Where to meet local people?

Life Dating & Relationships
21

is03,

By leaving your family and friends behind and traveling to another country to experience new things, I think you really have to accept that at least in the beginning you are going to have to do some things alone, or you are going to be doing nothing, still alone. If you go to some of the places people mentioned to you before, you will realise that you are not the first one, nor the only one that night, to enter the place alone, and that people are there to meet other people. Nothing really terrible should happen to you if you enter say, a bar in the Shida area like Roxy Jr, alone, and then just sit at the bar. The worst that would happen is you stay there for an evening and nobody talk to you and you talk to nobody. But, that is highly unlikely. At the very least, you will know what it’s like to go somewhere alone, and you should feel more confident about doing it again.

If you can’t go out late at night right now, then why not just go join something like the Hiking club, even if you don’t like hiking. You have to meet people to meet more people, and again, this is some kind of social activity, if the members didn’t want to meet new people, they wouldn’t go posting their meet-ups on this forum.

Actually, Tommy’s advice about going to the same place regularly is good, and this is how I met a lot of good local friends.

I was also wondering, is that group ALE (Actual Living English) still around? At least for me, it was a great place to meet new people and see parts of Taiwan when I first arrived here.

22

After you make eye contact with loco people, it’s hard to shake them.

23

Guys, go easy on Is. Back home, we have to say hello to everyone. Conversations flow freely bewteen strangers sitting on a park bench or the bus. being friendly is part of the way of life and ingrained into social fabric. Compared to that, Taiwanese are one big block of ice… initially. I strike conversations with people even when I throw out the garbage. :smiley:

That said, get several language exchanges, pronto, hopefully same age range. Shida had a board where people would write their interest.

Try to find a salsa dance group. I remember there was one in Fuxing. Yes, it is trite and stereotypical, and most probably you like me can’t dance to save your life but, hey, this is Taiwan, who knows which is the right step?

For Pete’s sake, where do you have lunch? If you go to the same places, you’ll become a regular and see other regulars. Slow does it but it works.

Be gentlemanly, be helpful, carry the groceries for the neighbor who scolds on you. The best investment I’ve done is 300 nts of Japanese chocolates for the brats upstairs. Peace and quiet ever since. :laughing: That’s the spirit.

24

[quote=“asiababy”]is03,

By leaving your family and friends behind and traveling to another country to experience new things, I think you really have to accept that at least in the beginning you are going to have to do some things alone, or you are going to be doing nothing, still alone. If you go to some of the places people mentioned to you before, you will realise that you are not the first one, nor the only one that night, to enter the place alone, and that people are there to meet other people. Nothing really terrible should happen to you if you enter say, a bar in the Shi-Da area like Roxy Jr, alone, and then just sit at the bar. The worst that would happen is you stay there for an evening and nobody talk to you and you talk to nobody. But, that is highly unlikely. At the very least, you will know what it’s like to go somewhere alone, and you should feel more confident about doing it again.

If you can’t go out late at night right now, then why not just go join something like the Hiking club, even if you don’t like hiking. You have to meet people to meet more people, and again, this is some kind of social activity, if the members didn’t want to meet new people, they wouldn’t go posting their meet-ups on this forum.

Actually, Tommy’s advice about going to the same place regularly is good, and this is how I met a lot of good local friends.

I was also wondering, is that group ALE (Actual Living English) still around? At least for me, it was a great place to meet new people and see parts of Taiwan when I first arrived here.[/quote]

the first part of your pos sounds scary…

Yeah… such group would be nice. But idk.

Maybe I’ll try going to Shida today and ask if they know about some design/art courses too and look at the board.

haha it’s hard to meet local people here.

25

A word of caution:

Surely you’ve heard about Taiwan’s legions of girly-boys…? When you find yourself chatting with some sweetie, you have to make sure she’s not one of those (unless that’s what you want), so tell her that before you proceed with the relationship, you NEED to see her womanly parts. Just a flash is enough. Maybe ask for a photo if she’s shy. Cause if you’re not careful, you might accidentally turn into a homosexual.

26

[quote=“Screaming Jesus”]A word of caution:

Surely you’ve heard about Taiwan’s legions of girly-boys…? When you find yourself chatting with some sweetie, you have to make sure she’s not one of those (unless that’s what you want), so tell her that before you proceed with the relationship, you NEED to see her womanly parts. Just a flash is enough. Maybe ask for a photo if she’s shy. Cause if you’re not careful, you might accidentally turn into a homosexual.[/quote]

Oh, I thought only those guys back in Europe keep mixing up Taiwan with Thailand… Don’t scare the boy :wink:

27

Big bookstores such as Eslite. Go for the ones wearing the spectacle frames without any lenses in 'em. Those ones are the gullible fools and will therefore be easier to sweet-talk into nasty sex.
Seriously. Eslite bookshop is a good place to find women. And if you find yourself still too shy to approach, you can still have a fruitful time ogling them.

