Top 10 concerns when living in a foreign land like TAIWAN

I guess my thing would be:
1- asking questions but it making no difference in their minds.
2-being followed around the store,
3-traffic sometimes
4-greasy food
5-their need to practice english even though i can speak chinese
and many many many more

http://thehumanmanifesto.blogspot.com/2004/10/taiwanese-version-of-serenity-prayer.html

  1. A roof above your head, a place to stay.
  2. A good health; making sure one eats healthy food.
  3. A supportive, social network.
  4. A good and interesting job, which makes it worthwhile to spend the rest of your days in Taiwan.
  5. A wife and kids.
  6. A good understanding of the Chinese language, which allows you to communicate efficiently with your environment.
  7. A good salary, because money is exactly that what makes the world go round.
  8. At least 5 smiles a day, because humor and laughter are the best medicine for a long life.
  9. A few kisses from your loved ones, making sure that you will live at least 5 years longer than other people.
  10. All those, small immaterial things, which make Taiwan sound like heaven on Earth.

Don’t misunderstand me. Sometimes, I’m really pissed off at Taiwan, but then I just think heck, tomorrow, there will be another day. Put a bright smile on your face and other people will smile back at you. A smile can do miracles. Don’t you think so?

I don’t expect it in Mos Burger but if I’m down the Ministry of Foreign Affairs I f…ing well do. Last time I was in there the silly cow dealing with me understood about 20% of what I was saying, and these people are meant to be the elite of Taiwanese society?!

And it’s always the parents wearing the helmets. “You Westerners just don’t care about your family”.

If security follows you, you follow security; works every time.

A couple people have mentioned poor hygeine in their lists. Care to elaborate on this? I am well aware of the issues around sanitation (meaning the gross lack of), but I’m not getting the hygeine thing.

1.Not using soap when washing hands after going to the bathroom.
2.Kids with rotted stubs instead of teeth because they don’t brush.
3.Deodorant or lack thereof.

Just three off the top of my head.

When going to a foreign land.

  1. Safety and Security of Person
  2. Costs of accomodation
  3. Ability to acquire food through effective communication
  4. Ability to successfully get laid
  5. Politicial issues of the host country

Couldn’t think of 10…but if it was to be TW specific I would add

  1. Traffic laws
  2. Population ignorance and education
  3. High cost of milk and fruit juices

[quote=“misscpu”]To begin, I would like to give you some background knowledge about Culture as a big C and culture as a small c. (Many of you might have known this, though, so please see this as additional information.)

Big C

[quote=“Bassman”][quote=“OutofChaos”]1. Traffic laws that give the right of way to the biggest and most powerful
2. Legal system that punishes the ‘rich’ non-Taiwanese regardless
3. Legal system that only holds non-Taiwanese accountable to contracts
4. Poor quality goods of limited variety sold at exorbitant prices
5. Food and health regulations that ought to be but aren’t
6. Food and health regulations that are, but not enforced
7. English translations of Chinese documents that lag by several versions
8. English translations of Chinese documents that are blatantly wrong
9. Non-Taiwanese who expect to be treated ‘just like’ Taiwanese
10. The emphasis on independence with no acceptance of responsibility, accountability, or culpability

OOC[/quote]

I’d love to know what no. 9 is supposed to mean.[/quote]

Well Bassman, don’t let it be said I passed on the chance to spread a little LOVE around, especially when it’s so easy.

  1. Non-Taiwanese who expect to be treated ‘just like’ Taiwanese

Maybe the tricky part is having the

In order add something of a positive note, as Dargus has so kindly done, …

Taiwan beer - its very reasonably priced, widely available and quite drinkable.

Although it is rather silly to not have it in 1 liter bottles. Those 600cc bottles are just too damn small.

I have absolutely no concerns.

Are these concerns or pet peeves? Just curious.

My “concerns” for living in Taiwan right now are as follows:

  1. How on earth can I get a date? (also number one reason for why I want to leave)

  2. Will this store have shoes and clothes my size or will I have to shell out a few thousand dollars just to get a scarf that fits around my neck?

