Relax, it could be worse. You could be turning…Belgian!
[quote=“Belgian Pie”]My brain is like a ‘mush’ at the moment, haven’t left Taiwan for almost 4 years now … probably some kind of record in it’s own way … but I’m still hangin’ on … Am I becoming Taiwanese?
I know what you mean … we had a pretty decent place here where I live … until some binlang brains moved in and started smoking and dumping their cigaret buts in the elevator all the time … they still keep doing it eventhough I kicked one of them out a few days ago and earlier I had complained to our chief security guard about it and he would check the elevator’s surveillance video … don’t know if he really did tho[/quote]
Yup… I was very very happy where I lived. I could face the Everyday Taiwanese Shit knowing that I could come back to my castle every night and get a good night’s sleep. Then some Taiwanese moved within a ten mile radius and the rest is history.
I must live in a divinely-blessed bubble. In 3 years, no one has ever shouted “waiguoren” at me. My apartment is quiet at night (except, of course, during CNY). Strangers very rarely ask me unwelcome questions or even speak to me at all. My girlfriend’s parents like and accept me. I think my single biggest annoyance here is the noisy and obnoxious gaggles of American and Americanized-local teenagers from TAS who plague my neighborhood. Of course, there are plenty of daily urban frustrations, but generally fewer than I’ve encountered in NYC, Houston, London, or Paris.
What do you all define as lousy weather, anyway?
I think it’s the lack of sunlight and post-chunjie vacation doldrums. Isn’t it this time of year in the US when people get stir-crazy?
Normally, people here aren’t this cranky, so a big outbreak of it is probably the weather. As it is, I’m leaving permanently/for now on Monday morning and I’m quite nan guo. I really love all of my friends here (mostly Taiwanese) and I’ll miss the noise and attention.
Those TAS kids are something else, I tell ya.
NZ is going off. But, a completely different place to here. I guess it all depends on where you NEED to live to do your job, and in all honesty if I could do my job in NZ, then that is where I would be.
Of course I am biased…
[quote=“Truant”]NZ is going off. But, a completely different place to here. I guess it all depends on where you NEED to live to do your job, and in all honesty if I could do my job in NZ, then that is where I would be.
Of course I am biased…[/quote]
I can do my job pretty much anywhere in the Asia-Pacific region with internet and phone access, but Japan is where the money’s at for me right now. I very nearly managed to get a visa to live in LA but that went down the pan when 9/11 came along. Taiwan seemed like a good compromise - cheap living, I speak the language, short hop to Tokyo/HK/Singapore. The extra time/money/language barrier involved in setting up a Japanese company seemed too big at the time and in theory I can make more money by living in Taichung while making regular trips to Japan but… well, you know the rest.
My mum has been in Taipei for a few months now and while she doesn’t regret coming, she doesn’t want to stay. She’s 70% certain that she won’t bother renewing her Taiwanese student visa this May and will look for a teaching job in Tokyo instead. I’ve been encouraging her that it’s a great idea for obvious reasons 
[quote=“llary”]
I can do my job pretty much anywhere in the Asia-Pacific region with internet and phone access, but Japan is where the money’s at for me right now. I very nearly managed to get a visa to live in LA but that went down the pan when 9/11 came along. Taiwan seemed like a good compromise - cheap living, I speak the language, short hop to Tokyo/HK/Singapore. The extra time/money/language barrier involved in setting up a Japanese company seemed too big at the time and in theory I can make more money by living in Taichung while making regular trips to Japan but… well, you know the rest.
My mum has been in Taipei for a few months now and while she doesn’t regret coming, she doesn’t want to stay. She’s 70% certain that she won’t bother renewing her Taiwanese student visa this May and will look for a teaching job in Tokyo instead. I’ve been encouraging her that it’s a great idea for obvious reasons [/quote]
So, why not somewhere cheaper in Japan?
You must be very lucky or not have good ears. I hear it several times daily.
Last week, 8:30 in the morning, I’m groggily grabbing a bit of breakfast at a greasy spoon, some flip-flop wearing betel-nut chewer says, “Herro! Herro! Where are you come from?” 8:30 in the morning and I’m not in the mood for chit chat with random strangers pointing at the waiguoren like I’m a monkey in a zoo, I ignore the guy. I go in, get my breakfast, and as I’m walking out, now he goes, “Fuck you! Fuck you!”
