I agree. When I started my job here, I was so surprised to hear my Taiwanese colleagues calling each other with their English first name! That must some kind of hype 
But nobody is forced to adopt an English name. They choose to. Sure, parents sometimes give their kids English names, but those kids can always stop using them when theyâre adults if they want to. Itâs common in the US, and I imagine other English-speaking nations, for Chinese people to use English names and give their children both English and Chinese names. My wife uses her English name almost exclusively. Even her mom uses her English name. When we got married, my wife took my last name and went to get a new driverâs license and passport. She had planned on formally changing her first name to her English one as well, but it just so happens that both Texas state and federal law only allow a married woman to change her last name on her ID, not her first name, with a marriage certificate. In other words, if Jane Doe marries John Smith, she can get a new state ID and passport as Jane Smith simply by showing her marriage certificate. But she canât change her first name to âElizabethâ or whatever without going through a costly and complicated legal procedure. So, everywhere we go desk clerks continue to mispronounce my wifeâs first name. Itâs no great mystery why Chinese people adopt English names, and itâs got nothing to do with Western cultural imperialism.
My nameâs mispronounced EVERYWHERE. And my girl Meher is ended up being called Me-Her even by people who have heard me call her a zillion times. My husband is call Achmed when clearly he is notâŚno biggie. Weâre not changing our names for anyone, but sure if i wanted to be integrated or seen as a western person then wellâŚIâd call myself Diva and make it easier for everyone 
I doubt many people adopt English names because they want to be âWesternâ, though I agree integration is the strongest motivating factor for Asians living in English speaking countries (the majority of which are not, in fact, Western). But I donât see anything wrong with that. I really donât get why you have such a chip on your shoulder about this. Itâs your choice to use your own name. Thereâs absolutely nothing wrong with adopting a different name. For the short period of time I studied in Taiwan, my name was Gao Bohan. 
In response to that I would say that Iâm over the whole name thing already and I think anyone else should be too. You are not your name. Your name is not you. Your name on your birth certificate actually is a simple way of registering an identity for government records and a method for your parents to unwittingly sign you into slavery, and nothing more. You choose to represent a âpersonâ which is in fact a fictional entity and which the authorities use against you in thousands of clever ways, but mainly for the purpose of tricking you into either conforming to their own made up statue regulations or in the name of gathering payments which you donât legally owe to them.
You are you.
Your heritage is something which no longer exists.
Only what you do now counts.
Iâve just finished a bottle of wine before postingâŚ
And to the original poster:
It doesnât matter what generalizations you may gain from understanding foreigners as they will likely not refer to you or your situation. Go with the flow!..
In response to that I would say that Iâm over the whole name thing already and I think anyone else should be too. You are not your name. Your name is not you. Your name on your birth certificate actually is a simple way of registering an identity for government records and a method for your parents to unwittingly sign you into slavery, and nothing more. You choose to represent a âpersonâ which is in fact a fictional entity and which the authorities use against you in thousands of clever ways, but mainly for the purpose of tricking you into either conforming to their own made up statue regulations or in the name of gathering payments which you donât legally owe to them.
You are you.
Your heritage is something which no longer exists.
Only what you do now counts.
Iâve just finished a bottle of wine before postingâŚ
And to the original poster:
It doesnât matter what generalizations you may gain from understanding foreigners as they will likely not refer to you or your situation. Go with the flow!..[/quote]
Now see, I agree with that philosophy. You are not your name, or the role you play in life or your job or your heritage and all thatâŚitâs fabulous, and the day Iâd be able to stop labeling myself and people, Iâd be canonized and if youâd have done it, you wouldnât have needed wine, you wouldâve been high on life. 
All three of my names are Hebrew Biblical names. My family name is a very common boyâs first name, as is my middle name. My first name is a somewhat obscure name from the Old Testament. All of my life, I have had no end of trouble filling out forms, with people insisting that I have written my name in the wrong order. People constantly misspell my first name in the West or insist it is a Gaellic name or that itâs pronounced differently to how I say it (there are supposedly two ways to pronounce it). In fact, just about the only people I ever met in Australia who didnât screw up my name when they read it, and also knew its origin and meaning, were Jewish people. No one in Taiwan, including my wife, can say my name correctly. At best (like my wife), they screw up the vowel sounds. At worst they either confuse it for another name completely or they insert an extra syllable into it. My wifeâs family have turned it into something barely recognisable.
Yet I live with it all.
All my life Iâve grown up with a hard to spell and pronounce first name. I have certificates from when I was a kid that each have my name spelled differently (youâd think theyâd take the time to get it right). When I came to Taiwan, I decided to just go by Adam. How wonderful itâs been to just have to introduce my name once and have people âget itâ. Recently, I was interviewed on a public broadcast and decided to go with my original name. The host brutally mispronounced it. I think Iâll stick with Adam from now on.
I like girls that pull my eyes out with faces like magnets.
:bravo: fair play, that image made me properly chuckle. In fact, Iâll be giggling about that most of the night I imagine.
To the OP I would, to some extent, disagree with the sentiments expressed by most posters thus far. If sheâs cutesy, ćĺŹ, with one of those stupid fake âsound like a three year old who has inhaled some heliumâ voices as she professes how Hello Kitty is ĺĄĺäźĺ §, part of me wants to bang her into oblivion for some reason (I believe the term is âhatefuckâ). In a base sense I find this kind of girl âattractiveâ. However, in real life this type of girl would begin to annoy the living shit out of me after about 12 hours tops, at least 6 of which would involve me being sound asleep. Meaning her attractiveness has an extremely short shelf life. Which leaves me, like most posters, looking for someone who is not your average Taiwanese 20 something.
