Because if they see a car coming they will have to stop. Taiwanese have zero spatial awareness.
Closet Queen wrote: [quote]Because if they see a car coming they will have to stop. Taiwanese have zero spatial awareness.[/quote]
Bingo. Hence Traffic Rule #3 Avoid making eye contact with any other drivers while you are driving.
… have fun! 
Have you read about “buying in” (= committing to s.th.) yet? The latest buzz word in our company … : “We need to get XYZ’s buy-in for this project”
Maybe you can keep the forumosan community abreast of the latest trends in brainy management terminology so that we can brace ourselves for what lies ahead, our very own mba forum … 
Pan-blue cronyism and the stinking morass of black-gold politics largely account for those monstrous NPL ratios, especially in the credit departments of farmers’ and fishermen’s associations.
[quote=“Omniloquacious”]That was a jolly thoughtful, perceptive and entertaining post, Straggers.
You should be writing for a larger audience than the few hundred at most who might read through a thread like this here.[/quote]
Well if I could find a publisher, stop wasting my time here (200,000 words already 
), and learn to spell ‘buffoon’ consistently maybe I would be writing for a bigger audience.
Until then you’ll just have to put up with me here.
Thanks for the encouragement and kind words, everybody. I was feeling a little lost now that I’ve sworn off ToeBashing.
Speaking of which, I rather likethe word ‘buffon’. Could we add it to the official forumosa lexicon, along with ‘taiwaneser’ and ‘looser’? And reprogram the auto-censor to correct anyone spelling them wrong!
I used to know a guy whose final high school report summarised him thusly: Nigel has to learn that there is more to life than being an amiable buffoon!
Way to go, Nigel.
[quote]The Magnificent Tigerman wrote:
I was under the impression, mistaken perhaps, that Taiwan is the second most densly populated country, after Bangladesh.
Me too, but I understand that statement to be qualified by the fact that it is based on the arable land in the country, not just the size of the country.
[/quote]
The Taiwan is the 2nd most densely populated country bit comes if you leave out countries less than 5000sqKM
That’s according to
geohive.com which is a real cool site.
The table is here:
geohive.com/global/linkg.php?xml … _p_density
Brian
[quote=“TomHill”]Fuck it, I know its racist, and probably not even what I really think but anyway…
After another long evening in the fucking supermarket where teenagers lollygag and dawdle fecklessly, where old women push you with their trolleys, and adults stand mindlessly gawking at the top of the escalator deciding where to go first, I, Tom Hill am at the end of my fucking tether.
String em up.
:help:[/quote]
It’s the cultural difference, and there’s a theory about this.
“Currently there is a belief that high-contact (low interpersonal distance preference) cultures are tolerant of more crowded conditions than low-contact (large interpersonal distance preference) cultures.”
I am pretty sure Taiwanese culture is a “high-contact” one.
[quote=“cybertai”][quote=“TomHill”]Fuck it, I know its racist, and probably not even what I really think but anyway…
After another long evening in the fucking supermarket where teenagers lollygag and dawdle fecklessly, where old women push you with their trolleys, and adults stand mindlessly gawking at the top of the escalator deciding where to go first, I, Tom Hill am at the end of my fucking tether.
String em up.
:help:[/quote]
It’s the cultural difference, and there’s a theory about this.
“Currently there is a belief that high-contact (low interpersonal distance preference) cultures are tolerant of more crowded conditions than low-contact (large interpersonal distance preference) cultures.”
I am pretty sure Taiwanese culture is a “high-contact” one.[/quote]
Sorry but that makes no sense as all culture start out with low population numbers. Fifty years ago all the Taiwanese were living on farms singing “Green acres is the place to be. Stinky tofu and some peanut moji.”
How does one go from one cultural norm to the other. Get more people. Your theory is putting the stick before the carrot.
Gormless: A new word for me. Good 'ole Merriam-Webster’s has a useable definition ( www.m-w.com ).
Stragbasher: Excellent addition to TomHill’s heartfelt post. There are days when I’m sure that my frustration with all of that is way out of proportion to reality, but it still drives me insane. Seeing others air it without much recrimination from the PC police makes me feel better somehow.
MBA: After graduating from my program, and doing well grade-wise, I remember thinking, “Is that all?” At the end, it seemed like I had not gained any specialized knowledge or area of expertise to speak of. I expected to end up some kind of business expert. Just about the time that I was wondering if I’d had some sort of fugue in class for months on end, I met a retired business professor who cleared up some of the confusion for me. In short, it surrounded expectations.