28

Ya thats what they say. The 24 hour one is the place. Girls get lonely by 3am in that store !!

There was a girl that i know who went there to get picked up, but nobody was bold enough. One furriner only laughed at her for going towards the wrong escalator. :slight_smile: NOT a good way to get on the good side of a girl you are interested in. Dont laugh at em, without at least making it into a fun conversation, like "oh haha, I just did that !!! We must be related !! " or summthin

29

Where is this ‘Eslite Bookstore’? I went to their website and it seems to be a fun place, beacuse other bookstores near my home are boring. I mean, duh, bookstores, but I mean… here it’s all white and ugly and the Eslite thing seems to be more attractive.

Which one is closest to Yong He?

30

I think it’s the one near Dunhua/Renai they all mean.

31

Indeed. Come 2:30 am you can TASTE the oestrogen on your tongue! :laughing: Chunghsiao/Dunhua MRT stop on the Blue line.

32

You could always pull them down in a local watering hole afterwards, and get them moderately inebribated before you take them to the lover’s hotel.

33

To the OP…

If you’re still foraging around by September of this year I shall be happy to join you… :thumbsup:

34

[quote=“sandman”]Big bookstores such as Eslite. Go for the ones wearing the spectacle frames without any lenses in 'em. Those ones are the gullible fools and will therefore be easier to sweet-talk into nasty sex.
Seriously. Eslite bookshop is a good place to find women. And if you find yourself still too shy to approach, you can still have a fruitful time ogling them.[/quote]

absolutely. great place to find a nice girl… if that’s what you’re looking for. hit the clubs if you want something down and dirty.

35

Be careful, marriage is a distinct hazard.

36

[quote]The best investment I’ve done is 300 nts of Japanese chocolates for the brats upstairs. Peace and quiet ever since. :laughing: That’s the spirit.

[/quote]

So that’s what its all about? I keep getting GIANT boxes of fruit, cakes, chocolates and even PRAWNS for my kiddos. I assumed that’s coz folks in my building are nice, or I have really cute kids or both. Then again, we are generally a quiet happy family and the kids are well behaved except when they running around the house, playing ball, banging steel bowls with spoons, dancing on super loud music and having a huge loud tantrum every hour or so. The son used to air his lungs out about a dozen times a night but now he just hollers at 2 and 5 A.M.

Nah the locals can’t be that indirect. I think my neighbors really love us. :wink:

37

[quote=“tommy525”]NOT a good way to get on the good side of a girl you are interested in. Dont laugh at em, without at least making it into a fun conversation, like "oh haha, I just did that !!! We must be related !! " or summthin[/quote]Saying “we must be related” doesn’t seem like a good way to hit on a woman. But, maybe you are from deeper in the country than I…

38

Yeah I uh, thought bout that after I wrote that !! Uhm. HEy some states you can marry your first cousin?

Some of my cousins are HOT with a capital H.

39

Hi is03,
I don’t live in Taiwan but I am here now and I have the opposite problem. I keep having to ‘beat them off’ (the women that is) if you will pardon the expression. I think that the main thing is to put yourself about - hiking, cycling, hashing (do they still do that here?) language exchange, dance classes, well, anything that allows you to meet others by pursuing a common interest.
I can second the coffee shop deal too. Try somewhere like Baristos around Zhong Xiao East sec 4 (Dun Hua), on a corner, around the #290 mark. I was in there yesterday, killing an hour between appointments. Take a lap top and go upstairs with a coffee or whatever. It is a friendly place with a good atmosphere and easy to speak and be spoken to. There were some gorgeous lookers there. Unfortunately I was ‘rescued’ by my partner with disapproving looks and sarcastic comments.
Ice breaking here is not as difficult as it looks, imho. The main thing is to be able to recognise those who may be curious about you. There is no need to be too ‘forward’. Good luck. I am sure that I will have time for a coffee later today as well.

40

haha to tell you the truth, I;ve never been to any of this social places, yet. I don;t really have the time yet, especially at night.

But I’ll try and see what happens.
Maybe I look to local and people here don’t care about their own… they rather like real foreigners?