I like mayonaisse on my fries too. But just to spare the hassle of the McDonald’s crew, who might not understand want I want, I’d rather settle for the ketchup.
I’ve always imagined myself saying in Chinese 
:
“Yo mayo, Mayo?”
(trans: You have mayo(naisse) or not?)
But I haven’t tried doing it. Only on this board 
.
I hate to say it, but McDonalds in Taiwan is about the worst in the world, even China is better in terms of both food and service.
I don’t eat dead animals, only dead seafood. It drives me a bit nuts that you always have to wait for a fish burger, they never have one made, at any time of day. The Chinese aversion to wasting food is nice, but this is supposed to be fast food ferchris’sakes!
Also, I always have to check my order carefully before leaving the drive-through as about half the time, the order is wrong or incomplete.
You think it’s hard getting mayo on your fries?, think about how hard it is to be a vegetarian here!
Taiwan vehicles have indicators .
Well, well, well, NrG, that’s one helluva list. Ever think about relocating to someplace where you’d have less to gripe about? Might be a good idea.
And Jeepers, I’m sorry you don’t like funerals. They can be very inconvenient. Like when they block access to your little lane (thereby making you detour all the way around the block to park your scooter after such a long, hard day).
Or when the family dares to have a procession for a dead loved one with loud music at 10am on Saturday morning (don’t they realize this interferes with the much-needed sleep of hungover expats). I agree, Taiwanese should be more accomodating to foreign sensitivities and give up those annoying habits and traditions, like dying.
If every place on earth was just like your beloved western “home” country , there wouldn’t be much point to living abroad, would there?
Kindney pucnhes can slow down the old ladies or at least stun them until you are on the bus
I have come to the conclusion that at least two memebers of everyone’s family is going deaf or hard of hearing… hence the tendancy when speaking to shout
Alien … the third point…
Regardless if it is old women in buses or something else… Taiwanese people don’t really give a damn for anyone except memebers of their immedaite family, or anything except their 2 million NT BMW, or other ridculoulsy priced items.
Face it are ignorant, stupid people… BTW I am generalizing… but in my experience that must count for something or have some truth … this is what I have found
To paraphrase a comment from a the Kinmen Gorilla Governor.
" We have to face it … Taiwanese people are not just as smart as those vegatables"
Mainly the ones who speak Taiwanese in gravelly, haggish, voices. Mandarin is typically spoken at lower decibals. But, Cantonese is another ‘auditory invasion’. It could be that one must screech in order for the numerous tones to be heard correctly. 
Actually I think they are pulling the phlegm up from their toes… hence the necessity to give a loud, grunting draw
Your kid’s three and still can’t read! Wow. What’s the matter with it?
At last I have found out where local motorists learn their driving skills: http://www.doggiesnot.com/. Note the following: [color=blue]“Wait until after you have started to turn or change lanes to use your signals.”[/color] This rule is followed by nigh-on 100 percent of Taiwanese car drivers.
These Taiwanese English (and Chinese) newspapers are wonderfully absorbent for paper-trained dogs and birdcages, etc. They’d probably even make a decent papier mache or packing material for parcels sent to loved ones. But they’re too skinny; at home a Sunday paper would have lasted all week, but ironically, at home it’s not necessary to paper train dogs, is it? I guess they’re at maximum output for the drivel that they do produce. Hey, at least the exchange rates are there.
btw, does anyone have the time and/or motivation to issue this summons ( doggiesnot.com/morsum.htm ) in Chinese? At least for parking like an idiot? I’ll buy you a latte next time you’re in PuTze. I really need some of those (lattes and parking summons).
Try visiting Mainland to witness the height of Chinese waste elimination.
Could be another one of those “traditions”…
To scare ghosts from toilets:
Piss on floor (or seat, if there is one) and leave bloody sanitary pads and poop-covered paper face up in overflowing dry waste receptacles.
Btw, the 4 or 5 star hotels have nice toilets.
It’s kind of an oxymoron when you think about it. “Pet” is something you love, cuddle, and try to keep from drinking out of the toilet. “Peeve” is a complaint or annoyance. So I guess your “pet peeve” is your favorite complaint.
[quote]To scare ghosts from toilets:
Piss on floor (or seat, if there is one) and leave bloody sanitary pads and poop-covered paper face up in overflowing dry waste receptacles.
[/quote]
shouldn’t that have been in the Taiwan Ghost stories thread?
Cathey Freeman must have been here before McDonald’s arrived. They have nice bathrooms (for Taiwan) and there’s lots of 'em.
I’d hardly say this was a regular occurence, and even if it was it isn’t that big an issue. Watching someone weld does no permanent damage to your eyes, and you need to get reasonably close up to get ‘arc eye’ anyway. I’d be more concerned about burns in this case, but as I said, how often do you see people welding ‘in the midst of many little children’?
