Tips for transitioning spouse out of TW?

I’ve picked up and moved my life to another continent a bunch of times in my life, so I’m kind of used to it. It’s the first time my wife has lived outside of Taiwan and I want to make the transition as painless as possible for her. She’s travelled quite a bit but it’s the first time she’s been faced with living in Europe and completely reliant on me for company. We have a few friends here but they are as busy as I am with work. She speaks English well but not the local language, so I worry she’s going to end up feeling very isolated.

Any tips?

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I think she should get involved with a charity group. She doesn’t have work privileges, right? So she should try to keep busy, and volunteering her efforts will make her feel useful, give her instant colleagues, and eventually a social circle as well.

Find a good Asian supermarket, so she can cook some comfort food.

Suggest she sign up for a class at a community college or recreation centre. Take the class together, or not.

Get a good long distance calling plan or calling card.

Get a web cam.

Go to church?

Oh, and driving lessons.

Most important, be extra patient with her.

That’s all I know. Good luck with the move.

and get Skype so she can call home and talk to family and friends a lot. Maybe she can find something going on in the local chinese community… sure way to make friends and start having her own social life… and more people who could probably relate to what she’s going through.I think the stages of culture shock will be inevitable no matter what though…

Are there language classes? Is there a local university or high school? Invariably there are Mandarin speakers attending the local second language schools or programs. This was how my wife made some aquaintences when I went back to the US for grad school.

Got kids? If yes, then this is another ‘way’ in. If not, does she have some latent interest that she has not had the time to participate in? This is another way.

We spent almost 7 years in the US. My wife did the following:

  • painted and entered various art festivals to sell her work
  • took classes in pottery
  • worked in various Chinese restaurants
  • took classes at a community college
  • traveled quite a bit
  • tutored students in Mandarin
  • took in and cared for a stray cat
  • gave Chinese calligraphy demonstrations at several local schools
  • got pregnant, gave birth and became a mom

Actually she may be well in demand for Chinese lessons. Sorry, didn’t note if you were instill in Taiwan, but I believe Shi Da offer some rudimentary training for Chinese language teaching.

With China so damned hot at the moment you may well find she’s hotter property than you’ll ever be. Wasn’t that the case of someone who recently moved to the US? He couldn’t believe what a great little earner she turned out to be.

Language and culture classes would be a good in and a way for her to meet some fellow Mandarin/Taiwanese speakers. It is always comforting to be able to let rip in your native tongue with someone with the sort of shared history growing up in a place like Taiwan, or indeed wherever you are from, can bring.

HG

It may sound petty, but my wife finds it difficult to shop for clothes here (pretty much like when I went there). You may have to do some research into finding what she likes.

Thanks for all the ideas.

We tried to get into language classes but anything affordable starts on quartlerly intervals and we missed the start dates. Instead, we are setting up some language exchanges as there are a few people wanting to learn Chinese and have enough English to use as a medium for the process.
She’s also going to do some classes in elementary school on Taiwan, so she has lots of research to do which will keep her occupied. We also had the idea to enroll her in English classes since she will meet lots of locals who are interested to learn it, and since she has a better level than most of them she should be able to make some friends there. Hopefully some classmates will bring her into their social circles.
Next step after that will be charity work, though that might be tougher given that she doesn’t speak any German. We’ll see. It’s too bad we’re not going to be here long enough to get her a real job.

Internet access was a bit of a bear to organize, but now that’s sorted she is much happier to be in touch with her friends again. We also note a direct correlation between soup and morale. Asian women just need lots of soup to balance them. She’s not averse to western food at all, but having a bowl of soup just seems to make everything a little rosier.

Hahaha. Strange but definitely true!

If you’re a non-Taiwanese guy about to get involved with a Taiwanese woman, I woud suggest that you copy the above out and keep it for handy reference. This is probably the most profound and true thing that has ever been said about Taiwanese women.

Like Westerners need a grilled cheese sandwich every so often. :smiley:

If you’re a non-Taiwanese guy about to get involved with a Taiwanese woman, I woud suggest that you copy the above out and keep it for handy reference. This is probably the most profound and true thing that has ever been said about Taiwanese women.[/quote]

Agree completely. My wife was raised in the US, but she absolutely LOVES soup.

We

  1. Found a Chinese church
  2. made some Taiwanese / Chinese friends
  3. got a pc with Skype / msn
  4. Installed PP live to watch Chinese TV on pc (PP stream and youtube also helped)
  5. live in an area close to all things Asian

[quote=“Bassman”]
4. Installed PP live to watch Chinese TV on pc (PP stream and youtube also helped)[/quote]

Being able to watch her favorite shows from Taiwan has helped a lot lately. Can’t imagine why anyone would want to watch TV from China however. :astonished:

[quote=“redwagon”][quote=“Bassman”]
4. Installed PP live to watch Chinese TV on pc (PP stream and youtube also helped)[/quote]

Being able to watch her favorite shows from Taiwan has helped a lot lately. Can’t imagine why anyone would want to watch TV from China however. :astonished:[/quote]

  1. You don’t get good free streams from Taiwan AFAIK
  2. The Chinese TV stations she watches all play Taiwan and Hong Kong shows.

[quote=“Bassman”]

  1. You don’t get good free streams from Taiwan AFAIK[/quote]

She subscribes to hers, but it’s only a couple hundred NT$ a month. She mostly watches the political talk shows that Chinese or HK channels probably don’t carry.

Get her pregnant.

End of subject.

[quote=“TomHill”]Get her pregnant.

End of subject.[/quote]

That doesn’t work. You’ll be back in Taiwan before you can crap in a dixi-cup to get yor ARC back.