How do you spot foreigners?

That’s all, folks.

Easy!!! They take longer strides (they don’t shuffle).

Clothing is sometimes a giveaway. Usually (though I admit it’s a generalisation) foreigners will dress in a “sporty casual” way. And when they’re driving scooters, they seldom have more than two people on and both are usually wearing helmets…) Footwear tends to be more western, too (higher quality and/or casual). Few wear toilet shoes or shuffle shoes out.

Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, though, someone will surprise you…

You mean ‘westerners’, rather than ‘foreigners’ perhaps?

Can’t put my finger on it, but westerners move differently to asians. Noticed this in Thailand, the awkward falang stand out a mile amongst the supple, loping Thais. You spot this way before any other feature is noticeable.

With women here it’s easy, westerners always pick up their feet when walking. (ouch)

Posture - westerners in general have poor posture compared to Taiwanese

i suggest a slight correction to one of the answer choices: “seen holding hands with a butt ugly Taiwanese girl.”

don’t mean to offend anyone, but the objective fact is that when i see a foreigner with a local chick, that local chick looks like frankenstein’s half sister. :sunglasses:

You calling my girlfriend ugly Sunshine? :wink:

Someone trying to make new friends here!?

My wife is not ugly.

You probably wanted to say: Whenever I see a butt ugly westerner he is invariably accompained by a delicious-looking Taiwanese girlfriend or wife (or both).

I’m the ugly one!

I tried to blend in by doing the “foot drag,” but I just couldn’t manage it. I don’t think I could do the “umbrella tip drag,” either. I’ll always stick out like a sore thumb! :cry: Resigned to that fact, I do a lot of really conspicuous trucking, especially when I reach the top of the MRT escalator.


Trucking is so cool :sunglasses:

Western women are easy to spot from behind because they are for the most part extraordinarily pear-shaped compared to their equivalent-sized Taiwanese counterpart.

Poagao, you have opened up a can of worms here.

And you mention drag: This thread is bound to drag on ad infunum.

Man, I must look like Bruce Lee to you then, 'cuz my girl’s a hottie that turns heads on both sides of the street! :sunglasses:
But then again, [color=red]Qingren yanli chu Xishi…[/color] :wink:

KenTaiwan98
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Posted: Today at 19:14 Post subject: T-shirts in winter :wink:


you can always spot the foreigner who’s just arrived …

even in winter, (s)he is wearing a t-shirt with no sweater and no jacket!

Man, it’s cold in Tamsui (Danshui)!

Kenneth

My beautiful wife was forced to choose a foreigner, because she didn’t want to limit her options to a pencil-necked geek with a scrawny butt, bad eyes and a medieval attitude toward women.

Funny how ignorant racist stereotyping works both ways, eh ar-grp?

Curly hair

Seems it was a can of worms just waiting to be opened.

Curly hair, yah. Especially on a man.

When I first arrived in Taiwan I was a year out of fashion acording to the locals. One girl even asked me why (despite my otherwise fashionable appearance) I was still sporting curly hair. Didn’t I know it was out of style? I tried my best Freida impersonation (“I’ve got naturally curly hair.”) but no one got it.

As for spotting foreigners, I disagree with the nice footwear post. Running shoes, no matter how new, are little better than flip flops IMHO.

Gortex is a dead give-away. As is being slouched over on a scooter.

Going to a bar to drink and have a good (loud) time, instead of playing Jenga and sipping a glass of water.

Being female, pear-shaped, and butt ugly. Sad but true. I’ve met a couple of exceptions, but most of the western women here have no chance of distracting my attention from the locals.

Knowing where you are going, and some sense of having to be there at a certain time.

Moving in a decisive manner, at a reasonable speed.

Barging on/off trains, on/off escalators, or through any narrow doorway shouting “Come on. Move it, for Christ sake.” I usually think it, but have heard it very loudly on a number of occasions.

Walking around with an empty ice-cream wrapper in your hand until you find a bin to put it in, as opposed to just dropping it on the floor for ‘someone else’ to take care of.

I’ve noticed that the foreign people who seem to have settled down here have a different demeanor than the newbies. I spot a newbie much easier than a long-termer, who seems to blend into the concrete much more easily that the kid who’s just arrive. I think the long-termers recognize me as such as well. We usually exchange a polite nod, as if to say, “I know.”

I’ve also noticed that many Western women here carry seriously disdainful looks on their faces much of the time. I don’t think it’s personal. I just think they’re pretty unhappy here, or they’re trying, unsuccessfully, to don the typical “emotionally unavailable” look of a club girl back home, not realizing what a turn off that is. Of course, some foreign women in Taiwan are gracious. I like to think that if I crossed paths with jrc, Sharky, ImaniOU, or Terry, I’d be able to give, and return, a contented smile.

[quote=“tmwc”]Going to a bar to drink and have a good (loud) time, instead of playing Jenga and sipping a glass of water.

Being female, pear-shaped, and butt ugly. Sad but true. I’ve met a couple of exceptions, but most of the western women here have no chance of distracting my attention from the locals.

Barging on/off trains, on/off escalators, or through any narrow doorway shouting “Come on. Move it, for Christ sake.” I usually think it, but have heard it very loudly on a number of occasions.

[/quote]

We live in different worlds, apparently. I’ll respond point-to-point:

  1. Are you kidding? My local friends are far bigger party animals than I am. They get me going.
  2. Um, you might want to look up “objectify” in the dictionary. I prefer my girlfriends lithe too, but many overweight women are quite pretty. I wouldn’t equate being overweight with being unattractive.
  3. I find that many foreigners in Taiwan actually take it slower than the locals on trains and the subway. I don’t think they find it necessary to fight their way to the front so that they can stand in line earlier.