Negative Propaganda towards Foreigners having an effect on Locals - BE CAREFUL

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
21

Ah, I see now. Thank you for explaining.

That is something I also mentioned: if we start to look for negatives, we will find negatives. I have this crazy belief that your attitude “molds/shapes/creates” your reality. You scowl at the beginning of the day, you will have a rough day kind of thing. It is not that you will become a magnet for all bad things to happen as per Murphy’s law, but rather that you will notice the smallest inconvenience and make an Everest out of a grain of salt.

Which is why I try, when I encounter people who treat me unfairly, to bounce back, to let it roll off me like water off a duck’s back. But still, I am concerned at what I preceive to be this constant needling of “furriners = bad” I see on the media. But then, I have to face the media often. And the “you are a foreigner = you do not understand/it is not the same” crowd even more often. Comes with the territory. Hence, I am biased and my opinions should be taken with a pound of salt. Yet, as an old timer, I have seen most of all, can’t remember it all, but cases aplenty.

I had also mentioned sometime we could face the extra attention as if we were really celebrities -which we are: I am the famous furriner of alley 16, known to all for the biggest garbage bags in the hood and the meanest dogs in the block. Do we want to pull a Michael Jackson or be suave like, like, … ehem, help me here? George Takei?

22

I haven’t seen any change at all. 99.9999999% of the Taiwanese people I meet are matter of fact but cordial at worst, incredibly generous and kind at best.

I think what people are trying to tell the OP, mostly in a nice way, is that pricks bring the hate upon themselves with their behaviour.

23

I think some are “thinking too much.” Most locals know who and what the media are here, and don’t tend to take it overly serious. It may be true that in a conflict, some locals may go xenophobic. But that is not new, and hasn’t changed from times past. People shouldn’t wring their hands to excess over some news stories. For every one there is about a foreigner behaving badly, there’s at least a hundred about locals doing the same, or worse. Excuse me while I say, “meh.” Same ol’ same ol’.

24

Two thumbs up to this. And a couple of toes, too.

Almost every foreign friend of mine who has spent a substantial amount of time in this country comes away talking about how friendly and inviting everyone is. And what about the ones who don’t? I have a friend who complained about how Taiwanese society is godless and therefore amoral, how everyone is out to steal your money and leave you for dead, and how Taiwanese girls aren’t very good in bed, adding something to the tune of “trust me on that, I’ve been with plenty of Taiwanese girls and none of them were anything special.”

That last comment tells you something about his personality, doesn’t it? Confrontational people tend to be met with reservation and confrontational attitudes, and in his case, I think the Taiwanese people he encountered could tell he didn’t respect them, so they had little respect for him. Imagine a European in the US who goes around criticizing how American beliefs, manners, and fashion are so backward – how do you think the locals are going to treat that guy?

Of course, I don’t mean to always blame the victim, but from what I’ve seen, it’s mostly when people who don’t respect Taiwan that they feel they are not getting respect themselves.

25

Wake me up when it gets this bad:
metropolitician.blogs.com/scribb … korea.html

26

[quote=“hansioux”]
In fact, now that the law is made for American imports, Taiwanese local products are still not allowed to have any β-agonist. The Americans have all the advantages on this one.[/quote]
I especially enjoyed how several Taiwanese meat-products tested postive for higher levels of the beta-agonist in question but that news did not get as much play in the Taiwanese press and the whole issue seemed to quietly go away not long afterwards… :whistle:

27

[quote=“Xeno”]Wake me up when it gets this bad:
metropolitician.blogs.com/scribb … korea.html[/quote]

Just finished reading the comments section. :astonished:

28

Another foreigner on the news right now for having many girlfriend who he secretly videotaped while having sex.
One of his “girlfriends” claims to have been day-raped.
It’s on apple news.

http://www.nexttv.com.tw/news/realtime/latest/10745749/%E3%80%8C%E6%B4%8B%E7%89%88%E6%9D%8E%E5%AE%97%E7%91%9E%E3%80%8D%E6%B6%89%E6%80%A7%E4%BE%B5%E3%80%80%E5%81%B7%E6%8B%8D29%E5%A5%B3%E6%80%A7%E6%84%9B%E5%B8%B6

29

Is a TKU/Tamkang student in the news these days? I was just walking across the Danshui campus, and a TVBS crew wanted to interview me about some western-looking kid (she showed me the picture on her phone). I didn’t know him, and said as much, although my answer would have been the same if I had known him.

