Though you still can’t pronounce it correctly. 
hi bob honest. plain old bob here. you forgot to mention having your ARC taken care of, never being asked to do the dishes and generally being treated like a retard with nuptial privileges :bouncy:
[quote="yeti][quote]
yeah I can see that :p[/quote]
Sure, it’s better than whining because things won’t change to accommodate me isn’t it?
Or as Tomas said “…waste away in self-pity, ignorance, and self-defeat here in Taiwan.”
[quote=“bob_honest”]… simpy marry a local gal to accomodate yourself here.
Not speaking Chinese, you will never know why she, maybe being the 3rd daughter, is suddenly fighting with the first daughter and so on. You can keep out of all that stuff. As she is over 30, she will sit on her Mama’s sofa whole day (after work) anyway and you have enough time for yourself.
Initally, she wants to pay US$ 500 montly to her Mum, later you get her down to US$ 300 (as she discovers not all foreigners are rich), then down to US$ 100 as she discovers you are probably a poor sob and after you have shown her your bank account it will go down to US$ 0.0.
All nice and easy. And you can eat food for 50 Taiwan Dollar in shops, where no foreigner wants to go to (but the food is first quality and delicious). In the end, your mum-in-law will lend money to you, cook for you and you end up rich and fat in Taiwan and a dozen kids call you shoo-shoo something.
ups, I am too talktive today 
[/quote]
Christ this is just gut splitting hilarious… 
Is this the alter-ego of bob, village idiot bob? All these names are confusing 
Just some B@XZQ./()
In my opinion, LOVE and HATE are closely related to each other in Taiwan.
_Getting here, having no place to stay, no friends, nothing whatsoever,
then Taiwan can really suck.
_On the other hand, once you have here for a few days, get settled in a youth hostel, meet some of the weirdest foreigners in Taiwan, break through the language barriers with a big SMILE on your face, learn basic SURVIVAL CHINESE “xiexie” thank you, “ni hao” hello, “zai jian” bye bye, you may get another look on it.
_Language exchange can be fun, be careful though for the “language for SEX-EXCHANGE”! Taiwanese, who speak a bit of English, can help you enormously. One Taiwanese even registered a motorbike on her name, so my friend could cross around and teach English at various places within one day.
_Building up a SOCIAL NETWORK depends upon the kind of personality you have. If you are outgoing, have a friendly personality, bla bla bla, you won’t have any problems making friends here. Going to pubs, Oriented Happy Hours, … are just some opportunities. Ever heard about Toastmasters; Taiwanese trying to make English speeches?
_Any TAIWANESE FRIENDS? Taiwanese tend to socialize during weekend activities.
_Did any of you guys ever tried to inscribe yourself in a local library, do so volunteer work (working in a hospital), … and that way try to make some Taiwanese friends?
_Just going along with the stream will bring you very far in life.
Smoothly going along with every new opportunity which may arise.
Enjoy your stay.
[quote=“lsieh”]
Is this the alter-ego of bob, village idiot bob? All these names are confusing 
[/quote]
Nope, I called myself “honest Bob” way back in Germany, when I was a used car dealer for 2 weeks. After having sold 2 cars, I just could not stand the guilt anymore and retired.
That’s all the fun. Once you’re an old hand, it’s all old hat.[/quote]
Pleasssse, I have moved 13 times since 1997 and it’s never been fun and i am still not an old hat. I just say go with the flow, and have goals, expectations can sometimes create resentment, disappointment, and bitterness…A lot of baggage to be carrying around when you are trying to navigate a new leg in your journey called life.
Being no native English speaker (But German), I needed my dictionary to understand “nuptial”, but it is 100% correct :s
Even scarier is the language sexchange.
[quote=“bob_honest”] … simpy marry a local gal to accomodate yourself here.
Not speaking Chinese, you will never know why she, maybe being the 3rd daughter, is suddenly fighting with the first daughter and so on. You can keep out of all that stuff. As she is over 30, she will sit on her Mama’s sofa whole day (after work) anyway and you have enough time for yourself. [/quote]
Sounds like my former missus - but I do understand what they are fighting over… My bad, I guess… 
[quote=“bob_honest”]Initally, she wants to pay US$ 500 montly to her Mum, later you get her down to US$ 300 (as she discovers not all foreigners are rich), then down to US$ 100 as she discovers you are probably a poor sob and after you have shown her your bank account it will go down to US$ 0.0.
