well everywhere I go i make a Utopia out of it 
I am NOT unhappy here in San Francisco. I just think change is wonderful and trying new things âŚthats all!
I was born there and thenâŚthey kicked me out.
Donât like the movie? Hell, just pick up the controller and click.
Quoted for truth. OP, youâre a child. You havenât got a damn CLUE! But you should come here â itâll be a rather expensive way to disburse you of your cute ideas, but then, life donât come cheap, yâknow? 
And there are potato queens up the wazoo here. Or so Iâm told.
Rumor has it that the Taiwanese make the worlds finest sour cream. 
Or was that cream cheese? :lick:
[quote=âButtercupâ]Not meant to be patronising at all. Iâm sure you look back at 16 year olds and see their views differently than you did when you were 16 yourself?
But seriously, there are people on this forum who have been here longer than youâve been alive. Some of them love it, some of them hate it, others just donât think about it because it doesnât define their feelings or experiences. Everyone rants, sometimes, and sometimes itâs easier to rant with a bunch of friends (many many people here know eachother irl) than at your wife or colleagues who donât share your experience of being an expat in Taiwan, however cool they are (or arenât).
The older or long-termer flobbers are generally more chilled. The six month to four or five year, younger mid-termers blow off culture-shocky steam. Newbs just ask pointless questions and state the obvious a lot and go on about how fabulous everything is. All usual expat discourse. Youâll learn to tune in and not see disrespect, or unhappiness where there is none.
Edit MT, I see your point of view. I guess Iâm just overgeneralising. Iâve moved around a lot and it doesnât bring about changes, internally. Just stuff happening, not me, inside. To go with your analogy, the âlarger potâ assumes you were in a small pot where you were before. I really believe I would be happy and fulfilled if I lived in a cave. The larger pot doesnât always have to be external stimulus; for your own welfare, you have to push through that, because people, jobs, houses, places, etc, can disappear in a flash. Always chasing the bigger pot isnât good for us.
(Sorry, I sound like a stupid hippie.)[/quote]
Very jaded comments. Almost like you were suffering from mild depression or something. Like the rigours of life has broken your spirit for good.
Basically your shit is the same whether you dumped it in America or in Taiwan.
[quote=âblueeee11â][quote=âButtercupâ]Not meant to be patronising at all. Iâm sure you look back at 16 year olds and see their views differently than you did when you were 16 yourself?
But seriously, there are people on this forum who have been here longer than youâve been alive. Some of them love it, some of them hate it, others just donât think about it because it doesnât define their feelings or experiences. Everyone rants, sometimes, and sometimes itâs easier to rant with a bunch of friends (many many people here know eachother irl) than at your wife or colleagues who donât share your experience of being an expat in Taiwan, however cool they are (or arenât).
The older or long-termer flobbers are generally more chilled. The six month to four or five year, younger mid-termers blow off culture-shocky steam. Newbs just ask pointless questions and state the obvious a lot and go on about how fabulous everything is. All usual expat discourse. Youâll learn to tune in and not see disrespect, or unhappiness where there is none.
Edit MT, I see your point of view. I guess Iâm just overgeneralising. Iâve moved around a lot and it doesnât bring about changes, internally. Just stuff happening, not me, inside. To go with your analogy, the âlarger potâ assumes you were in a small pot where you were before. I really believe I would be happy and fulfilled if I lived in a cave. The larger pot doesnât always have to be external stimulus; for your own welfare, you have to push through that, because people, jobs, houses, places, etc, can disappear in a flash. Always chasing the bigger pot isnât good for us.
(Sorry, I sound like a stupid hippie.)[/quote]
Very jaded comments. Almost like you were suffering from mild depression or something. Like the rigours of life has broken your spirit for good.[/quote]
Why? Sheâs RIGHT on the money, as far as i can see. Some youngster wants to uproot and move halfway around the world because he thinks it will be âbetterâ and because he thinks the people are âcute.â All Buttercup is doing is pointing out the bleeding obvious â if youâre not happy THERE, its unlikely youâll be happy THERE. Happiness comes from ONE place â where you are. If youâre THERE and youâre not happy, its extremely unlikely youâll be happy when you move THERE, either. This is not rocket science to anyone whoâs actually lived for a while. Happiness and contentment come from within. Not from chou dofu at a streetstand. 
[quote=âblueeee11â]
Very jaded comments. Almost like you were suffering from mild depression or something. Like the rigours of life has broken your spirit for good.[/quote]
Are you following me from thread to thread? Cute!
Now Iâll just assume you know why that sort of talk is uncivil and not rip you a new one in front of all these nice pieces. Run along, now, if you arenât contributing anything.
Blind overweening Hanness is SOMETHING, godammit! You, young lady, are hurting the feelings of the 1.3 billion Chinese people! Shame on you!
Dunno about that. Deep fried chou dofu with chilli and pickles is at least worth a moment or two of bliss.
