Hey everyone , I’m moving to Taipei with my white Canadian boyfriend…
Can you guys all give us some safety tips especially for him…since he is a foreigner… and I can somewhat blend in… I heard the country is run by the Chinese mafia…
Sooo…please help! Any safety tips appreciated!
Join the mafia.
[quote]Hey everyone , I’m moving to Taipei with my white canadian boyfriend…
Can you guys all give us some safety tips especially for him…since he is a foreginer…and i can somewhat blend in…i heard the country is run by the mafia… [/quote]
For someone with Taiwanese parents, you don’t seem to know jack about Taiwan. Don’t you read the newspapers? The DPP runs the country now. The mafia lost control after the last election.
As for your boyfriend (he is white, right?) he should be safe as long as he wears a cup to work.
I have Taiwanese parents…who have lived in Canada for 25 years/…sooo yes we are all out of the loop
Wear a cup?
But presumably still on planet Earth ?
Okay - I have been scratching my head for quite a while trying to figure out if this was a troll or not. However, I’ve just been to Tealit (boo) and figure you might be JennyBlue. So, the flabberghasting level of ignorance about Taiwan appears genuine. All righty then. There are many posts here about discrimination against overseas Chinese on the job front, and very few about safety issues for white males who are not aggressive psychopaths. So your main concerns are two-fold (i) will I get a job teaching English ?, and (ii) will my boyfriend leave me the minute he sets foot in Taiwan ? Unfortunately I have seen the second happen umpteen times, but the good news is it is not by any means an insurmountable task for an overseas Chinese to get a teaching job at foreign pay levels. So, if you have a look at the archives of the site (esp teaching) and post any queries you have that remain unanswered, I am sure we can help you out in answering a few questions. When are you arriving ?
If its not to late, go to Japan. Don’t make the mistake the rest of us did. Don’t get me wrong, Taiwan WAS a nice place, that is, when the Japanese were in charge. Now your folks are from Taiwan but have lived in Canada for 25 years. That should tell you something. Look at the stats. Locals are doing their best to leave this place… now think about it… Gangsters are the least of your worries. Think of the pollution, poor exchange rate, traffic, and the worst problem in Taiwan - the local people.
Lots of foreign men like it here. Ask around at good ol’ Poxy 99 on a Friday night.
Might want to keep the bf on a tight leash, though.
If you are simply talking about public safety, Taiwan is a much safer place than many western countries. That is not to say crimes never occur here - in fact the crime rate seems to be increasing if you believe what you read in the papers. Despite that, I feel much much safer living in Taiwan than I did when I was living in the UK, and I would guess that it is safer here than most other western countries too.
That is my very humble opinion about safety in Taiwan.
Don’t listen to people who endlessly slag Taiwan. Taiwan is a mixed bag, warts-and-all kind of a place. Stay for a year for an ‘interesting life experience’ and then if you really can’t stand it anymore you can run back to where you came from. If you ever come to Taichung, give me a pm and we could go out and have some bubble green tea (bring your bf of course!)
Below I suggest some basic tips for newcomers arriving in Taiwan. I suppose that some of these are not strictly safety tips, but are important for making a successful transition into the society. Many of them are mentioned with the intent of avoiding arguments which might lead to fights, and in that sense they are important.
(1) Watch your wallet/billfold/purse in crowded markets or on public transportation.
(2) For the first six months you are here, don’t criticize and don’t complain about things you think are not right. Don’t argue with anyone. Observe and take notes only.
(3) In any sort of person-to-person conflict, don’t get uppity about “your rights”. Play dumb. Act as if you are confused and unable to understand the parameters of the situation. Since as a newcomer you will not know how Taiwanese deal with these sitatutions, don’t try to deal with them. Act innocent and naive.
(4) Remember that “dui bu chi” in Chinese is not an admission of guilt. Hence, the Chinese people will normally say “dui bu chi” in many situations where westerners would not feel comfortable saying “I am sorry.” If you follow the habit of the Chinese in this regard, you will have smoother sailing.
(5) If you are not sure of the proper level of politeness in any situation, be “overly polite and submissive”. In my experience, this usually comes across the best.
(6) Don’t insist on your way or your interpretation. For example, foreigners often feel that “going Dutch” is fair. The Chinese usually don’t engage in this practice. Go with the flow.