There are a lot of forumosans that need to chill out. Having people stare at you and the like is hardly a terrible outrage. Most Taiwanese cause us no bother, so why dwell on the few who do.
Since Taiwan is so incredibly crowded, we cross paths with more people here than we do in western countries. Thus, greater potential for running into assholes.
Would the percentage of foreigners who are assholes/arseholes be higher than their local counterparts?
I get the “herro, herro” thing from small children, which doesn’t bother me. (Come on, they’re kids.) Another couple of times from obviously crazy guys, but that happened much more often in New York. Anyone who tried “Fuck you” on me would get a quick and very thorough lesson in etiquette.
llary, I suggest Japan. Much quieter. And beer in vending machines.
I’ve found that the longer I’m here, the less the bullshit gets to me. The waiguoren shouters are amusing now. The traffic is just a video game I have to play on my way to work – of course they swerve in front of me, there’d be no challenge otherwise (I still have the occasional screaming homicidal tantrum on this one, but they’re getting rarer). And so on.
I think the key is the house. I’ve been mostly lucky here, and having finally gotten engaged to a real estate agent, now have an awesome place with no neighbour trouble at all (there’s even a community of dog owners in the park downstairs!). Having a castle to call my home is probably what lets me brush off the rest of it.
[quote=“llary”][quote=“Truant”]NZ is going off. But, a completely different place to here. I guess it all depends on where you NEED to live to do your job, and in all honesty if I could do my job in NZ, then that is where I would be.
Of course I am biased…[/quote]
I can do my job pretty much anywhere in the Asia-Pacific region with internet and phone access, but Japan is where the money’s at for me right now. I very nearly managed to get a visa to live in LA but that went down the pan when 9/11 came along. Taiwan seemed like a good compromise - cheap living, I speak the language, short hop to Tokyo/HK/Singapore. The extra time/money/language barrier involved in setting up a Japanese company seemed too big at the time and in theory I can make more money by living in Taichung while making regular trips to Japan but… well, you know the rest.
My mum has been in Taipei for a few months now and while she doesn’t regret coming, she doesn’t want to stay. She’s 70% certain that she won’t bother renewing her Taiwanese student visa this May and will look for a teaching job in Tokyo instead. I’ve been encouraging her that it’s a great idea for obvious reasons [/quote]
Well, in all seriousness, I think a 9-11hr flight from NZ to your main market would get pretty tedious and expensive, but that all depends on the frequency I guess.
I would agree with others in suggesting Japan. What about the Philippines? Nice people and climate out on an island somewhere…
8 days of constant, dripping rain and greyness coupled with cold, humid weather interspersed with one and an half days of sunshine, shortly followed by a further 3 days of rain.
I hate Taipei’s weather. Give me back English weather any time. At least it’s varied.
Yeah - you can actually taunt them back by pointing and calling them names. They usually scuttle away.
So far, I have no regrets at all about leaving Taiwan after 18 years there. Yeah, sometimes it would be nice to pop out for late night munchies or something, but overall, I miss it like I’d miss an outbreak of herpes.
Llary, if I somehow precipitated your current crisis I apologize.
Go to India for a couple of weeks. You’ll think Taiwan is efficient and organised after that.
FWIW, I love India - spent almost 18 months there.
[quote=“cfimages”]Go to India for a couple of weeks. You’ll think Taiwan is efficient and organised after that.
FWIW, I love India - spent almost 18 months there.[/quote]
Or the mainland. Or Thailand. Heh.
Living in the sticks in Japan is pretty backward, too. Some things about it, I hated. For example, they would come around at 6 am in the morning with a loud hailer and wake everybody up. Now that is some fucked up shit.
The attention, greetings and comments don’t really bother me at all, and I can’t recall that they ever have. In fact, I barely even notice them now, and always try my best to respond with at least a smile.
The noise is the hardest thing to cope with. Neighbour and/or construction noise forced me to move time and again during my first few years here, often when I was otherwise highly satisfied with my accommodation. It has been by far the main souring factor in my life in Taiwan, and has provoked me into numerous bawling, quivering explosions of anger. Whenever I find a truly quiet place to live, my level of happiness soars, and nothing else has the power to protractedly dampen my spirits.