I’m trying to figure out why my Taiwanese co-workers ask me why I want to move to Taiwan. They ask me in a manner that implies I’m crazy for wanting to move here.
Some Taiwanese people have a very low opinion of their country. You get a lot of op-ed pieces in magazines (often written by academics who have never been outside their universities) about how great country X is and how pitiful Taiwan is in comparison, or what a great job country Y is doing regarding issue Z and how Taiwan should copy whatever it is they’re doing.
It’s one thing to compare and contrast, but one thing many Taiwanese people certainly aren’t good at is critical analysis. So they might comment on the fact that you could earn US$100K in the USA, which is a wonderful country without any problems at all, and neglect to observe that you would pay 60% of that to your landlord or the bank, or that you might be bored shitless doing a 9-to-5 in a blue cubicle.
Hey, nonredneck,
I LOVE the username! If you’re from a place with a lot of rednecks, then the answer should be pretty obvious.
Why would most rednecks want to go to Taiwan? There’s no Nascar, people speak languages other than English and Redneck, and they might not even believe GOD or COWBOYS. If all you hold dear is God (y’all know there’s only one what counts), Country, and a Shotgun, well, I guess there’s not a lot reason to ever leave Texas (or whatever redneck hell hole you’ve fallen into). No reason at all to go to Taiwan, where there’s ever god but the one what counts, no guns, and probably it ain’t even a country anyway–ain’t that part o’ China? And no Nascar. What the hell, y’all?
Finley hit the nail on the head. Most Taiwanese with any ambition grow up with a view that success = going abroad. I used to work in an office where the boss berated the local staff at a meeting that if they had any talent, they would all be working in China by now.
It’s an annoying question and even worse when the follow up question is ‘when will you go home?’
Nobody’s asked me this for the last few years but I encountered it a lot in the first few years.
I used to give grand speeches but now if someone asks me why I came to Taiwan, I just say ‘because I like Taiwan.’ Simple.
You’ve obviously never been to Texas which has led the US in job growth, has vibrant IT and oil sectors, and has liberal enclaves such as Austin. By the way, I consider the word “redneck” a slur against Scots-Irish people. However, just because people have faith, enjoy collecting weapons for hunting, and love Nascar (which started as entrepreneurial fast driving during rum running days) shouldn’t make them an object of ridicule. I am sure they would think people leaving the country to live in age-old cement apartment blocks, to make lower wages, and to teach for laobans that are even worse than Yankees 
are uber-crazy
You’ve obviously never been to Texas which has led the US in job growth, has vibrant IT and oil sectors, and has liberal enclaves such as Austin. By the way, I consider the word “redneck” a slur against Scots-Irish people. However, just because people have faith, enjoy collecting weapons for hunting, and love Nascar (which started as entrepreneurial fast driving during rum running days) shouldn’t make them an object of ridicule. I am sure they would think people leaving the country to live in age-old cement apartment blocks, to make lower wages, and to teach for laobans that are even worse than Yankees are uber-crazy [/quote]
Yes, if only the world could be like Texas, eh Oak Bay boy!
If they ask me why I’m here, I’ll tell them that “success = going abroad”, and Taiwan is abroad for me.
[quote=“BigJohn”]
Yes, if only the world could be like Texas, eh Oak Bay boy![/quote]
Swan Lake is hardly Oak Bay 
May I suggest “… and has a liberal enclave, Austin.”
[quote=“ChewDawg”][quote=“BigJohn”]
Yes, if only the world could be like Texas, eh Oak Bay boy![/quote]
Swan Lake is hardly Oak Bay [/quote]
Cha bu duo compared to El Paso!