The woman who spoke to me was nice enough, but wow was one of the camera guys looking daggers at me. One of the few ugly looks I’ve received in a very long time.

And my own personal paranoia watch: I got really worried when I saw yellow tape on campus, but quickly figured out it wasn’t a crime scene, just groundskeeping.

EDIT: HamletinTaiwan, you posted while I was writing - god I hope we’re not posting about the same person! There’s already too much of a chasm between the non-Taiwanese students and the Taiwanese ones at TKU.

EDIT PART TWO: Ah, crap. Looks like it may be the same guy, who perhaps I shouldn’t have referred to as a “kid” above.

30

Figures, huh?

31

[quote=“Tempo Gain”][quote=“lostinasia”]
but wow was one of the camera guys looking daggers at me. One of the few ugly looks I’ve received in a very long time.
[/quote]
Figures, huh?[/quote]
Who knows really. It’s the peril of reading threads like this - I start to see things that may not even exist. I interpreted it as hostility, but it could also just be that the guy naturally has a shitty expression on his face, and it meant nothing.

32

Could be, but from what I know of TVBS I’d tend to trust your first instinct here.

33

[quote=“Xeno”]Wake me up when it gets this bad:
metropolitician.blogs.com/scribb … korea.html[/quote]

No doubt Koreans are much more likely to hate foreigners. The short time I’ve spent there I’ve been randomly told to f-off for no reason at all while out in public (mostly from females, go figure). I received numerous “bad looks” but never felt like I was about to get jumped. The Koreans are a funny bunch though, some of the nicest strangers I’ve encountered were in Korea. The older folks there were usually nice even when they learned I was American. I guess having some firsthand knowledge of the effects of the civil war there made them more likely to appreciate the help from the U.S. at the time. The younger ones just want the U.S. GIs to get the hell out it seems :ponder: The Korean War was a bloody damn event with 10s of thousands of U.S. soldiers dying on their behalf. No wonder they think we’re scum :loco:

34

Not only US soldiers died, there were thousands of other United Nations troops involved too.

Koreans can be ultra nationalistic, which can forment a warped few of the world.

35

[quote=“lostinasia”][quote=“Tempo Gain”][quote=“lostinasia”]
but wow was one of the camera guys looking daggers at me. One of the few ugly looks I’ve received in a very long time.
[/quote]
Figures, huh?[/quote]
Who knows really. It’s the peril of reading threads like this - I start to see things that may not even exist. I interpreted it as hostility, but it could also just be that the guy naturally has a shitty expression on his face, and it meant nothing.[/quote]

Hauling that ginormous camera all through the stairs and slippery hills of TKU while chasing a story? Of course he’ll have a nasty expression on his face, especially when he thought he could be done with one sound bite from you.

36

According to this source,

That works out to hundreds of cases of rape a year, and most likely thousands of allegations a year. So why are they all over this allegation? Seriously, the TV stations must have told the police stations “give us a call if you have any cases with big noses, the public just loves seeing them prosecuted and charged and they make such good channels for peoples anger”.

