Well, I don’t know a lot of Taiwanese people, but the ones I know doesn’t seem that different from Swedes or Brits imho, again, people I know. But I guess I’ll find out more about that when I actually move out there later this year… 
I’m gonna be living down in Tainan with 3 or 4 tainanese families over a year or so, so they should be pretty “warm”.
Expect more on this topic in the “news” as Frank Hsieh seems to have made it one of his mayoral election campaign topics, i.e., bringing more “warmth” to Taipei.
[quote=“TaidongRudeboy”]I suppose I have two questions. The first one is do you think people are as warm to each other as they are to foreigners? I ask this because I “look like a Taidong local” and most Min Nan people seem to open up to me more when they find out I’m from England. One example, I always buy sugar cane juice from this one guy, and he always seemed to have an angry look on his face when I bought stuff from him. One day he said something to me in Taiwanese and I told him I couldn’t speak Taiwanese, then he asked me where I was from. After his initial disbelief and inspection of my ARC he’s since then always smiled at me when I go there and we always have a chit chat. This seems to happen a lot.
I wonder if any other ABC’s or Asian descent people have experienced anything similar.[/quote]
Chalk that up to Hoklo racism against Aborigines.
All the locals I know laugh when I say how friendly and hospitable Taiwanese are-yeah, to you (white) foreigners.
Though just like the good old days in South Africa, non-whites from first-world countries are sometimes included as honorary whites.
Another ex-Taidong friend of mine (ours), of Spanish and Pakistani descent always introduces himself as (name) from New Yorkin both English and Chinese; took me a while to figure out why.
[quote]Also is it fair to say that its unusual for adults here to hug and kiss each other if they are going away for a while or if they haven’t seen each other for a while? I’m just curious because my g/f’s sister came back home and the family hadn’t seen for around a year, but when she entered the house hardly anyone said anything. I was thinking maybe they had seen her recently and I didn’t know about it, I don’t really know. I asked my g/f about this and she told me that if she were going away for a long while she wouldn’t hug or kiss her mum goodbye.
I’m just wondering if it isn’t usually done here, or if it really just depends on the family. I don’t know other families. Maybe my g/f’s family is unique?[/quote]
Whats her ethnic background- there are differences among Aboriginal groups, too, as Im sure you know better than me.
And again, maybe just family differences- both my parents are from Oldham in Lancashire; in my Dads family you had to do a round of hugs and kisses even if youd seen everybody yesterday; my mother`s family were scornful of all that bloody luvvy nonsense.
I still don’t get how people can say the Taiwanese are “warm.” Friendly, yes…but there is a big difference between being friendly and being genuinely warm.