You’ve obviously never been to Texas which has led the US in job growth, has vibrant IT and oil sectors, and has liberal enclaves such as Austin. By the way, I consider the word “redneck” a slur against Scots-Irish people. However, just because people have faith, enjoy collecting weapons for hunting, and love Nascar (which started as entrepreneurial fast driving during rum running days) shouldn’t make them an object of ridicule. I am sure they would think people leaving the country to live in age-old cement apartment blocks, to make lower wages, and to teach for laobans that are even worse than Yankees are uber-crazy [/quote]
I’m sitting right in the heart of it! Well, not exactly the heart, more like the spleen, maybe. A very tiny town where everyone works for the army depo or they don’t work. And baby, this AIN’T now liberal enclave. The word “liberal” is considered a blasphemous oath.
And I grew up in Arkansas. I know a thing or two about a redneck. Anyway, I was thinking about American co-workers asking why the OP wanted to go to Taiwan, not Taiwanese asking why he had wanted to go to Taiwan, which was likely what he ment. Bu Hou Yi Tzu.
[quote=“Charlie Phillips”]Finley hit the nail on the head. Most Taiwanese with any ambition grow up with a view that success = going abroad. I used to work in an office where the boss berated the local staff at a meeting that if they had any talent, they would all be working in China by now.
It’s an annoying question and even worse when the follow up question is ‘when will you go home?’
Nobody’s asked me this for the last few years but I encountered it a lot in the first few years.
I used to give grand speeches but now if someone asks me why I came to Taiwan, I just say ‘because I like Taiwan.’ Simple.[/quote]
They also ask me how long I will stay, though I don’t see that as an insult. Most foreigners at my work will work for less than three years in taiwan and then leave. So it seems normal for a foreigner working in Taiwan to work some time then leave. They seem to be really surprised that I want to stay here a while.
Reading the OPs posts again, I still can’t figure out which “co-workers” he means. Anyway, if he means “back home”, it’s easily explained by the fact that most Americans have no idea where or what Taiwan is. I worked in Connecticut for a short while and was once asked by a co-worker, with genuine curiosity, “do people still have dirt floors in Taiwan?”.
:no-no: My cubicle is grey.
Ok I edited my post for clarification. I mean my Taiwanese co workers.
Tell you them you wanted to go to Thailand and ended up here by mistake when booking tickets and now you can’t leave.
Of course, they also might have asked about dirt floors if you’d said you’d worked in Arkansas.
Of course, they also might have asked about dirt floors if you’d said you’d worked in Arkansas.[/quote]
No dirt floors in AR. But we DO like running barefoot in the summertime.
Red neck isn’t a slang… Lets look at the word, “red” the color for fire, passion, and neck… neck… well I can’t think of anything but you still got red and you should be proud of that.
You know I keep talking getting out of Taiwan mostly because the scooters and the fact that nobody takes anything seriously here drives me nuts. On top of that there’s family pressure too (which is why so many overseas Taiwanese hate it here). I guess some people see overseas Taiwanese as an angel who have fallen from heaven, as they always see anyone who goes abroad as someone successful. So many people talk about how America is the land of the plenty, where the wages are high, bosses are nice, and work is few, then they think that in America the government cares about the people, gives free healthcare (whatever that means), etc. etc… Most don’t see the problems of America and when you look at both countries objectively, you really can’t say one is better than the other. Many Americans work 2 jobs to make ends meet, costs are high, there isn’t really much in the way of healthcare (NHI is much better than many socialized medicine in other countries), you get sued for more or less anything so you get lots of restriction. I only heard one Taiwanese talk about life in America vs. Taiwan for what it really is, he said that in America you can’t do a lot of the stuff, namely public protests that are commonly done in Taiwan in the US, because riot police would come out and start beating people up. He said if anything like that happened in Taiwan the entire cabinet of the president would have to resign.
To use a cliche nowhere is perfect and home is where the heart is. I have known plenty of emigrants to return to Taiwan because of emotional or family connections.
When they returned they were in the halfway house like the Duke of York, the fate of many emigrants worldwide.
At least Americans will exercise their right to protest. Taiwanese are far too passive, and will rarely protest anything except for green／blue stuff.