These things make sense that Taiwanese people wouldn’t know but still shocked me for some reason.
Example: no one I’ve met here has heard of lasagna.
No one knows what a deli is (even though I’ve seen it as a label on random restaurants that have nothing to do with a deli 
)
No one has ever eaten refried beans
What are some things that shocked you even though they probably shouldn’t
Back when I had a Syrian visa in my passport, I would get interrogated at every airport I’d land at, including local airports for domestic flights. The process was always so unpleasant, and the airport staff were almost always so hostile (except for in Japan, where they’d pull me aside and interrogate me in the most polite and apologetic way possible), that I’d get stressed every time I’d have to take a flight knowing what to expect on the other end.
But, for whatever reason, this never happened to me the many times I landed in Taiwan during that period. They’d just let me through arrivals without so much as a question every single time. Which led me to wonder… Did Taiwanese people just not know what Syria was or anything about what was going on there? I never really chatted about international affairs with Taiwanese people to know the answer.
Personal space and lack of washing hands after using the bathroom.
Did you teach there?!
What shocked me is people literally ask why I have blue eyes. There are kids that think black people are Obama or the funeral song dancer.
I knew they were behind in Asia but not THAT behind.
I know people get salty when I say this but the lying being acceptable still shocks me.
The lack of hand dryers and paper towels. Like the comment above me said they don’t even wash their hands or at least not with soap so…
I hear people say this but I’ve never encountered people in Taiwan saying that lying is ok
Safer sex.
They dont say lying is OK. They just lie and no one blinks. I found out it happens in other Asian countries too.
Sure Americans lie but if we get caught with our hand in the cookie jar we would admit the truth pretty darn quickly
Here?
Them: Oh I was just counting the chocolate chips.
Me: They aren’t chocolate chip cookies.
Them: I was just seeing what kind they were.
Me: I told you they were oatmeal and don’t touch them.
Them: I was just counting how many oats there were.
On and on lol
Sorry I thought of one more before bed
They don’t realize you shouldn’t move other people’s things.
No, I was just visiting as a tourist and also considering doing research there for the PhD I was preparing to do at the time (which never happened). This was just a few months before everything kicked off.
They probably didn’t think whatever going on in Syria would affect Taiwan in any way, which is true.
This is a thing in the west too.
Lol.
Taking 100% responsibility for something. I have never heard anyone ever say “that is my responsibility.”
I used to put a real damper on the mood in meetings when I asked “Who exactly is responsible for this?”
This extends to traffic accidents. A person wanders across the busy road without looking and is hit. The person is not held 100% responsible because the car should have been able to see the person wearing black at night coming into your view at the last second from the other lane as he/she appeared from in between two cars.
It is true, and that could very well have been the reason, but I was pulled aside at the airports of plenty of other places that wouldn’t have been effected in any way either, like Hong Kong, Japan, and even Jersey.
You’re not supposed to take responsibility in a dispute. This is been a thing in democracies since forever. You’re supposed to deny legal responsibility until legal responsibility is found.
In drivers ed in the US, we were told that as a driver, if you hit someone, it’s your fault 100% of the time. It doesn’t matter if the pedestrian was in the crosswalk or some kid came running out of nowhere, it is your fault as the driver. In Taiwan, there’s an incredible amount of victim blaming when the person was in the crosswalk when the light was theirs
I have one: the use of the n-word. A lot of non Chinese speaking Americans that have lived here just long enough to know that 那個 sounds similar seem to think it’s a funny thing to say here too. No amount of “can I help you understand why that’s offense on a level that doesn’t exist in Chinese?” gets them to change. I’ve even heard people correct their friends when they say “黑人” and tell them it’s “尼哥”. I get that you don’t understand offensive language in a second language as well as your mother tongue, but it amazes me how people throw that word around here.
Not just the n word, people here don’t view English swears as swears at all. I’ve heard gangster rap play at a family sporting event at a school event. I don’t mean someone was playing it in the crowd or something, I mean the school put it on for young students to dance to.
That one really surprised me. I also have seen signs put up by the city that say “you will be fined if you don’t pick up your dog shit”
Holy cow this!!! I reported students for cussing (after I told them I would if they don’t stop) and they acted like they don’t care and it was my problem. Wtf! I would have been suspended. It’s rude and disrespectful. They seem not care no matter how many times I tell them.
They don’t know kids should exercise just like adults and ban kids from going to the gym and don’t encourage exercise.
Why is this whole thread mainly me lol