Thanks for that Horny, you made me cough out a mouthful of beer during that post.
Horny horn,
Have you ever been to the States? I doubt it.
The Yanks are polite to the point of distraction. That is one of the things I like about Taiwan: people don’t go overboard to be ultra-cordial.
Listen Wolf, no I’ve never been there. I’m sorry, I’m purely judging the country on what I’ve seen of its’ citizens living here.
My point is, most American’s I’ve met here are carrying chips on their shoulder’s the size of the Empire State building. Did you watch the tennis lat night? The Taiwanese commentator commented that Andy Roddick is just like Taiwanese? Give me a break. The American’s are pushed up on a pedastool by the Taiwanese, and they love it up there.
My judgement is not driven by jealousy or hatred, I’m calling what I’ve seen, and their mannerisms are a result of being worshipped like the God of Rain.
Like I said in my earlier post, there are obviously exceptions to the rule, I just find a different atmosphere when talking with other foreigners.
How many wankers have you met, and do you think that wankers in Taiwan are respresentative of wankers living in the States? I’d ask for specific examples of wanking rudeness, horny, but that still wouldn’t help me see your point.
Serendipity, in Taiwan I’ve been lucky enough to have an opportunity to see a decent amount of foreigners from a decent amount of countries. My basis stems from here, whereby there IS a completely different aura amongst the different nationalities.
I’ve found, when communicating with strangers from different countries, whether I’ve been a Pub having a beer or at the Office interviewing, basically the same result. Most Australian’s and NewZealander’s (again, yes there are exceptions) are the easiest to talk to and well mannered. Flip side is I’ve found a lot of American’s to be quite arrogant and lacking, whether it be in manners, communication or what.
Obviously the American’s aren’t going to want to hear this, but this is not a new opinion. Of my American workmates I have here, they are all aware of this. It’s not new news. Ask around. I’m not trying be a wanker myself, but there is a general view about this.
Again I’m talking about Taiwan expats, not those living in the States. If those living abroad are any different from those living at home, well, educate me. But I’m sure the Australian and Kiwi citizens from their respective countries at home are generally the same as those represented here.
This is rubbish.
It’s like comparing Indians in India to Indians living in London. The two could not be more different. Yanks overseas are not representative of their compatriats in America.
You’re probably right, Wolf.
Most Americans in America don’t even know where Taiwan is, or what language they speak here.
Nor do they seem to care.
Meeting my sister’s friends in SF (a place you’d THINK was a bit more open to the idea of Americans living overseas, god forbid), I got the same responses as back East.
“This is my sister, Alien. She lives in Taiwan”
“Taiwan? Woooooowwww. That must be really interesting…Can you speak Thai?”
It makes me wonder what schemata they all have about Taiwan. At least your average Taiwanese schema is that Americans are fat, speak loudly, eat hamburgers and live in single-family dwellings. This, as we know, is a reasonable assumption.
Americans probably imagine we live in the middle of rice paddies wearing coolie hats and frolic about the countryside with flocks of poor, dirty-nosed kids following after us. Kind of like that wank, Matthew Lien, who by the way, makes me gag almost as much as Studio Classroom.
Right… That’s why I’ve had many Taiwanese ask me which is bigger, England or America? What language do we speak in America? (they thought English was a second langauge in the US – No witty banter about that last comment, brits !) Do I carry a gun with me wherever I go, or only when I go to some areas?
That’s why you ask a Taiwanese to point out Brazil or Egypt on a map and often they can’t. Let alone what language they speak…
In response to a previous (and little more objective) quote, many/most Americans (and those of other Western countries) I’ve met here have indeed made me feel ashamed. All of my friends and acquaintances in America are educated (not necessarily academically), polite people; Americans in Taiwan are NOT representative of those living in the states, so please hold your judgements a little… I’ll be the first to admit they don’t all know where every country is, but in my experience the majority know where Taiwan is and that it’s a modernized country.
regan: Just another 2 cents’ worth; Taiwan just doesn’t have very much experience with foreigners, hence the interest in them. You don’t see the same sort of interest in outsiders in Hong Kong, for example.
In fact I’ve noticed that it doesn’t matter if you look different; all you have to do is to sound different. I keep getting asked where I come from.
rian: Considering the maps I’ve seen so far, being map-less and keeping the route in your head seems a better solution. I haven’t seen the one by Jidanni though.
And considering and the number of Taiwanese who don’t have a car, it’s very likely the concept of red and yellow lines aren’t well-understood, hence your inconvenient meeting places.
[quote=“Alien”]Most Americans in America don’t even know where Taiwan is, or what language they speak here.
Nor do they seem to care.
Meeting my sister’s friends in SF . . . . . . . . , I got the same responses as back East.
“This is my sister, Alien. She lives in Taiwan”
“Taiwan? Woooooowwww. That must be really interesting…Can you speak Thai?” [/quote]
Several of my DPP friends have told me that this is all changed now, and everyone in America knows about Taiwan and the struggle for freedom and democracy. Primarily, this is because of the Feb. 28, 2004 “Hands Across Taiwan” event . . . . .
Can anyone offer any independent confirmation about Taiwan now being a “hot topic of conversation” in North America and Europe, and people there being concerned about Taiwan’s future?
Most Taiwanese can’t even point out the Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam on a map.
I smell a good long game of Risk as a teaching exercise. Anyone know where I can get my hands on one? After all, that’s how I learned geography. (Who else would have ever heard of Irkutsk and Kamchatka otherwise?)
It might be better to say that Taiwanese have a lot more stereotyped public politenesses, while Americans, in their interpersonal relations, are expected to be far more polite than Taiwanese. This might eliminate some of the ambiguity, and silliness, of your post.
Vorkosigan
If someone says I’m so lihai out of politness one more time, I’m going to throw up. Its not that I’m suffering from culture shock… I have gotten used to all the preliminary compliments but its hard to make that work with my distaste of lying to be polite. I got fed this sour cranberry juice stuff, it was awful, and although I had to say it was hen hao he, I just couldn’t, because I would have been lying. Then I felt bad.
I was at this bbq and I accepted a sausage without first refusing. This guy offered me another one, and well it looked good, so I took it. But it was in fact quite rude of me to keep accepting what people were offering me and some people started behaving as if I had just said something nasty about their mothers or something. Its hard to deal with because you come to Taiwan hearing that every Taiwanese wants a foreign friend, wants to learn English and look after you, but then find you are helpless to communicate to them and make them understand that you do not mean to offend them at all, you just feel its OK to take the sausage if you want it.