I still think that the more foreigners there are around (or expected to be around) in a given place, the more staring goes on per foreigner. That’s been my experience, anyway.
Maybe I just don’t stick out that much (not blond, no blue eyes, not tall), but I hardly ever feel stared at here in Taipei. On the contrary, I feel that people usually take me rather normal. The place where I live is not exactly a foreigner place, but nobody ever freaked out about my living there. And when I speak Chinese, most of the time, people just answer normally. Do I live in a different world than you guys? Or is it just that I spent some time in Mainland where we would get stared at all the time and people would completely freak out about our “great” Chinese when we only said Hi?
Just wondering :?
Iris
I think a lot of this is down to how you conduct yourself. You look like you know where you’re going, what you’re doing, and you attract less attention. I wear a ‘ping tou’ and look like one mean sonofabitch, and I get left pretty much alone, which is how I like it. I don’t look Chinese either, but I’m surprised how often Taiwanese visitors to the city will stop me to ask for directions, in Mandarin, and fully expect an answer back. I guess I just look like I know where I’m going.
I also like the anonomity a car with mirror-tinted windows delivers and walk around a lot less these days. Not that Taichung has any sidewalks anyway 
The endless ‘patting of the horse’s ass’ is tiresome, but quickly ended with some ‘Nali, nali’ and a quick change of subject back to the business at hand.
I’m not stared at in San Xia, especially when i dress in black and wear sun glasses. People here know that my family in law is triad connected. 
Just joking … hmm … although … 
Sorry, Hsiadogah, what’s a ‘ping tou’?
Or anyone for that matter…?
Omni:
Don’t you know that women, be it Taiwanese or Western… have always had to contend with the fact that mass media markets Pamela Lee Anderson size hooters as the best!
Rather than the American “we must we must we must increase our bust” cry that all pre-teen american girls go through… Taiwan has just invented padding…
Oh, and even though I am a woman I have to agree what is with all the padding? Come on, like you guys can’t tell its padded, and more importantly, when you get down to doing the deed… like you are not going to notice she went from a 34 C to a 34 A as soon as the bra comes off??? DUH!
Agree.
I think most girls have nice boobs, I like small (handfull). And it’s a real shame that they wear those ancient bras with scaffolding.
It’s a fact that most girls in Taiwan want bigger breasts. I don’t know why, I think the American big boobs culture is disgusting. Don’t like it, too artificial and unhealthy.
[quote=“LazyMF”]Sorry, Hsiadogah, what’s a ‘ping tou’?
Or anyone for that matter…?[/quote]
Sorry mate, it’s the ubiquitous jailhouse/marinecorps psycho-nutjob stubble-head razor cut skinhead thing. Literally means ‘flat head’.
Graphic enough for ya?
Oh, and it’s funny that this thread has gone to 10 pages without any signs of slowing down. Your boss might take note of that fact, but he probably takes the griping too personally for it to do any good.
Having said that, not many of us here are being held against our will (indentured slaves from SE Asia aside) and could in fact leave at anytime. Being reminded of my options doesn’t really make me feel any better about any of the crap we’ve been whining about though.
Re ‘small ones are more juicy’… it’s all a matter of proportion. Pamela’s boobs are great and all, but would look bloody silly on a Chinese girl of four-foot-nothing and 45kg. If you girls are wearing those things for our sakes (which I don’t imagine is the case), then please ditch the floatation devices!
[quote=“LazyMF”]My (Taiwanese) boss just came and read what people are writing here.
Of course, the best forum to let your boss read is ‘Pet Peeves in Taiwan’ :?
Her verdict: “Well, if they not like it, they can get out!”[/quote]
Hmmm. This reminds me of a retort for those pig-heads who are loudly pro-unification. “If you like China so much, do us all a favor and emigrate there!”
Please someone tell me how to stop this woman belching - It’s driving me insane! I tried dirty looks, but she just doesn’t get it. Is there some kind of homeopathic remedy or something?
Yeah, she does that too. Especially that kind of pork whose sickly smell is particularly offensive to vegetarians.
Homeopathy, well, I’m not sure what would stop her burping. Maybe Lycopodium…? But you’re not serious, so nevermind.
Why don’t you go buy a can of soft-drink and drink it all without burping, then go over to her with the pretense of asking a question, and burp loud and long in her face. I’m sure she’ll get the point then.
Please someone tell me how to stop this woman belching - It’s driving me insane! I tried dirty looks, but she just doesn’t get it. Is there some kind of homeopathic remedy or something?