(7) Don’t look for an exact accounting in money matters. This is especially important in dealing with co-workers and significant others. for example if you ask someone to buy you something, and give them a few NT$ bills, they may come back with the item and forget to give you the change. Don’t worry about it. It will all get sorted out eventually.
(8) The key point of acting unpreturbed (in the Oriental fashion) is not to get mad at the moment. Foreigners tend to wear their emotions on their sleeves. Anger should be subdued until you really know the ropes around here. Then you will be able to express anger in a calm fashion.
(9) Expect inefficiency, incompetence, and lack of organization. The right hand will often not know what the left hand is doing. Contradictory regulations abound. Don’t get upset until you are in a position to make a positive contribution.
(10) The Chinese concept of the honesty of spoken remarks is something similar to “It is not dishonest if there was no deliberate intention to do harm.” In a wide variety of situations, this can be very different from the western notions of honesty. The Chinese will also say “Yes” to all kinds of requests for cooperation when in fact in their mind it is not yet even a “maybe.” Again, since there was no deliberate intention to harm (in fact their brain may not have even begun to analyze the entire issue of their own “intention” in regard to the matter at hand), they don’t consider that to be inappropriate. Go with the flow. Try to understand the meaning or intent of what is being said. Also, if you want to make a smooth adjustment, try to change your own habits of speech to fit the Chinese norm.
Tell him to smile… I find the more I smile or walk around with a mild look on my face, the more I get ignored, and hence the less dangerous it is. In my experience, the amiable people have the best time here. Walk around with a scowl, and you’ll be treated as a bad person. The same goes for everywhere else, but given your recent frantic posting on so many different things, I’d like to give you some more general advice:
Don’t worry so much. Your boyfriend will be fine, you’ll get a job no problem, and so will he. If your English is good enough you’ll be fine, but of course, it’s still all about having your kids taught by a ‘white’ person. Remember that. Don’t worry about the MTC either. If your application falls through for any reason (which I’m sure it won’t), there’s plenty of other places to study. Chill out, it’s okay here 
LazyMF, I must protest, I am NOT a merry man!
There is no need to follow or adopt any cultural practices or traditions while here in Taiwan. If Taiwan wants to be a modern 21st century country, they better start acting like one. Who better to teach them than Westerners behaving in a culturally superior way?
I spoke with a "real" American employee at AIT when I first arrived in Taiwan. He told me that one of the biggest headaches at their office is dealing with foreigners who have gone "native". He went on to describe these people as no longer "fitting in" at home but will never "fit in" here in Taiwan.
You will see them while you are here, many married to locals with halfcast kids. They buy their clothing at the nightmarket and for some odd reason have adopted Taiwan as there own. Oh, and don't say anything negative about Taiwan around these folks or they will go crazy. Of course if you say negative things about Taiwan to your average Taiwanese citizen, they will agree with you as odds are they are trying to immigrate to another country anyway.
Your post’s such an amateur effort, I don’t think you’ll get any bites. Try harder next time.
Actually, I agreed with 90630 until I got to the part about halfcast kids. 
sandman - love that picture. Copied it into the collection.
Do you, or anyone else, have any interesting/ funny/ nice/ strange/ intriguing jpegs they’d care to share (no porn/gore, thanks!)?
How about this? Sometimes I really miss the States.
Thanks for the tips everyone…as you can already tell…i worry a lot…i’ll chill out now!
[quote=“90630”]There is no need to follow or adopt any cultural practices or traditions while here in Taiwan. If Taiwan wants to be a modern 21st century country, they better start acting like one. Who better to teach them than Westerners behaving in a culturally superior way?
I spoke with a "real" American employee at AIT when I first arrived in Taiwan. He told me that one of the biggest headaches at their office is dealing with foreigners who have gone "native". He went on to describe these people as no longer "fitting in" at home but will never "fit in" here in Taiwan.
You will see them while you are here, many married to locals with halfcast kids. They buy their clothing at the nightmarket and for some odd reason have adopted Taiwan as there own. Oh, and don't say anything negative about Taiwan around these folks or they will go crazy. Of course if you say negative things about Taiwan to your average Taiwanese citizen, they will agree with you as odds are they are trying to immigrate to another country anyway.[/quote]
Another danger is culture chock. The post quoted above is an example of a vicious stage 2 culture chock, where the person bitches about everything local and is totally alienated to the society he/she lives in.
Some adapt, some leave. But if their bitching has some racist overtones, then they should lose some karma.
Culture chocks are a bitch - can’t go anywhere with them 