Living in Taipei for awhile, questions about crime

First off, I apologise if something like this has already been posted.

I’m going to be living in Taipei for about six months (attending Shi-Da, staying with a family about 15 - 20 min away). I was just wondering what the violent crime is like in Taiwan. I’ve never been there before, and I had a little run in in Amsterdam, so obviously I’m a little worried about going overseas again.

So I guess my two questions would be:

What’s the best way to not get my ass kicked in Taiwan?
What’s the biggest cultural difference between America and the island?
(Really, the two could end up being intertwined, lol)

This is one of the safest places on earth. You can walk around stone drunk at 3am and not worry. Or walk through the parks. No one gives you a hassle here. Just watch out for traffic. It is insane.

The only places you may have a problem are bars and nightclubs if you piss off a gangster or wanna-bee. Otherwise, safety is one of the great advantages of this city.

What about the cultural differences? As far as I know, the stipulations of me staying (for free) with this family is that I immerse myself in chinese as much as possible. And I know absolutely nothing about asian culture.

It will really depend on the family. They vary here as much as anywhere. Get a guidebook to give you some general pointers, but in general be quiet, don’t lose your temper, treat the elders with respect, be nice and friendly. You’re not goign to a mudwalled village on the Meikong Delta. This is a pretty modern place and the family will surely expect you don’t know much and help you out.

Wrong. The stipulation (from their point of you) is probably that you speak English. There are some exception --there was a lovely old Beijing lady years ago who took in exchange students to her old Japanese house so that she would have someone to talk to. My friend lived there for more than a year and dropped by often. I never even knew she spoke English until I heard her giving direction in the perfect St. John’s English she learned in Shanghai in the 1930s. But most folks are hoping you will speak English with their kids.

Taiwan is incredibly safe and don’t worry about making any cultural mistakes. Foreigners worry about this way too much. Taiwanese are in general very relaxed. They probably will expect you to be at home by a reasonable hour such as 11.

Haha, the “family” is really just the sister of my tutor and her husband. They don’t have any kids, and neither one of them speaks a word of english. I guess my tutor told them to make sure I “learn lots of chinese so I can make her look good.”

good advice.

there’s almost no crime here, unless you bring it upon yourself (most likely at or near a bar/club). i feel safe walking around any part of the city at any time of the day. one of the things i really like about taiwan. especially coming from a place where my apt was broken into, my car was broken into, and some crackhead-looking dude attempted to mug me while walking down the street at like 10pm.

They will likely be pretty busy and your paths won’t even cross much.

Low crime doesn’t mean no crime…Taiwan has generally low crime level, but theft and break-ins do happen. Violent crime is usually one of passion, rarely random. Don’t start nuthin’ and you won’t have to finish nothin’ 99% of the time.

Avoid scooter gangs in rurual areas. :laughing:

[quote=“vermis”]First off, I apologise if something like this has already been posted.

I’m going to be living in Taipei for about six months (attending Shi-Da, staying with a family about 15 - 20 min away). I was just wondering what the violent crime is like in Taiwan. I’ve never been there before, and I had a little run in in Amsterdam, so obviously I’m a little worried about going overseas again.

So I guess my two questions would be:

What’s the best way to not get my ass kicked in Taiwan?

What’s the biggest cultural difference between America and the island?

(Really, the two could end up being intertwined, lol)[/quote]

Violent crime is always well… violent… Best way not to get your arse jkicked is to behave yourself… Most people here are very nice so unless you are into ganster types you probably won’t encounter any problems. I’ve been here 21 years never been set apon.

Smile a lot.

I’ve been in-country almost 10 years… the worst thing that ever happened to me crime-wise was someone stole a spark plug from my motorcycle once, years ago.

I did see a pair of pickpockets working the crowd at the 2006 Wang Yeh Boat Burning Festival in Donggang. They ran away when they realized I was watching them. So though pickpockets are exceedingly rare, much rarer than in the West, they do exist, and the time to watch out for them is in places crowded enough where physical contact with others is unavoidable.

[quote=“vermis”]First off, I apologise if something like this has already been posted.

I’m going to be living in Taipei for about six months (attending Shi-Da, staying with a family about 15 - 20 min away). I was just wondering what the violent crime is like in Taiwan. I’ve never been there before, and I had a little run in in Amsterdam, so obviously I’m a little worried about going overseas again.

So I guess my two questions would be:

What’s the best way to not get my ass kicked in Taiwan?
What’s the biggest cultural difference between America and the island?
(Really, the two could end up being intertwined, lol)[/quote]

Nothing to worry about. Most violent crime here is internecine, and if you learn how to say sorry and walk away even if it’s your “fault” in a pub, you should do ok.

The only two violent episodes I encountered in over ten years was another foreigner and a traffic incident.

I’ve heard of plenty of pickpocketings here, more than at home it seems to me. I’ve only heard about one mugging though.

There are jerks who is will kick your butt in Street Fighter 4. I swear, they cheat! Not because I’m old and out of the game.

Oh snap. Do point me to the nearest arcade.

…I caught a rat trying to steal my weetbix last night…

I had a woman steal my heart . . . :stuck_out_tongue:

possibly one of the more common “crimes” on the rock

Most of the crime in Taiwan would seem to be restricted to property crime. My inlaws live in a small village and yet every house has bars on the windows and a big metal barrier that slides down at night completely sealing off the house from the outside world. Apparently the reason you are safe from mugging on the streets is because all the crooks are over at your house trying to break in.