[quote=âButtercupâ][quote=âblueeee11â]
Very jaded comments. Almost like you were suffering from mild depression or something. Like the rigours of life has broken your spirit for good.[/quote]
Are you following me from thread to thread? Cute!
Now Iâll just assume you know why that sort of talk is uncivil and not rip you a new one in front of all these nice pieces. Run along, now, if you arenât contributing anything.[/quote]
No I wasnât stalking you I was just reading this thread when I came across your comments in it.
Your comments to one of the lads do strike me as somewhat jaded and ageist. It comes across in the tune of âthere is nothing to live for, nothing to learn, I am old, I have seen it all done it all, young padawanâ.
Not at all.
[quote=âblueeee11â]
Your comments to one of the lads do strike me as somewhat jaded and ageist. It comes across in the tune of âthere is nothing to live for, nothing to learn, I am old, I have seen it all done it all, young padawanâ.[/quote]
Can you read? Thatâs the opposite of what Iâm saying. What I am saying is âDonât mistake entertainment for growth.â The OP understands, although he doesnât need to agree. Heâll go through his own processes.
In the drug and alco trade itâs called âdoing a geographical.â The hope that by moving somewhere different all your problems will be erased and you can start anew. Almost always fails.
I came to Taiwan because it wasnât China, which was my only other option. Iâd lived in China previously, and the thought of going back to live there again didnât enthral me. I came for the Chinese study.
I spoke with the chap a few years back that took the China option I was offered - to study at Harbin University. He told this hilarious tale of watching a human gob popsicle growing in the winter, as each student entered the uni gates and spat in a corner. But far worse, according to him, was the fall as the giant gob slowly melted.
I came to HK cos I was broke and got head hunted with a far too attractive offer. I mean it had to be given my deep disgust for the place. Oddly, I may now be warming to HK.
HG
[quote=âHuang Guang Chenâ]Oddly, I may now be warming to HK.
HG[/quote]
The corollary to the, âgeographicalâ, is donât be fooled by improved circumstances. 
Aye, aye, Capân! 
Good to keep in mind.
HG
[quote=âHuang Guang Chenâ]Aye, aye, Capân!
Good to keep in mind.
HG[/quote]
Itâs a jungle out thereâŚ
I first came here because my sister told me that Taipei was the home of the best collection of Chinese artifacts in the world.
To be honest, I thought the museum was a little disappointing.
I came here to see how Taiwan was different from other Asian countries I have lived in, and to experience that vague motherload called âChinese cultureâ. It has been a complete success.
Iâd say Iâm somewhere in between Buttercup and Mother Theresa. I understand what Buttercup says, about happiness coming from within. That is definitely true. Just changing locations is not enough. It can be a temporary fix, but it is in no way something that can be a root cause of eternal happiness. There is no key to happiness, either, and not one thing you can do to make yourself happy. If you think moving to Taiwan will solve all of your problems, you are wrong.
However, I definitely think there is a whole, whole lot to learn in Taiwan, and other countries. And I think that changing location, while it cannot be a root cause of eternal happiness, can teach you a lot about life, the world, and best of all: yourself. As cheesy as that sounds, living in another country (NOT just traveling there) and being put out of your element is definitely a way to learn about both the good and bad within you. Are you easily broken? After just a month, are you inclined to start eating at the McDonaldâs, or are you more adventurous and want to just go to a street stall and point to stuff, even if you canât speak Mandarin? You will learn all kinds of things about yourself by moving to another country, some things you might have not even wanted to learn. In my opinion, that is the beauty of it. And sometimes, the landscapes of one country might look similar to another, but the general feel of that landscape is different. Think to yourself: why is it different? Is the sky actually bigger in Taiwan, or was the train ride to get to this mountain, the hike up it, visiting that temple along the way - did that pathway to this beautiful view trigger within me some sense of difference? You will learn a lot here no matter what. People are people everywhere, but people are different in different places, with different backgrounds, different ways of growing up, etc. Seeing these differences is one great aspect of living overseas. You will realize this. But you will also realize the constants in homosapiens: their ethics or lake thereof. People can be assholes, no matter how they grow up. All countries have dirty, cesspool-like parts. All countries try to sell you shit. All religions want you to be a part of them. Itâs the nuances that you can learn about, and that means learning about all three dimensions, not just the pretty guide book aspect of things. And within itself, that is absolutely the most beautiful part of living in another country.
I have loved living here and will never regret it. I even thought about leaving at one point. Not because of the country, but because of the shitty job. But even that started to improve itself. freethinker: donât let anyone discourage you, but try to keep an open mind. That includes not being overly optimistic! You may just disappoint yourself. It may take you a while longer than others to get disappointed, but you have to realize that part of it can and probably will come for you. Then youâll find something else amazing. Itâll basically be like an undulating wave with highs and lows. But for those that talk shit on the forums all the time, that wave has evened out into a more lake-like structure because they have been here for so long. Itâs their right to vent~