal someone is not quite well. Also pretty weird things in English? Like “get some braces!,” “go back” (that one only happened once). Sorry for the long reply, it is really hard for me to describe the experience, that is precisely why I am dubious about addressing it directly in the moment (there is always space for misunderstandings?).
Last thing, I hope not in the news! I wouldn’t know, anyway. But maybe someone takes the same MRT route and knows what I’m talking about jeje.
If no one has heard about any video or something, thank you anyway (also any advice would be well received, I do believe my SA is setting people off, from where I come from it is more of a personal issue? Maybe here is different?)
I’m sorry but this sounds completely absurd. I have never in my whole life witnessed Taiwanese people that weren’t school-aged outright mocking a complete stranger in public.
Most Taipei citizens are used to foreigners, even foreigners that look unusual. I find it very hard to believe that anyone is actually paying this much attention to you, or to any person or thing aside from their phones.
The mocking comes from fellow students, I also would find difficult to believe in it otherwise. Your message is actually quite reassuring: Thank you! I will keep it in mind!
Although if someone else has any experience with something similar, it would be greatly appreciated (maybe I am not thick-skinned enough?).
I am short, fat and have no hair on my head. Also, I have black teeth and am usually drunk. I have never been mocked for those failings. And I take public transport regularly.
I’ve also not heard of strangers outright mocking someone’s appearance on the street or in the MRT. Even if someone were horribly disfigured like Tom Cruise in ‘Vanilla Sky’ I’d find it hard to believe. Perhaps your social anxiety is making you draw conclusions about other people’s behavior that isn’t necessarily what it seems.
If it’s fellow students then… I don’t know. Teens can be cruel, yes. But you said you’re a graduate student. Most kids grow out of being outright bullies by the time they go to university.
I’m not the person to come sweeping in and defend Taiwan but I’ve never heard nor witnessed anything like this outside of the occasional run-in with a drunk person and, even then, it’s fairly far from what you described.
If you’re on the MRT, I find it hard to believe that more than two people looked up from their phones to even notice you.
If you have social anxiety and limited language ability I would encourage you to record the interactions, even if simply for your personal reference, and then come back and see if what happened is what you really believe.
I don’t know but this sounds like paranoia. OP suspects an orchestrated campaign of name calling and cyber bullying due to some imagined abnormal appearance? I’ve seen Taiwanese with late stage face cancer happily ridng the MRT. I’ve seen Taiwanese with faces covered in warts happily going about their business with no harassment. This is all quite bizarre.