Anyway, if he taped it, it should be easy enough to see if its rape or not, although even if its not, if he was taping without the other parties consent, and depending the laws here, he might be charged with that anyway.

sowf.moi.gov.tw/stat/english/eto … iminal.htm

37

[quote=“Icon”][quote=“Xeno”]Wake me up when it gets this bad:
metropolitician.blogs.com/scribb … korea.html[/quote]

Just finished reading the comments section. :astonished:[/quote]

I’ll admit that blogs like that caused me to bump Seoul off my list when I was pondering where to move to a month or so ago. I read some really horrifying stuff about the expat experience there… with brief moments of comic relief:
theunlikelyexpat.blogspot.kr/201 … -from.html

38

[quote=“Xeno”][quote=“Icon”][quote=“Xeno”]Wake me up when it gets this bad:
metropolitician.blogs.com/scribb … korea.html[/quote]

Just finished reading the comments section. :astonished:[/quote]

I’ll admit that blogs like that caused me to bump Seoul off my list when I was pondering where to move to a month or so ago. I read some really horrifying stuff about the expat experience there… with brief moments of comic relief:
theunlikelyexpat.blogspot.kr/201 … -from.html[/quote]

So…you’re making decisions based on what strangers on the Internet write? Do you think that is a wise approach? 80% of what is written on these boards about Taiwan is written by people who don’t speak Mandarin or Taiwanese, have formed few or no close relationships with Taiwanese people, and how have no knowledge of the cultural environment they are living in beyond what they see. A lot of it is pure, unfiltered bullshit, rich in false assumptions and poor in empirical evidence and knowledge.

I go to various regions in South Korea 2-3 times a year for up to a week at a time. One of my best friends, an big blonde American, has lived there for five years.

I am as foreign-looking as you can get and I absolutely love going to Korea. Never an issue with anti-foreigner hate for me or my buddy. Never once.

39

I’ve visited Korea quite often too , while I’ve always been treated relatively well I’ve never known a more insular people or place in my life!

The drunk Koreans get angry easily and it’s the only place in Asia I’ve been shoved out of the way when trying to get a taxi and sworn at. There are a lot of really pissed off people there.

Then their theories on how Korea invented most Chinese stuff is bizarre.

40

[quote=“Tomas”][quote=“Xeno”][quote=“Icon”][quote=“Xeno”]Wake me up when it gets this bad:
metropolitician.blogs.com/scribb … korea.html[/quote]

Just finished reading the comments section. :astonished:[/quote]

I’ll admit that blogs like that caused me to bump Seoul off my list when I was pondering where to move to a month or so ago. I read some really horrifying stuff about the expat experience there… with brief moments of comic relief:
theunlikelyexpat.blogspot.kr/201 … -from.html[/quote]

So…you’re making decisions based on what strangers on the Internet write? Do you think that is a wise approach? 80% of what is written on these boards about Taiwan is written by people who don’t speak Mandarin or Taiwanese, have formed few or no close relationships with Taiwanese people, and how have no knowledge of the cultural environment they are living in beyond what they see. A lot of it is pure, unfiltered bullshit, rich in false assumptions and poor in empirical evidence and knowledge.

I go to various regions in South Korea 2-3 times a year for up to a week at a time. One of my best friends, an big blonde American, has lived there for five years.

I am as foreign-looking as you can get and I absolutely love going to Korea. Never an issue with anti-foreigner hate for me or my buddy. Never once.[/quote]

To be fair Thomas, you a) don’t work in a hogwan, and b) don’t date local ladies. Nor, as the blog warned against, do I assume you are loud and obnoxious in small spaces.

My first foray into thinking of relocating to this side of the 'fic, was to place a resume on Dave’s ESL Cafe. WIthin a day I had 50+ offers to be flown to The RSK. I immedeiately did some Seoul searching and within the hour, turned my attention fully on Taiwan. Even with an 80/20 rule negating the lion’s share of negativity about the place, there were far too many accounts of discrimination/bad business dealings and ultra-nationistic xenophobia to let me even consider one of the myriad offes sent my way.

As has been stated upthread, one creates one’s experience and Thomas has an aura around him of goodwill and positivity (me not so much) and would most likely not encounter what thousands before him have. Likewise, I have never personally encounterd prejudice here and the most negative aspect of living here has come from other expats.

Not sure what my summation here is, other than to lightly disagree with The Great T. Sorry mate. Korea is a no fly zone for this kid.