  3. How am I supposed to learn the language when every chance I get to speak it, I either have someone trying to respond in broken English because they don’t think I can speak it or get insincere flattery about how great my Chinese is when we all know I speak like a 3-year-old (my main source for daily input)?

  4. Am I going to take the plunge to leave before I get into “aw, I’m already halfway to a APRC” mode?

  5. What did I just step in?

Definitely a concern.

A little of both I think.

A little of both again.

Concern.

:laughing: Major concern. :wink:

Its good luck, provided you did not step in it purposely.

  1. Overt, uninhibited and easily seen criminal gangs and organized crime. (You should have seen this gangster funeral I saw last week)

  2. Cultural isolation

  3. People whose only motivation for learning something is a test and not really about the skill involved. You can see this in English learning. Most people’s sole motivation ispassing a standardized test, not learning the language. How does this impact me? Well the same applies to getting a driver’s license here. I had ten years accident free driving in my country, but I still have to practice to pass the stupid, devoid of real world driving conditions, parking lot obstacle course driving test they have here before can get a Taiwanese license…because Taiwanese can drive so much better than anyone else in the world right?

Guess I’ve only got three today. Must like it here, huh?

Regarding the ‘insincere’ flattery, cut them some slack. Sure, it can be ingratiating to hear ‘Wow, you speak Chinese so well!’ after every half-assed 你好. But personally I prefer that to being pointed at and told “哈哈! Me no English-ee!” as they run away screaming. Giving someone a bit of face is their way to acknowledge that you’re a human being on their level. If anything, I think foreigners generally don’t do nearly enough to return the favor by giving others face.

I wrote this on another thread, but if you want to practice your Chinese, get the hell out of Taibei or any other large city. I live nearly an hour out from Taizhong city. I’m pretty tight with a couple of the night market vendors out here. The first time I dropped by their stalls, they’d be a little surprised at first that I could speak Chinese, but after the initial pleasantries, we could shoot the shit like normal people do. It’s great. The only disadvantage is that they seem to be a bit too knowledgeable of my personal life (‘Gee whiz, I haven’t seen that girl you’re with in a while. What’s the deal?’)

Contrast that with my experiences in Taizhong city, where people tend to flip out when I approach them. When I used go to a restaurant with my local girlfriend, the staff would never acknowledge my exsistence. The waitresses would avoid eye contact with me, never take my order, and I’d usually have to make a big fuss for them to even give me a menu. I remember trying to see a movie a couple months ago at Tiger City and the girl behind the counter looked like her head was about to explode when I said, ‘兩張.’ She looked at my companion desperately for help. Please! Help me! My English-ee is very poor!

  1. I’ll wake up one morning in Taiwan SAR.
  2. The words ‘um’ and ‘ah’ will make up more than 50% of my sentences in English.
  3. I’ll start to prefer Taiwanized foreign food over the real thing.
  4. The phrases ‘meibanfa’ and ‘chabuduo’ will creep into my speech.
  5. Cancer.
  6. I’ll forget about all the accidents and buy a ticket on China Airlines.
  7. The number of (subjectively) bad habits I’ve adopted from local culture will outnumber the good ones.
  8. I will actually kill someone for cutting me off in traffic or speaking to me in Englishy instead of just making a plan to do so.
  9. I’ll try and drive in the west like I do here.
  10. I’ll take to riding a scooter down to the 7-11 50m away, in flip-flops and wife-beater.

Finally, we agree on something. :slight_smile:

Oh, you mean like Melbourne (Australia), where I came from.

Like Queensland (Australia)

Probably like Sydney (Australia).

I’m actually having difficulty believing that any problems Taiwan has are unique, or even as bad as the same problems in some other countries I’ve been in.

Could you continue your discussion on gansters on the gangster thread, and keep this one for concerns ? I would move the posts myself, but I don’t have all my buttons :blush:

Love and kisses,
your Big Fluffy Moderator

[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]Could you continue your discussion on gansters on the gangster thread, and keep this one for concerns ? I would move the posts myself, but I don’t have all my buttons :blush:

Love and kisses,
your Big Fluffy Moderator[/quote]

So, what you mean is if I type stuff here you have no control and can not move it. So, to continue off thread is there really an ignore button and how does it work when it is available