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
The TV commercial that always calls “Mastercard” “Mastercar.”
Price labels stuck directly on top of beer can tabs. Bloody annoying having to pick of a label before partaking of the amber fluid.
open mouth chewing and other random noises
Please, someone, explain to me why I am able to eat the exact same meal as the Taiwanese person next to me without making nasty slurping or other tounge slapping noises?!
And why is it necessary for locals to show me the gross chewed up contents of their mouth and then proceed to spit bits of it at me while they try to talk?!!
After years of training, my own mother stopped these disgusting habits. But after one freakin’ day back in Taiwan with her relatives, the slurping, tounge-slapping, open-mouthed chewing returned!
Hell, I need an umbrella and a pair of goggles just to eat with my mom’s sister and her family! ARGH! 
Met a guy once who could slurp steak. Kid you not.
I’m still mystified by the eating with mouth open, then covering the mouth for tooth-picking!!??
[quote=“Spack”]apologies if this is here already - can’t be bothered to read through them all.
The uniform Taiwanese pronounciation of the letter N as “un” and the letter F as “effoo”. BTW, my Chinese pronouciation sucks, and my tones are all over the place. However, it still peeves me no end that Taiwanese ppl can’t even say the letters of the freakin’ alphabet properly.[/quote]
Add to that the propensity towards making the “th” blend an “s” ( Sank you, Happy Birsday)…but I have solved this and many other such indescretions…when a student offends my overly sensitive ear…I simply single him/her out (nice face ploy) and after correcting them with a “say and repeat” two or three times, I have them say it ten times and count off the task with deft chinese numeralogical hand signalling…now all my classes accent the “N” sound and I am pleased… 
A Taiwanese friend and I go to a store, etc. I ask the person at the store
a question which he or she understands, yet he/she always addresses
my Taiwanese friend instead of me when he/she answers. I never
realized that I had the talent of being invisible so often.
I also dislike it if the store person then starts answering questions about
me while I am standing there. Most of my close friends know how I feel
about this and say, “Why don’t you ask ___________ directly? You
understood what ____________ said.” I appreciate it when they do
this. BUT alot of people do not have this kind of sensitivity.
It can be so, so irritating!!! Personally, if I am with a group of people,
I would do my best to try to include people, not exclude them, even
if it required translating something.
This is not a peeve but it is kind of related to the last post, and actually I think it’s quite funny:
whenever I pay for something and I am with my wife, any change is almost always handed to her, not me! I guess they know who wears the trousers around here!
[quote=“TongueTwister”]A Taiwanese friend and I go to a store, etc. I ask the person at the store
a question which he or she understands, yet he/she always addresses
my Taiwanese friend instead of me when he/she answers. I never
realized that I had the talent of being invisible so often.
I also dislike it if the store person then starts answering questions about
me while I am standing there. Most of my close friends know how I feel
about this and say, “Why don’t you ask ___________ directly? You
understood what ____________ said.” I appreciate it when they do
this. BUT alot of people do not have this kind of sensitivity.
It can be so, so irritating!!! Personally, if I am with a group of people,
I would do my best to try to include people, not exclude them, even
if it required translating something.[/quote]
I have had this same experience umpteen times. It’s really annoying. I often argued with my girlfriend over this and even have shouted at them to talk to me directly.
My girlfriend explained that they are trying to be as polite as possible by making sure you understand the explanation. They aren’t confident in dealing with foreigners. Taiwanese do not see this as offensive, they assume that your Taiwanese partner takes care of these things for you.
It’s still annoying though.
The same when you go into 7-11 and they start ‘speaking the inglesi’ with you straight away although you haven’t said anything or after you speak mandarin to them. This must be super annoying if English isn’t even your first language. Well usually I get on with it but since I was in a shop and it was quiet at the time with nobody else around I seized the opportumity to ask him in mandarin why he was speaking to me in English. I said did he not know that many foreigners can understand basic chinese such as numbers. He just smiled like they do and said yes he knew (back to me in English again). Then he asked me what I was doing in Taiwan.
After building myself up into a moderate rage I realized that once again I made absolutely no sense to him at all. It’s like some of the posters here 
It’s like Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, no penetration. He couldn’t even read in my face that I was getting pissed off.
So I just walked out and smiled to myself and had an argument with my gf about it later as usual. What can u do?
When I’m out with a taiwanese friend and I’m buying/ordering something somewhere in Chinese and get a similar response like TongueTwister, having the clerk/whatever asking my friend “How can he speak Chinese?” or the like then I hurry to answer before him/her “Of course he/she speaks Chinese, he/she is a Taiwanese, born in Taiwan.”
Sometimes it takes a while to understand my response, but in most cases the “problem” is solved…
Has anyone ever been on a subway that has more uncomfortable seats than Taipei’s - at least the Mucha line? They are ridiculous. But even worse are the benches at the subway stations. A person’s body is not a meant to form an exact right angle. I find this incredibly annoying that Taipei cannot design a public seat that is even moderately comfortable.
