[quote=“Tomas”][quote=“rowland”][quote=“zeno”]
Socially, an interaction with a Taiwanese person rarely goes beyond “Where are you from? What do you do? Do you like Taiwan?” They may be “polite” upon meeting a foreigner but they are certainly not warm and friendly in a social sense. Frankly, most are uninteresting with no personality or social skills.
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the abundance of attractive and easy women
[/quote]
You seem to be contradicting yourself here.
From my personal experience, there’s a lot more truth to your second assertion than the first. Those women are… friendly.
Maybe it has to do with the basis of comparsion. I’m from Massachusetts, where everybody hates each other. I find Taiwanese friendliness a little over the top. When a Taiwanese woman gives me the Old Greg treatment in reverse, it’s very flattering at first. Then I start thinking about Glenn Close preparing boiled rabbit. Maybe they should try not to force intimacy so quickly. For instance, one girl maneuvered me into having dinner with her parents after zero dates, unless you count that time she fondled my underpants as a date. I think that’s rushing things.[/quote]
How does a woman fondle your underpants? Did she snap the waistband? Trace the outline of your Y-fronts with her finger? Tug on the leg of your boxer briefs? One wonders.
I do appreciate the use of the word underpants. It has sadly gone out of style.[/quote] :bravo:
This isn’t really about Taiwan or expats. The original poster’s just saying he’s better than we are. Okay, you’re better than we are. We await further instructions.
that’s like saying that it’s better to get your hand cut off than being blinded and castrated. It’s true, but not that much fun, and there are plenty of other options that might be better.
You know people who have done stints in Japan and who think Taiwan is a paradise? Really? In comparison? I guess it’s possible, but that just sounds weird
You know people who have done stints in Japan and who think Taiwan is a paradise? Really? In comparison? I guess it’s possible, but that just sounds weird[/quote]
I’ve met a few. They praised Taiwan for having a culture that seems alive, where people are willing to tell you their feelings directly or at least indirectly instead of bottling them until they explode, where it doesn’t cost US$25 to see a movie, where you don’t feel pressure to dress absolutely stunningly just for a trip to the grocery store. Basically, people who have spent a long time living in big Japanese cities seem to find Taiwan to be much simpler and slow-paced, and I can totally see what that’s appealing.
Personally, every time I visit any other country and come back to Taiwan, the thing that always gets to me is that feeling during descent into to Taoyuan International Airport, when you see acres of unused farmland with those huge pools of water, dilapidated sanheyuan houses, rivers of scooter-traffic, and the inevitable rain clouds off in the distance… That’s the feeling of coming home.
They rant on about it like it is the best thing. It makes me laugh when I see Taiwan described in the newspaper as a food paradise. I mean it’s ok. I never miss it when I leave though.
“Taiwan has the best standard of living”
Taiwan is safe and convenient as we all know. It’s clean and the smells arent too frequent, I live in Taichung. You’ll never get mugged here and the pollution, well compared to places in China its great.
“Taiwanese people are nice and friendly”
Well I think it is the Taiwanese think they are friendly to foreigners. I think they try. It is never more than a social grace like the Japs saying sorry or the Brits saying excuse me. Short, brief and polite it certainly makes life more pleasant. If you have long term friends with the locals then even this social politeness isnt needed. I think maybe it is their way of being more international or something, an asian thing towards whities ? Maybe Im talking sh*t. :discodance:
Taiwan doesnt do it for me though and never has done. Is it too boring? Somethings missing in Taiwan. on the other hand it’s all fine somehow , the food, the friendliness, the heat etc. yet I think it’s time to leave this miniscule island. :yinyang:
I try to look at things from a perspective of momentum. I think the quality, and variety of food, generally stinks here, but is improving, and tastes are expanding.
Quality of life? Well pollution is there, but in the long run is improving, along with aesthetic progress (Kaohsiung city for example is being very progressive with beautification/modernizing infrastructure.)
Friendliness? I think Taiwanese you meet in day to day interactions are pretty polite…but they drive incredibly selfishly when they have steel/machines surrounding them, which I don’t think is overt disrespect as much as it is cluelessness about one’s surroundings…I don’t see it as unfriendly, but it says something negative about the culture and consideration for others.
I think the lack of friendliness issue is more an issue of lack of sociability…beyond that initial contact people here don’t seem too interested in truly socializing and getting to know others better. There’s just a vibe here when you go out in public places…people keep to their close circle of family/school friends, and don’t mix much outside of that. I also don’t feel like I’m in a relaxed atmosphere with a lot of smiles when going to places you would typically expect leisure, like malls or restaurants. Maybe someone can articulate this part better for me.
But overall, I feel like things are moving in the right direction, slowly. I feel like the younger generation here is more obviously forward thinking, and outgoing, and progressive in all of these aspects. For many the change may not be fast enough to accommodate their personal situation, but for me the general direction/a sense things are improving at whatever rate, is the more important feeling.
Taiwan has pretty good food but I think it’s over-hyped somewhat. I think it’s an affordable food city which contrasts it with places like Tokyo or Paris where eating very well will cost quite a lot of money. That being said, it’s amazing how far Mainland China has progressed. Kunming has some pretty high quality truffles grown in the region. Lots of restaurants around that city are as good as anything Taiwan has to offer.