Re the name thing, my girlfriendâs name is easy to say for English speakers and therefore she has never used an English name (despite having one bestowed upon her by a professor at some point because she âhad to have an English name for speaking Englishâ). I always kind of felt that names arenât so important in Taiwan, e.g. directly calling your siblings âbig sisterâ or âwee brotherâ, which is why many are happy to choose, ahem, âinterestingâ English names. I may be wrong.
:s I was always told that names were very important. But maybe just in the stroke counting sense? That one should have the right number of strokes in the characters in order to receive good fortune in life?
:bravo: fair play, that image made me properly chuckle. In fact, Iâll be giggling about that most of the night I imagine.
[/quote]
I hope most people know who I stole that line from.
Is there some kind of joke about Taiwan girls counting strokes?
I think it is the nature of short term living situations. If someone is only going to be in a place for a short time, he/she probably does not want a long term relationship. This is also the case with lots of other people, men more often.
Iâm here for work.
For sex, the physical is key. Physically, I think sexy is good. But, the word needs more specifics to be meaningful. Not fat, and Taiwanese women are not as fat as western women. But a lot of Taiwanese women are too skinny. An ass that is curved is good. Lots of girls here wear too much makeup.
Emotional/Mental traits are more important for dating. Mature, intelligent, able to give her own opinion, able to hold a conversation about a variety of subjects. Related to the last one, INTEREST in a variety of subjects.
My girlfriend just called the âcuteâ kind of girl âpinky-pinkyâ. The kind of girl who always acts like she is a preteen girl is too immature and annoying for me to be around for very long.
As for the name thing, I consider names to be VERY arbitrary. Strangely, thatâs why I use my name on websites. I donât like choosing one particular interest, and making my name around that thing. Since my name isnât exactly common, and IS a descriptor for me, thatâs what I use.
I consider names to be arbitrary, but I donât consider identity to be. If someone is changing their identity based on name usage, thatâs not good. Except in cases of international business, where many of your relationships may be with people with very little exposure to Chinese language, I think using English names is completely unnecessary. The kidsâ foreign teacher can get over his pronunciation problems. Maybe in foreign countries it would be wise to use one IF oneâs name does not have English cognates. I didnât manage to pronounce one friendâs name before I started learning Chinese in Taiwan.
Actually, one of my main criteria for women in taiwan would be: can she walk properly? That is, without pigeon toed knee knocking, without shuffling her slippers, without stooping and hanging her head low.
Can she run, in any reasonable approximation of efficiency and style?
walking and posture can tell you volumes about self-pride, self-confidence, and self-awareness, all of which must be present before any decent relationship can even begin to be built with other people, including me.
Yeah, I give em 20 minutes to impress with intelligent conversation then: BAM! Straight on the treadmill.
Your English is better compared to the average Taiwanese person. 
[quote=âhuiyu0207â]
I am always very curious about foreign people who come to Taiwan. Several days ago i found this website and âŚits so cool that i can ask my questions here 
[/quote]
Yes, this forum is a good place to ask questions. Whether you get straight answers or not is another matter. 
Work.
[quote=âhuiyu0207â]
Which kind of Taiwan girls (or boys) attracts you the most?
Tall? Short? Sexy? Cute? [/quote]
I like women. Cute, but not whiny. Sexy, but not slutty. Minimal make-up.
[quote=âhuiyu0207â]
And my friend told me her English teacher told her that foreign guys usually just âplayâ with girls and donât want to take any responsibility. Her teacher think girls in Taiwan once see foreigners will throw herself on a man no matter how he looks like. How do you think that? Is that true? (btw my friendâs English teacher is a foreigner.)
So is that really doesnât matter how she looks as long as she has good body?!
Is that how you choose your girl?[/quote]
No. For me the order is: 1) personality, 2) physical attributes.
Darker to medium skin. short to average height, thin to average build, smaller chest OK. Huge chest is a turn-off.
Good, fun personality, not whiny, confident but not overbearing.
I like all kinds, TBH.
Tines two.
I love women, fullstop.
As for the ones I get interested in - mentally acute, pretty, aware of herself and the world, edu-ma-kated and playful. Playful is important, I wouldnât want a dullard.
Iâve laid out the same five criteria for women to guarantee long-term success with me: (1) non-codependence, (2) a strong libido, (3) biting sarcasm, (4) a challenging intellect, and (5) effortless physical attractiveness.
But ever since I started dating them, Iâve always loved damaged goods â the works! I like women with daddy issues who tattoo themselves on their arms and back. I like the kinds of chicks who work out their pent-up anger at punk shows and in my bedroom. I like them to be argumentative and cynical. I love them. Theyâre the sort of women who know that a man isnât âher other half,â and doesnât fulfill some âcompletionâ bullshit. These chicks appreciate a relationship for the bond, but donât rush headlong into the âhappily ever afterâ line.
I need to find that scene in Taipei. I donât dress the part, but I definitely talk the talk. Anyone who knows where to guide me should PM me.
In my life, âthe one who got awayâ had a dozen vaginal piercings, collaborated on songs about pink socks (If you donât know, donât ask.), worked in an herb shop part-time, photographed herself in a âbutcher knife bouquet,â and knew all of the local hobos by their first names because she ran away from home for a year. She was a closet masochist, which I couldnât abide, and she wanted sex in my car more than she wanted it on her bed (I drove a shitty Honda.). The mood swings were the only turn-off.