When the garbage cans cost NT$40000 a pop, I’d hate to think what these seats must have run out to :shock:
As a taxpayer, I’d like a refund please!
[quote=“Toe Save”][quote=“Spack”]apologies if this is here already - can’t be bothered to read through them all.
The uniform Taiwanese pronounciation of the letter N as “un” and the letter F as “effoo”. BTW, my Chinese pronouciation sucks, and my tones are all over the place. However, it still peeves me no end that Taiwanese ppl can’t even say the letters of the freakin’ alphabet properly.[/quote]
Add to that the propensity towards making the “th” blend an “s” ( Sank you, Happy Birsday)…but I have solved this and many other such indescretions…when a student offends my overly sensitive ear…I simply single him/her out (nice face ploy) and after correcting them with a “say and repeat” two or three times, I have them say it ten times and count off the task with deft chinese numeralogical hand signalling…now all my classes accent the “N” sound and I am pleased… [/quote]
eh, bee, see, dee, e, [color=blue]
EFOO, JER, AYCHEE
[/color], i, jay, kay, [color=blue]
EHLOO
[/color], em, [color=blue]
UHN
[/color], o, pee, kyew,
[color=blue]AHHH[/color]
, ess, tee, u, v, double-u,
[color=blue]EKOSOO[/color]
, why, zee
And of course, “th” as in “this” is pronounced as the sound of EHLOO, as in:
“La book is over lare, near loze sings.”
I find, that as a teacher, they learn it well the first day, then their parents and/or Chinese teachers “help” them, and after hours of studying, everything must be re-learned. I’m almost grateful that so many kids bring portable voice recorders to class, so their parents can hear me saying, “No, it’s not EHLOO, it’s ELL. EHLOO is wrong.” Students without “helpers” at home seem to do fine…
I also like to tell them to spell words aloud and I make up symbols for improperly pronounced letters like EKOSOO. For UHN, it’s easy; I just use the bopomofo symbol. They love it!
Ok, to stay on topic, I suppose I need a pet peeve. OK:
Frail little old ladies that turn into demolition machines when boarding busses.
[quote=“dl7und”]When I’m out with a taiwanese friend and I’m buying/ordering something somewhere in Chinese and get a similar response like TongueTwister, having the clerk/whatever asking my friend “How can he speak Chinese?” or the like then I hurry to answer before him/her “Of course he/she speaks Chinese, he/she is a Taiwanese, born in Taiwan.”
Sometimes it takes a while to understand my response, but in most cases the “problem” is solved…[/quote]
Oh… I’m sure your friends must have explained this to you at some point. But I thought I’d throw in my two cents anyway. First of all, I can assure you that your experience is not unique at all. I feel culture difference is at play here. And what you’re experiencing is nothing more than ‘culture shock.’
Before I offer my own version of explanation, I would like to digress a bit.
When I first came to America, I was told that Americans liked to maintain direct eye contact during conversation. Still, I could not really get used to the idea until several years later. To many of us, staring at someone straight in the eyes can only imply one thing-- that is either you wish to pick a fight with the person or you’re just trying to intimidate the person into subordination. Making direct eye contact is considered most rude when there is this superior-subordinate relationship going on between you and the person you converse with. (Now in retrospect, I think I never really looked at my teachers in the eyes when I spoke with them… interesting…) Nonetheless, I’ve noticed that the practice of making direct eye contact has become increasingly acceptible in our society. Musta have got something to do with the recent influx of foreigners. 
That being said, let me get back to the subject.
I’m not sure if any of you is consciously aware of this- there is this implicit social hierarchy/command structure thing in our society. When you’re in a group consisted of mixed-aged people, the person who has the seniority usually takes charge. In your case, the clerk probably felt your spouse/friend/whatever “outrank” you since they could speak Mandarin/Taiwanese more fluently.
Let me give you an example. I am 24. Yet when I go out with my family to have dinner at resturant, I usually let my parents order food for the entire family. The waiter/waitress generally tends to ignore my requests, unless he/she is specifically instructed to put down the orders. And if there’s something I like to have, I usually order it via my parents. However, if I were with a group of similar-aged friends, each of us would just order his/her own food. See the difference?
Let’s see… There are more examples I can give you. But I think you’ve got the idea. I’m sure our roundabout ways of doing things must seem totally whacked to you. But hey, this is a totally different culture, so learn to deal with it.
Taiwaner and Chainsmoker:
Thank you, thank you, thank you…
I have wondered about this myself and now I have some understanding (I suspect you’re both right, depending on the situation). It all makes sense. So here’s the next question:
Is it rude to assert that one is NOT invisible and insist that the person speak directly to one? (I think I know the answer but I had to ask…)
OK, on topic. The pet peeve du jour:
Foreigners who yell at the teenage staff at McDonald’s for not understanding their (the foreigners’) unclear English.
This morning! 4 am, I kid you not. A local funeral begins with microphone chanting and a drum and bugle band playing music at 4:30 am. It is still way dark outside and I am dreaming. However, no, I look out the window and the blue tent is up and well lit. The MC starts speaking again on the mike. The entire neighborhood is awakened by this funeral dirge. Help! Get me outta here! A funeral has to start at 4 am? REALLY? I know, I know, the fortune teller says that the day is auspicious, as the time as well, but 4 am.??? IS this not a bit on the ridicule side? Believe it or not, after 30 minutes, i went back to contented sleep and the funeral went on… last time I checked it was 5:30 am still dark outside, loud blaring music and mike talk. I am leaving this island for good tomorrow!
Honestly, I would sometimes like staff to make a little more effort to speak slowly with me. I’m not one of those people who yell at McDonalds staff in English, but I wish when I went into a store to buy something, the staff would adjust their talking speed just a little bit. I have dark hair and eyes, but I’m absolutely, unmistakably Western. However, staff almost invaribly assume that I can speak Chinese perfectly (maybe it’s the way I carry myself… I just don’t know).
On the ONE occasion that I was spoken to by a QuanJia employee in English, I almost fell over. I struggle to buy food and clothes at times, simply because the staff of the stores I visit speak too fast, and with an amazing lack of clarity. Actually, it’s probably a wonderful learning experience, and I shouldn’t complain.
I understand being ignored though, and since it doesn’t happen all that often, I enjoy the brief respite from the torrent of questions. Sometimes it’s nice not have to play “20 Inane English Questions”, isn’t it? Although I never mind telling people I’m not American.
People who don’t know the difference between their and there. Or you’re and your.
You know who you are. Actually, now that I think about it, you probably don’t.
Don’t know if anyone else notices this, or if it bothers anyone else, but I am slightly annoyed at the way the locals seem to frequently interrupt my sentences with “I know, I know, I, know, I know”. They do this often before they could possibly know what I am going to say…
Friday night, I left work, exit my office building on Jen Ai and hop in the first cab in a line of taxis waiting at our building’s front entrance. I tell the driver to take Chienkuo S. Rd. to Hoping b[/b] E. Road and at Hoping b[/b] E. Rd. to turn left. He starts with the “I know, I know, I, know, I know”.
Ignoring my directions, he immediately turns left behind my building into a lane going south toward Hsinyi b[/b] Rd. I ask him where he is going, and why he isn’t taking the route I requested. He replies that he “knows where I am going”.
I wasn’t in a rush, so I thought I’d just go along and see where this guy was going to take me. Maybe he’s clairvoyant or something :?. He gets to Hsinyi b[/b] Rd. and can only turn east, toward Fuhsing S. Rd. I ask him again where he is going, and again he replies, “I know where you are going” and begins pointing in a southwesterly direction and saying “that building, that building”.
He turns south on Fuhsing S. Rd. and when he gets to Hoping b[/b] E. Rd., turns right and immediately pulls over, and points across the street to the Science and Technology Building and says, “see, there, the Science and Technology Building”. I then tell him that I don’t want to go the the Science and Technology Building and he looks absolutely shocked… like he expected to know where I was going without my telling him :?
I made him take me where I wanted to go, and he reduced my fare when I demanded the same… but I can’t figure out what this guy was thinking. I thought maybe he had driven me home once before, but that doesn’t make sense because I don’t get out at the Science and Technology Building. :?
High rents for lowly apartments.
Plastic bags.
Bitter coffee.
Assumption that every laowai is 1. American and 2. a Teacher.
Sappy love songs from sexy chicks and shuai guys.
slow weaving taxis.
Stepping into the streeet without looking for traffic.
Diners who assume parents have full control over their kids.
Peace, a.k.a victory, sign with fingers in every photograph.
Bored foriengers who can’t get over their pet peeve.
.
When someone is talking to you and their breath is like a 3 day old bin bag and you have to pretend you are constantly itching your nose as not to smell it. Why is there so much bad breath here?
That the only food you seem to see is either fried, fried, fried (nice and healthy) or noodles. That is why I cook most of my own healthy food.
That all taiwanese say that their food is the most delicious food on the planet when it is clearly not. I would rather eat camel shit than some of the food here.
That they won’t talk about controversial things.
When someone has been involved in an accident on the road they ignore it.
Seem obsessed with shopping or money.
That they constantly wonder why I have no desire(at present) to ever get married, and always assume I have about 20 girlfriends.
The joke that is the police force.
Foreigners going native when they will NEVER be seen as a local.
But I love watching what I can say is like the ‘Saigon air lift’ (- when the last US helicopter left the embassy in saigon and everyone was scrambling to get on it - if you have seen that you will know what I mean) when people fight to get a seat on a bus.
But why do they Q on the MRT and not the buses?
And about another few hundred things that have been mentioned on already.
But I found the longer I’ve been here the more I’ve become used to some of the craziness here.