My thoughts about Taiwan after a month

I’m off to Tokyo now and looking forward to it. Peace, quiet and order . :sunglasses:

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Have a good one👍🏻

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and watch people go by all evening on their scooters.

Vietnam has lots of scooters too… just saying.

I think most stress in Taiwan is self-induced.

OP is in the honeymoon phase. We’ve all been there

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Yup. It’s really easy to idealize a place when you haven’t been there for long.

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Of course, and for sure Taiwan has it’s issues. My original post was basically trying to establish if what I had noticed after being in Taiwan for a month as others see it too, or whether it is the “I’m not at work so a swamp looks like a luxury spa” effect.

I have some issues with my current personal situation in the UK and have always wanted to go abroad for a bit, learn another language and get out of my comfort zone a bit. My attitude isn’t “oh the UK is rubbish” because it isn’t, more like I have an opportunity, quite liked Taiwan’s way of life and could probably survive for a year here before returning to the UK and doing something different career-wise, potentially.

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A year…You either stay one month or ten years. None of this year business., Let’s get real :joy:

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not common at all. theres a reason a bunch of old people die every winter.
i can kinda see their point though. last year i didn’t even need to use my space heater once. used the electric blanket every day though.

Self-reported surveys are always meaningless. According to Gallup’s polls Taiwanese ppl are the least stressed. It’s all about how the questions are worded.

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It was a privately funded survey too, which the adults in the room know, means there is some angle to it.

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Well you’d have much fewer paid leaves, for one.

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(re) gretably accurate
First the euphoria upon arrival (you have actually landed in a new dimension whilest yet unbeknown to thyself)
Then the mold sets in like athlete’s foot within your first year
In your second year there comes doubt, to stay or not to leave , to leave or not to stay.
In your third year you have your final chance at firing up the saturn V, meantime the roots start to grow stronger.

If in three years you have not escaped Taiwan’s orbit, then ten years seems just the next day.

And after that the dust of Taiwan has sprinkled on your soul and you will be forever just at least a tiny bit Taiwanese.

None of this is a bad thing now…I met this young taiwanese lassie a few years ago, who was aghast that I had stayed away from the island for as long as I did…She said “but tommy we are taiwanese , we MUST return to the island…we MUST RETURN”

somehow my mind drifted to the two pink lady fairies who live in a box (little barbie dolls ) who could SUMMON MOTHRA…

indeed such powers.

If yee enters these waters of Taiwan, be forewarned, it will likely change you FOREVER ! :slight_smile: Not that that is necessarily a bad thing hear.

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(re)78614bly accurate

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So what happens after 10 years? :wink:

Yeah I have no doubt Taiwan has made a lasting impression on me, I wouldn’t go entering the water though if I can help it… I only did that once in Wulai and scolded me foot :sob:

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Yeah I’ve heard it’s around 19 compared with a minimum of 27 (including public holidays) for the UK. Is day-to-day working life any different? Long-ish hours I gather?

I’ve lived in 5 different places here and none of them have had AC with the heating feature. But, I’ve always lived in a taofang so a space heater is good enough.

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No landlord is going to buy one. They cost NT$30K and up. But they’re worth it.

All the rental places I’ve lived in have had aircon units salvaged from the back of the recycle truck.

Oh yeah, I forgot to ask - did you guys bother with the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine before you came to Taiwan?

i used them when i lived in shanghai. the winter was cold AF there. even more miserable than the taiwan winters. legit minus 0 degrees cold with the humid rainpocolypse on top of it.

yea the work culture here is a real shit show. easy to get a job compared to england though.