Juba,
When somebody belches constantly, I start complimenting her. “Hey, now that was a good one! Can you do it louder? You are quite the talented one, aren’t you?” We have a good laugh, and the belching gets a bit more under control.
If that doesn’t work, I say fight fire with fire, but take it up a notch. When you have to fart, make a point of doing it around her. The legal system in Taiwan has not yet devised a law against public flatulence.
T.[/i]
I live in a really old terrace house and the water pressure is fine. I bet the water pipes are lead-lined though, and the wiring in this house is scary.
A recent posting by Susana regarding cruelty to a dog that she witnessed and her confronting the offenders (in the “most whacked” thread) reminded me of one thing that bothers me about the inhabitants of this fair island.
I often think that one of Taiwan’s problems is that “good” people here normally do not commit “bad” acts.
I realize that “good” and “bad” are relative terms and that the context of any situation will likely determine whether a particular person or act is “good” or “bad”.
Anyway, my point is, in my country, people are normally considerate to others, in part because of the common moral code that we live by, in part because of the laws that regulate behavior, and ALSO, in part because “good” people in my country will not usually hesitate to commit a “bad” act if someone inconsiderately offends.
For instance, if people in my country drove cars in the same manner that people in Taiwan drive cars, there would, in addition to penalties imposed by law, be many penalties imposed extra-judicially by irate ofendees.
For example, this morning a guy driving his BMW entirely too fast through the ally where I live hit me with his side mirror. He stopped momentarily, to check his mirror of course, and I used this opportunity to hit his door with my fist and to spit on his driver’s-side window. He wasn’t pleased, to say the least… so I invited him out to discuss the matter… He must have been in an awful hurry, because he declined my invitation and sped away.
In any event, I rarely see “good” Taiwanese people commit “bad” acts such as mine this morning. In my country, the driver would be lucky to have gotten away with the small battery I dished out, as a rock chucked through his window might not be an out of the ordinary response.
Thus, because “good” people normally refrain from reacting to inconsiderate behavior with “bad” acts of their own here in Taiwan, those who are inconsiderate of others typically are able to, and do, act with impunity.
That bothers me a bit.
Take a look in the Living in Taiwan forum under “Wai Guo Ren , Nar li , Nar li??” and you’ll see my pet peeve
[quote=“tigerman”]
In any event, I rarely see “good” Taiwanese people commit “bad” acts such as mine this morning. In my country, the driver would be lucky to have gotten away with the small battery I dished out, as a rock chucked through his window might not be an out of the ordinary response.
Thus, because “good” people normally refrain from reacting to inconsiderate behavior with “bad” acts of their own here in Taiwan, those who are inconsiderate of others typically are able to, and do, act with impunity.
That bothers me a bit.[/quote]
I appreciated this post. A rock? Try a tire iron placed firmly against the head. Of course, the problem with where we are both from (assuming here based on Grateful Dead quotes) is that assholes in America are often well-armed.
Have you noticed that many of the offenders are middle aged dudes? I can’t get mad at a kid or an old lady. The kid is too dumb to know what he’s doing, and the old lady feels like she deserves to be first in line, and probably does. But I enjoy nothing more than stiff-arming a 40ish bastard who is trying to shove past me on the MRT or in some other line, so that he can trample the person who is two inches in front of me.
For added fun, today’s wimpy Taiwanese man encounter: as I was rushing to a meeting, walking through a back alley, a little guy on a scooter whizzed past me, nearly knocking me over. He waited until he was twenty meters or so in front of me and the light in front of him was safely green before shouting “Shit!” as loud as he could. Guess he thought I should be walking on the rooftops instead of the alley street. I give him points for trying, though I believe “Asshole!” was more appropriate to the situation. That, I could have admired.
[quote=“wolf_reinhold”]The TV commercial that always calls “Mastercard” “Mastercar.”
GOD, that is annoying as hell.
"A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. "
Emo Philips[/quote]
Wolfie,
I have been (ahem ) assisting a guy with his english who works for Mastercard…the day I met him, it took him half an hour to explain to me who he worked for…masserker, masserker…I thought he was a Taiwanese Ted Bundy…finally he showed me his masserker…ahhhh…MASTERCARD…he is doing much better now…
Oh yeah…I HATE THAT
This year it’s pipe smoking
I dunno…seems quite utilitarian to be able to distinguish so easily between “n” and “m”. I think we should introduce that one into the US.