Please tell us:
One thing you like in Taiwan that you can’t get in your home country
One thing you wish you could change in Taiwan
It can be anything at all - things you can buy, the culture, the rules of the road etc.
ETA: Oh, if your home country is Taiwan… just tell us your fave and least fave things about taiwan.
[quote=“bonzifan”]Please tell us:
One thing you like in Taiwan that you can’t get in your home country
One thing you wish you could change in Taiwan
It can be anything at all - things you can buy, the culture, the rules of the road etc.
ETA: Oh, if your home country is Taiwan… just tell us your fave and least fave things about Taiwan.[/quote]
I can’t get enough BBWs here :discodance: 
I’m from the UK.
I’m rather fond of those chicken feet things. They’re nicely spiced and the fiddlyness of eating them makes them rather satisfying to eat. I very much doubt I’d be able to get those in the UK, although if I learnt how to prepare them I’m sure I’d be able to convince a farmer to give me a load fairly cheaply.
I think the roads, the rules of them and the driving culture is really dangerous and unpleasant. In the UK an accident is rare - I’ve only witnessed one accident in my entire time living there and that was when someone got run over crossing the road in front of a bus while texting. In the 6 months here though I’ve already heard of two or three people having accidents, and seen carnage from 3. (I also witnessed a scooter wobble and fall over infront of me a couple of days ago, trapping the passengers leg - I’m really not sure how she did it, she didn’t hit anything.)
Best: Cost of living/ability to save money.
Worst: Chabuduo.
Best: safety
Worst: pollution
Best: Taiwanese culture/society/food
Worst: Very few professional job opportunities…
[quote]One thing you like in Taiwan that you can’t get in your home country[/quote] poontang
[quote]One thing you wish you could change in Taiwan[/quote] noise
I wish the French, Spanish or British colonized it or that the Dutch remained. Then we’d have some decent architecture. proper zoning and perhaps some decent food.
I wish the French, Spanish or British colonized it or that the Dutch remained. Then we’d have some decent architecture. proper zoning and perhaps some decent food.[/quote]
The Japanese came and did a lot of development in Taiwan.
The food in Taiwan is the best in Asia, hands down. Much better than Mainland China, better than Japan and Korea in terms of value and variety. Although it’s hard to argue that those other countries have bad food 
[quote=“Rabidpie”]
The food in Taiwan is the best in Asia, hands down. Much better than Mainland China, better than Japan and Korea in terms of value and variety. Although it’s hard to argue that those other countries have bad food [/quote]
Each to their own, but you are joking? Singapore, Malayasia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Korea all have better native food than Taiwan.
Best thing - Good weather
Worst Thing - Noise
Have to agree with the above poster. Food in Taiwan is very “bland” and seems to be a safe middle ground of what you may find in China. Not too spicy and not too salty, or something along those lines.
Best thing about Taiwan?
Still relatively easy to get a job, at least compared to back home.
Worst?
Very little in terms of “career” development, even as a teacher. Means you are stuck doing the same shit and are paid basically the same, regardless of the number of years you do it.
True, but many of the old Japanese buildings - factories, houses and railway stations, have been torn down. In fact, there seems to have been an active assault on some of the Japanese relics. The problem with Japan is they weren’t on our side during WW2, so when they lost they had to abandon Taiwan. If any of the countries I mentioned earlier had been colonial occupiers of Taiwan, then their presence would probably have continued at least into the 60’s and 70’s and possible even into the 90’s.
You’re seriously comparing Taiwanese food with food from places like Vietnam and Thailand? I even find Hong Kong cuisine to be far superior to Taiwanese cuisine. True, I think the Taiwanese take on Japanese food is great as I don’t care much for traditional Japanese food, and the experience of eating Korean food is comparable to licking out the inside of a leaking battery, but I find most proper Taiwanese food to be quite bland.
I certainly don’t hate it though. I have my favourite holes in the wall and food is so cheap.
Best: Culture
Worst: Lack of national pride
Watch out you guys…you might get a certain teacher with a name that rhymes with fin on here bitching about your Taiwan bashing…
I don’t know about the European colonial legacy. Everyone here knows how I love to blow the trumpet for Western culture, but its legacy has been fairly hit and miss in former colonies. Some, such as Myanmar, seem to have done their best to deliberately screw everything up. They even drive on the wrong side of the road now! That’s probably symbolic of something. Africa, as well as large parts of the Caribbean, Latin America, etc, have little to show for European colonisation.
Someone mentioned safety. I’d agree, so long as we take driving out of the mix.
The weather? Are you kidding me. For the next month, it’s going to be awesome here. Late September is also nice. The rest of the year, it’s either wet and miserable, or it’s sticky, hot and miserable.
I agree with those who don’t rate the food here. There are plenty of other countries in this region that can beat here absolutely hands down. It’s definitely not the worst (I’d put traditional Burmese food in that category – that stuff is truly inedible), but it’s nowhere near the best.
Worst: Blind adherence to Confucian values – especially respect for elders even if they are corrupt officials or incompetent academics.
Best: Pretty, young girls who do everything I tell them to. 
Well, someone was going to write that. It was only a matter of time. 
Best: Rolling on my scooter. I still miss that beast - Fuzzy 125, jade green, bought it second hand (redone) from Eric the Yamaha mechy in Taichung. Bet that thing is still servicing someone well.
Worst: Concrete jungle living. Hard for a Saffa like me having grown up in bush. I adapted over time, but still…
Best: Sharon, my son’s English Teacher
Worst: Fu Xiao Elementary School, were my son is taught by the likes of teacherfin.
Maybe time to start homeschooling.
OK then.
Best: The almost limitless opportunities and things to do offered by such a small island if you put your thinking cap on properly.
Worst: The rudeness and selfishness of the locals and absolute total indifference toward strangers.