I miss hot pots and some snacks in Taiwan, but a lot of other places in Asia have great food too. Taiwan is pretty affordable and has great snacks. However, I don’t think that warrants people talking about it so much.
Outside of central Taipei, where I owned property and which I will always have a fondness for :bravo: , Taiwan has first world bank accounts with third world infrastructure.
I like what an old Taiwanese boss once said to me. Taiwanese will respect and have accepted you when they treat you like they treat everyone else.
not saying you are wrong, just giving a different opinion. my experience is opposite. i have had something different almost everyday and have been surprised at the high number of adopted western foods here… the only thing i havent been able to find which is was looking for is hui guo rou (2 times cooked pork) and for the quality test, let me compare to my time in china. i had a bad stomach and lethal shits for the ENTIRE time i was there. here i have had it only a few times, the worst was when i had some extremely spicy noodles. considering i have been eating some street food everyday, thats not bad going.
Taiwan has some great infrastructure, it just looks like crap. They’ve got sealed roads all the way into tiny remote villages.
Where they fall down is the horrible aesthetics, lack of sewage connections and objects parked all over pavements…and probably TOO much infrastructure i.e. bridges everywhere, expressways everywhere, flood defense projects, industrial parks everywhere.
The best one is in Yongho, on Ren Ai road, south side, a few stores from Dingxi Station. “Tien Fu”, a proper Szechuan chef, nowhere else like it in Taipei.
[quote=“Hokwongwei”]Wow. How’s that for someone’s third-ever post? “Everything about Taiwan objectively sucks and the people who like to say nice things about it are objectively wrong.”
Are you looking for us to validate your points or to argue back?[/quote]
You are exhibiting signs of classic forumosa burn out syndrome. Once you have full blown F.B.O.S. there is no coming back. The trick is to remember your voice here isn’t important, just like the rest of us.
Cliches are cliches. We all have them. They make us human. Boring as that may be.
Perhaps you guys should change the rules to something about having to love Taiwan to be a member. Every time someone posts a negative impression of Taiwan, all the self-important veterans who derive their self-worth from the number of posts they have made on this forum weigh in with insults and derision. FFS, not all of us think Taiwan is so f*cking star-spangled awesome and just telling someone to leave the island because they want to share their opinion is really childish.
To the OP, I also don’t like being in Taiwan and I know others who feel the same. Stay strong brother(?), don’t hide your hatred and don’t cave in to the “Taiwan lovers”! Their words are empty, self-serving sentiments! I dream of a day when we will be able to give our negative opinions without being lambasted and told to get the f*ck off the island. I dream of a day when we will be able to shout our negativity from the polluted hilltops without fear, to hear it echo through every scooter-lined, pollution-choked, grubby street, lane and alley!
[quote=“Syderian”]Perhaps you guys should change the rules to something about having to love Taiwan to be a member. Every time someone posts a negative impression of Taiwan, all the self-important veterans who derive their self-worth from the number of posts they have made on this forum weigh in with insults and derision. FFS, not all of us think Taiwan is so f*cking star-spangled awesome and just telling someone to leave the island because they want to share their opinion is really childish.
To the OP, I also don’t like being in Taiwan and I know others who feel the same. Stay strong brother(?), don’t hide your hatred and don’t cave in to the “Taiwan lovers”! Their words are empty, self-serving sentiments! I dream of a day when we will be able to give our negative opinions without being lambasted and told to get the f*ck off the island. I dream of a day when we will be able to shout our negativity from the polluted hilltops without fear, to hear it echo through every scooter-lined, pollution-choked, grubby street, lane and alley!
Taiwan sucks! So there …[/quote]
Well ,I take you point and I certainly won’t have a go at you for having your own opinion. I would,however point out that whilst Taiwan has it’s bad bits,as you indicated, my own country has also got a lot wrong with it . Maybe your home country too?. Nirvana is a hard place to find.
[quote=“Syderian”]Perhaps you guys should change the rules to something about having to love Taiwan to be a member. Every time someone posts a negative impression of Taiwan, all the self-important veterans who derive their self-worth from the number of posts they have made on this forum weigh in with insults and derision. FFS, not all of us think Taiwan is so f*cking star-spangled awesome and just telling someone to leave the island because they want to share their opinion is really childish.
To the OP, I also don’t like being in Taiwan and I know others who feel the same. Stay strong brother(?), don’t hide your hatred and don’t cave in to the “Taiwan lovers”! Their words are empty, self-serving sentiments! I dream of a day when we will be able to give our negative opinions without being lambasted and told to get the f*ck off the island. I dream of a day when we will be able to shout our negativity from the polluted hilltops without fear, to hear it echo through every scooter-lined, pollution-choked, grubby street, lane and alley!
Taiwan sucks! So there …[/quote]
Pay attention to meeeeeeeeeeeeee!
How long have you been here? If it’s more than a few months in this supposed hell-hole, I wonder at how horribly mismanaged your life your home country must have been to stay in a place you hate for so long.
You have got be Canadian, a country that produces some of the finest intellectual giants the world has ever seen and, at the same time, a large number of whining babies who are approaching 30 but whose gonads have not yet dropped.
:bravo:
