So I decided to try the “feed them complete bullshit” suggestion when approached by complete strangers and asked for personal or legal documentation.
Yesterday morn grabbing breakfast while chatting with my friend a stranger saunters up and sits behind us to evesdrop on our conversation, after 5 mins or so he just interupts with a series of half demand/questions.
Hey you, Teacher! Do you have Taiwan legal ?
where are you from?
Kukamunga.
Where is that?
close to Walla walla.
What state is it in?
A very sad state of affairs, they closed the fatboys burger shop.
What country are you from?
you mean now?
Yes now!
I am in Taiwan.
Looks at me starts to get angry.
I am asking you where did you come from!?
My house.
What country did you come from !?
You mean now?
No!.. where were you born?
At the hospital.
What is wrong with you?
My tummy hurts.
Starts to mutter and swear in mandarin about dirty wai guo ren and storms off!
When he gets to the door I say, “hey are you a cop?” he looks at me blank faced, “because you got the asshole rountine down!”
Wow I can say in the two and a half years I’ve been here I have never had anything remotely like this happen to me. I’ve never been asked by a police officer or anyone else for identification. I speak Chinese and I’ve never had any integrative type questions in Chinese or English directed my way. The whole situation sounds bizarre.
Ironically I had some strange slightly inebriated foreigners asking my life story last Friday though.
[quote=“ralphy”]Wow I can say in the two and a half years I’ve been here I have never had anything remotely like this happen to me. I’ve never been asked by a police officer or anyone else for identification. I speak Chinese and I’ve never had any integrative type questions in Chinese or English directed my way. The whole situation sounds bizarre.
Ironically I had some strange slightly inebriated foreigners asking my life story last Friday though.[/quote]
I have been here 3 and one half years and this did not start happening to me until the last year. It might be that I am completely comfirtable and have stopped looking and feeling like a guest.,
I have most definately found that many people who were nice to me when I was doing the whole “step it and fetch it” rountine have now become very ugly.
it would seem s soon as I became comfortable enough to stop feeling akward (sp?) I am now a prime target. For instance the other day at 7 11 a man cut in line in front of me, I politely asked him to line up in Mandarin. he looked at me and said in English, “I am a Doctor!” to which I replied, “And your an asshole. Your mom must be so proud! Now line up!”
I know this makes me an arrogant whitey to many, but fuck it why should I let people treat me like a second class citizen. I pay taxes and I try to be civic minded.
Well, just because no one wants to ask YOU… [/quote]
They don’t cut in line in front of me, either. Courtesy of my finely honed stink-eye probably.[/quote]
They don’t cut in front of me either. I squat down a bit, spreading my legs and arms and wave the arms as if gaurding Michael jordan. No one dares to make eye contact, much less ask a question.
Now, this sort of nonsense I have experienced. I was cussing out some jackass because he wasn’t getting his dog under control and it was threatening my dog. He was fooling around slowly and I started getting really angry, and my cussing intensified… he looked at me and said, “I’m the District Attorney”. I told him I don’t give a flip who he is, he’d better get control of his dog. He repeated his idiotic statement and I lit into him, verbally. I berated him in front of the gathering crowd and told him that as the DA, he ought to know and obey the law… set a good example for the rest of us… asked him if he was above the law (that requires us to keep our dogs leashed). Doofus was furious… but, so was I.
If you live in the south, this kind of thing happens a lot. I take the train everyday, and at least once a month somebody on the train would start asking me a lot of personal questions. Like, what’s your salary? Where do you come from? Why did you come to Taiwan? Etc. It drives me nuts. I also just make up silly answers and then look for a new seat. Urgh!
Try answering questions with questions…confuses the bejesus out of people…Also answer in any foreign language that you can speak…I’ve done it in German, French, Acadian French and a language I made up. Makes for some good stories at the bar.
Now, this sort of nonsense I have experienced. I was cussing out some jackass because he wasn’t getting his dog under control and it was threatening my dog. [/quote]
Oh this kills me too. Walking my dog, and when their dog begins to growl and bark up a storm and mine runs away they give me the eye like I’m the one responsible.
The other thing that kills me is when I see them try to do something, like throw a ball at my dog and then act like that wasn’t their intention.
Woman: Hello! Where are you come from?
Me: (already pissed off because I broke the original bulb trying to take it out of the socket at home, it’s pouring rain outside, and I can’t find the right size). Hmm.
Woman: Hi! Are you South Africa?
Me: No. Are you?
Woman: (laughing) Ha, ha. I have family live in South Africa.
Me: Wow. Amazing. What makes you think I’m from South Africa?
Woman: Ha, ha. You have the black(uh) skin.
Me: And you have yellow skin. That must mean you’re from China.
Woman: Ha, ha. No, I am not from China. I am Taiwanese.
Me: And I’m American. What a coincidence.
Woman: Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.
(doesn’t get it that I don’t want to talk to her.)
Sometimes people don’t get it.
Sometimes they do.
I try to be happy and sunshine-y and disarm starers with a smile. But after a 10-hour workday on what was a beautiful sunny day for those who didn’t have to spend from 10am to 10pm working to enjoy it, I was not in a good mood (to put it lightly). As I was walking along the train station to the exit, I heard someone behind me say, “…heiren.”
Apparently the look that I shot was nasty enough for the woman with this person to profusely apologize for her companion. It wasn’t intentional. I actually don’t know what look I had on my face, but I can only imagine after the day I had had that day.