He gave me a little primer on the history of MBA programs. As I recall, back in the heyday of American industrialization (late 1800s/early 1900s), large business owners had a habit of putting their sons in prominent places in the business. Often, the results were not good. “Junior” didn’t know anything about business, really, and often ended up creating quite a mess and unwanted embarrassment. Solution? Create some sort of orientation program for Junior to attend, after returning from his Tour of Europe, which would introduce him to the world of business. A sampler platter so to speak – the MBA.
The program was not originally designed to produce depth of knowledge, rather an introduction or breadth of exposure to high level business concepts. After I heard that story, it all made sense to me.
I think the programs have value – but just like every other product, they can only hope to achieve in accordance with their designs.
Seeker4
[quote=“Mucha (Muzha) Man”][quote=“cybertai”][quote=“TomHill”]Fuck it, I know its racist, and probably not even what I really think but anyway…
After another long evening in the fucking supermarket where teenagers lollygag and dawdle fecklessly, where old women push you with their trolleys, and adults stand mindlessly gawking at the top of the escalator deciding where to go first, I, Tom Hill am at the end of my fucking tether.
String em up.
:help:[/quote]
It’s the cultural difference, and there’s a theory about this.
“Currently there is a belief that high-contact (low interpersonal distance preference) cultures are tolerant of more crowded conditions than low-contact (large interpersonal distance preference) cultures.”
I am pretty sure Taiwanese culture is a “high-contact” one.[/quote]
Sorry but that makes no sense as all culture start out with low population numbers. Fifty years ago all the Taiwanese were living on farms singing “Green acres is the place to be. Stinky tofu and some peanut moji.”
How does one go from one cultural norm to the other. Get more people. Your theory is putting the stick before the carrot.[/quote]
It has nothing to with high or low population numbers.
[quote]"The personal space is another form of territory. It is like an invisible bubble you need to feel well. This ‘bubble’ depends of the relationship to another person, the emotional state, but also of the cultural background. In the north European countries this space is much larger than for example in the South European countries. For a German or Swedish person Italians or Spanish get too close. It is interesting to see that this personal space need is connected to the greeting rituals of a culture. Northern people usually feel comfortable within a distance to shake hands, French need a nearer contact to kiss each other.
[/quote]
That was my understanding, scary when you think most of it is uninhabitable mountains!
As I was stopped at a red light this afternoon, I was thinking that many Taiwanese must be awful at playing Chess. After all the near accidents (and other catastrophes, and potential catastrophes) I have witnessed (today, and nearly everyday), I am nearly convinced there is an inability to think ahead.
Lack of foresight is how I usually describe it. It all came out in a drunken street corner rant. A few friends related enough to encourage me with intermittant “Yeah dude(s)”.
I’ve only worked at one school, but I tend to think most trends on display represent a cultural mentality. An example, I can’t get over how hard it is to find paper sometimes. So I ask someone at the front desk for some paper for the copier. I get like 10 sheets. I mean, c’mon. Someone else will have to get more in an hour. Why not serve up the whole pack? It’s gonna get used. I see the same shortsightedness with customer service. Yesterday, I was at Ruby Tuesday’s and ordered a sampler appetizer. Ya know, the one with a little variety. We asked if we could subsititute an item. I think it was a manager taking our order, he was the only one I saw wearing a tie. Without a half second of consideration, he said they don’t do that. Jeez, what would be so hard about it? You know they’ve got plenty of food ready to go. Just swap one thing and you make us happy. We were asking for fries as a substitue. Are they saying they don’t have any extra fries in the whole restaurant or are they unawarely saying “we don’t see any intangible value in customer service and therefore can’t justify granting your humble request.”
What is gorm, and how do you get less?
Keep your answers short.
O.K.
[quote=“Alleycat”]
People have long been attracted by chaos. Flaubert, for one, detested the cleanliness of Northern France, and much prefered chaotic Cairo.
Today, I like ramshackle Taiwan, for this very reason. It is, as Sandie once said, as if mom went out and left dad in charge. And it is this disarray, this lawlessness even, that is, for me at least, an attraction. One would only have to spend a little time in Singapore to see how bland and meek it is and how utterly sterile it is.[/quote]
I, for one, am not attracted to chaos. You have just helped me to answer the questions in my head. I love Singapore, I love the neatness and the order. I love the fact the rules are enforced. Here everyone knows someone, so the only people who end up with a ticket or in trouble with the law are those who don’t know anyone, that makes me mad, everyone should be subject to the same laws and they shouldn’t actually be applied based on who you know. I have trouble with people who don’t plan ahead, who don’t consider the consequences of their actions. I need order in my life!!
I’m sorry guys, I know that you all love it for the same reasons I don’t but give me a clean city with rules any day!!! oh and some logic, I know it’s hard but can I live somewhere with logical people??
No.