I think people elsewhere may be the same
How many people have real friends in the office that they meet with outside the office regularly?
I can count on one hand after decades working in office environments in Taiwan and the USA
The number of people that are actual friends
Most coworkers are just that ….coworkers ….they are not friends and you do need to tread carefully
You can’t be friends with people you have zero interest in what they say and they will know you have zero interest and in turn have zero interest in you
You have to be a friend to get friends
You have to be interested to be interesting
Seems common in many places besides Taiwan.
…Because they like they to ask intrusive questions of others but share nothing of their own lives.
yep, from each job I had in the past I stayed friends with 2 or 3 people after leaving, from dozens I worked with in each place. it’s nice to have friendly co workers, but they are just that… you choose your friends.
You need to ask them
Not asking means you don’t care and they won’t automatically blabber it all to you
It’s polite to ask impolite not to
In Taiwan , the alternate universe
When you ask they got nothing to say. Or don’t say anything. Poor conversationalists.
Then you realize you are not a good fit and find someone else
Solution answer post above
I never laughed about taiwan…
Generally speaking you will find the people further south to be more genuinely interested in you and thus, friendlier - as in TaiZhong, TaiNan… So take what others say about YOU with a grain of salt
I don’t understand why people here in Taiwan are so obsessed with making “friends” at work.