All nice and easy. And you can eat food for 50 Taiwan Dollar in shops, where no foreigner wants to go to (but the food is first quality and delicious). In the end, your mum-in-law will lend money to you, cook for you and you end up rich and fat in Taiwan and a dozen kids call you shoo-shoo something.[/quote]
Now, before we start to bet all waxed here… What to do if you can’t get them down from the US$500? That’s what happened to me, and my mother-out-law can’t cook. 
We have to give the poor bloke some good advice, and body language/fluid exchange without them outlaws attached would be a better start…
So Robert, are you alive?
I second the suggestions to move to a hostel. People will help you around, you’ll have someone to talk to. You can ask how to posta letter, catch a bus, buy vegetarian food, dial overseas etc etc. I still have good friends I made from my hostel experience 5 or 6 years ago.
Just throw yourself into it man. You must have had at least some sense of adventure when you decided to come to Taiwan. So be adventurous.
Brian
[quote=“wolf_reinhold”]
Instead of going to that Third World shithole backwater commonly known as Canada, [/quote]
eh? careful now, or we really do bomb the baldwins … or send a raving group of hockey-stick weilding fans down to take out their frustrations on the cancelling of the 2005 season. nothing else to do up here except drink beer anyways … sheesh 
Yeah I’m alive, still looking for a place and visiting a bunch of houses/apartments in a variety of parts of the city.
Was gonna go to the Forumosa Happy Hour thing but didn’t make it. Will be looking around for coffee/tea/food and socializing opportunities I’m sure.
[quote=“Robert Marotz”]Yeah I’m alive, still looking for a place and visiting a bunch of houses/apartments in a variety of parts of the city.
Was gonna go to the Forumosa Happy Hour thing but didn’t make it. Will be looking around for coffee/tea/food and socializing opportunities I’m sure.[/quote]
And will you be thanking those who took the time to care about you, or will you be like most people, who ask for help, get it, and then don’t bother to thank those who helped?
[quote=“Tomas”][quote=“Robert Marotz”]Yeah I’m alive, still looking for a place and visiting a bunch of houses/apartments in a variety of parts of the city.
Was gonna go to the Forumosa Happy Hour thing but didn’t make it. Will be looking around for coffee/tea/food and socializing opportunities I’m sure.[/quote]
And will you be thanking those who took the time to care about you, or will you be like most people, who ask for help, get it, and then don’t bother to thank those who helped?[/quote]
Them sharp elbows Tomas.
[quote=“lsieh”][quote=“Tomas”][quote=“Robert Marotz”]Yeah I’m alive, still looking for a place and visiting a bunch of houses/apartments in a variety of parts of the city.
Was gonna go to the Forumosa Happy Hour thing but didn’t make it. Will be looking around for coffee/tea/food and socializing opportunities I’m sure.[/quote]
And will you be thanking those who took the time to care about you, or will you be like most people, who ask for help, get it, and then don’t bother to thank those who helped?[/quote]
Them sharp elbows Tomas.[/quote]
Yeah! Who’s sounding like a grumpy old curmudgeon now, eh Tomas? 
I opted to make that last post short there, and I deleted several fully-articulated (and specific) thank-you comments before submitting it.
I apologize that I spent too much time before offering my appreciation, I wasn’t aware it was being waited on.
I’m deeply grateful for all of the constructive advice and interesting discussion offered in this thread.
[quote=“Robert Marotz”]I opted to make that last post short there, and I deleted several fully-articulated (and specific) thank-you comments before submitting it.
I apologize that I spent too much time before offering my appreciation, I wasn’t aware it was being waited on.
I’m deeply grateful for all of the constructive advice and interesting discussion offered in this thread.[/quote]
Anyway, you’re sounding a lot less… um … hysterical than you were the other day. You’ll do fine.