What’s the big issue with this??It’s been done for centuries, and still is in probably every country in the world! Doesn’t make a building any more or less likely to fall down. What makes you think that the stuff that arrives in a nice shiny (chance would be a fine thing) lorry is any better?
Hardly a construction technique unique to Taiwan!
I’d hardly say this was a regular occurence, and even if it was it isn’t that big an issue. Watching someone weld does no permanent damage to your eyes, and you need to get reasonably close up to get ‘arc eye’ anyway. I’d be more concerned about burns in this case, but as I said, how often do you see people welding ‘in the midst of many little children’?[/quote]
Pretty often, actually. It’s probably not so bad in the north, but down here people weld out in front of their homes, often with little ones prancing around very close. The welders also have no protective gear whatsoever, except for their skin and eyelids. When the school where I teach was being built, the welders stayed in the middle of the playground during recess (yes, we were holding classes before it was finished, in the midst of the construction). Usually small groups of kids would gather around the welders to watch, and the administration did NOTHING. When I told the kids they had to stay away, the office staff looked at me like I was on crack.
What’s the big issue with this??It’s been done for centuries, and still is in probably every country in the world! Doesn’t make a building any more or less likely to fall down. What makes you think that the stuff that arrives in a nice shiny (chance would be a fine thing) lorry is any better?[/quote]
Maybe it does; the mortar is of irregular consistencies and is not applied evenly, causing large pockets with only air in them. I know bricks are porous, but really…
At least the stuff in the lorry is of consistent quality and is mixed continuously, and for the amounts of money that people pay to build here, it makes sense to attach some quality, does it not?
Hardly a construction technique unique to Taiwan![/quote]
Ah, but does that make it right? Really, what’s the point of building a drain in the first place if there will always be residual water on the floor?
I’d hardly say this was a regular occurence, and even if it was it isn’t that big an issue. Watching someone weld does no permanent damage to your eyes, and you need to get reasonably close up to get ‘arc eye’ anyway. I’d be more concerned about burns in this case, but as I said, how often do you see people welding ‘in the midst of many little children’?[/quote]
I’ve seen this quite a few times, maybe not with lots of children around, but right along a sidewalk with lots of people (and children) walking past or through the work.
I also saw someone sanding metal without protective eye wear, and right on a sidewalk. I know 2 people who thought they just had colds (red irritated eyes) and when they went to the doctor, they found tiny little metal pieces in an eye. I used to wear contac lenses so I’m just very nervous about getting anything caught in my eye (when it gets between lens and eyeball it can cause really infection–learned that the hard way).
Jennifer
[quote]although i have often thought of it, (but i’ve never had the guts to do it) point back at them and yell - “kan zhong guo ren”. has anyone ever done that?
[/quote]
When people point at me (British) and say “Meiguoren” I point back and say “Ribenren”.
[quote]it is rude, impolite and downright wrong to point to foreigners in public and yell “look a foreigner”. If i did that back home i would be arrested.
[/quote]
Come again?
Loudly advise the kids that they are embarrassing their parents by making it clear to everyone around they are unable to send their offspring to a bilingual school and thus be used to the sight of a big nose. Evil, but it works every time.
I once read a great anecdote by an American expat who had lived for some years in Japan with his family. He had thought his kids had adapted very well to life there until they went on holiday in Hawaii. The kids were running up and down the beach screaming “Gaijin, gaijin!” and pointing at all the Japanese tourists there…
BTW, the terms ‘meiguoren’ and ‘waiguoren’ are considered interchangeable, as many of us westerners use the terms ‘Chinese’ and ‘Taiwanese’. Don’t sweat it, they could be calling you worse things 
BTW, the terms ‘meiguoren’ and ‘waiguoren’ are WRONGLY considered interchangeable.
[quote=“guest”]endlessly having children and sometimes grown people point and say “ni kan, weiguoren”…
although i have often thought of it, (but i’ve never had the guts to do it) point back at them and yell - “kan zhong guo ren”. has anyone ever done that?
Also, parents who let and encourage their children to approach me when i’m in a restaurant, on a date or whatever, and have that child talk to me in english. I’m not a mobile teacher and i want my time to myself.[/quote]
Yes, I have responded with “kan taiwan ren” several times. Usually gets a laugh, and - perhaps I’m being hopelessly naive - I believe the point I’m making maybe understood by those nearby.
Kids seldom come up to me, but I often see their parents trying to get them to do so. Normally the kids are not brave enough. If the kids do come up, I go right over to the parents and act like a loud, backslapping American, speaking English real quick. When the parents fail to answer I say loudly in Chinese “You don’t speak English?” turn to those around “They don’t speak English?”
But most of the time, if I see someone interesting, I just point and stare. When my girlfriend complains about me doing this, I say “well, it’s acceptable here… I mean, Taiwanese do it all the time…”