When did you fall in love with Taiwan?

Wasn’t that like a week or something?

That’s why I said we just sat around and marched here and there. Nevertheless 2 weeks is still pretty annoying to commit to something when you had to take off time for work for no benefit. Nearly had a panic attack when I turned on my phone when I left. Everything just crashed and burned while I was away. The whole train ride home was be trying to fix everyone’s problems at work.

There IS no question in Keelung. Rain it shall be , 280 days a year !

I fell in love with Taiwan when I realized it’s like living in a place where dad is in charge rather than mom. It’s a lot more fun and you can pretty much do anything you want so long as no one pokes an eye out or starts the house on fire.

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Love? Never. As with real love, you shouldn’t dig too deep, of fairy tale will be destroyed once and for all.

Some admiration? Perhaps. All of them involved cycling, like cycling to Sun Moon Lake during the day and then riding back at night with no lights, or cycling Taipei’s bikeways at night, or even riding from Hsinchu to Taipei on a bicycle (at night, again). Taiwan is a cycling paradise, yes, that is a fact.

P.S. Totally agree about western side, “Man, it sucks” part starts on the border of Taipei and ends at Kaohsiung, with some minor exceptions. Eastern part is so much better, not devouring itself like Western during economic boom.

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I feel you man, happened to me in 1995 (oeps …) when I first landed in TW.
Got a few days left, and went around the north with a girl who was sitting next to me in the plane.
Girl is long gone, but the love for the island remains till today, and I am still happy to call it home.

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For me it was the scooter. Although a source of dismay and frustration in the city, on weekends we would often jump on the scooter and head up to the top of the mountain at Wuzhishan/ Yangmingshan. If we were ambitious, we would continue over the mountain to the beach on the north coast, and just hang out and eat a bit and play in the sand. Any riding in the mountains was generally great, assuming that you realized there are no road rules, and drive uber- defensively.

As well, spending time on the East coast and in the mountains. Going scuba diving (though not the best diving in the world) with friends just for something to do on the weekend was awesome as well.

And I know it is not for everyone, but the sense of “laissez faire” / do your own thing as long as you don’t make too much noise that seems to permeate everything in Taiwan. Although it leads to a “chabuduo” attitude that is rather half assed, I absolutely prefer it to the nanny state nonsense that you have to deal with in Canada, as well as where a large portion of my hard earned dollars go to support a portion of the population who are either unable or unwilling to work.

Last, and often overlooked, is that Taiwan has a pretty great group of expats. The expat population tends to be not your typical person from back home, because they had the sand to relocate half way across the world. A lot of talented musicians, artists, etc. now call Taiwan home. If only they could get beyond the first generation immigrant “fear” and start fighting more for their rights ( just wanting to keep their visas for fear of getting deported, etc) … But that is coming slowly as things change for the better.

Do I love Taiwan? You bet. Warts and all. I would move there I heartbeat if my job wasn’t about to put me into the six figure range here in Winnipeg, and have a family to raise, and an aging mother. Now I do remember why I moved back, but little of it had to do with Taiwan itself, more the family issues and lack of work prospects. Once I can retire with my pension ( 5 years or so) we may just move back.

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A man and a rain.

I think most of its the rain that makes me feel in love here.
When you sitting near the window and seeing that heavely rain, its just happened, and you hear the sound of the rain from out said of the window while you quietly read a book with coffee, smell the coffee… whatever its dark or light, you feel in love…with it.

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That’s pretty hardcore. Respect!

I’m talking about the weather that I lived only 2 or 3 times of rain in a year before. What do you mean respect?

I can’t speak for the good Doctor. But personally (and I think for a lot of folks who live in north Taiwan) the cold brutal inescapable rain is pretty close to the last thing I love here.

Guy

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This is also the time I love Taiwan. When departing. Looks beautiful from the sky, during the rare times that the sky is clear enough to see the land from the sky.

Then returning to Taiwan from blue sky nearly always sink back into the clouds and lose the love.

A poem about Soy Cowboy Many moons ago I was there and remember a westerner walking around with his dog, and bought some BBQ meat, the Thai guy was pleased and proud as fuck to serve this guy, until he started feeding his dog with the meat.

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It rained only 2 or 3 times a year where you lived before?
Where was that?

Taipei winter rains suck. Cold and dreary.

Taichung hardly rains during winter time usually.

See the stats practically drought conditions for a few months every year. Much of Taichungs water actually comes from Miaoli.

To gentleman,
Are you talking about the heavy rain?

No one could describe my feeling better. Well written. Bring a lot of nostalgia

https://goo.gl/images/QrqTE7
The photo is most rain area in Taiwan. I don’t feel a hardcore rain in Taiwan.

I think Taichung ( normally) has a great climate . Now if only they can fix the pollution :thinking: