you’re welcome 
The fact that Taiwanese always stare at foreigners + the fact that many foreigners feel quite lonely here…
Just my 2 cents
1 Like
They really don’t. Not at me at least, and not just up north. When I go down south nobody stares at me.
If anything they avert their gaze. Possibly to avoid potentially embarrassing interaction with a foreigner.
I probably pay attention more, or am more sensitive to it, but in Tainan its all day long really… I am quite stable mentally and emotionally (I think) but sometimes it just gets on my nerves. One day I’ll learn how to ignore it for sure.
1 Like
I know when my wife and I are on public transport we both get it! (Try to ignore). I know people are just curious especially with a “mixed couple”. They actually think my TW wife is Japanese! By her looks…weird. Hard case… oh… I maybe weird writing about this!
My wife gets lots of stares when she’s with me… but she does not care, just says it’s normal here when people see a foreigner with a Taiwanese women.
Remember last year in June we spent a week in Japan and she noticed that Japanese did not stare like Taiwanese do.
If I get stared at I honestly don’t notice it at all. I’ve tried to figure out the phenomenon of other foreigners experiencing getting stared at, but I still don’t have the answer.
I actually get mildly irritated by Taiwanese people avoiding eye contact with me, almost like they’re scared. My experience is the polar opposite of foreigners who get stared at. and always has been.
1 Like
Yep…Japan totally different experience! Sitting on the metro and I am the only one staring! 
I saw what you did there.
Guy
1 Like
I would argue it’s the state that has turned weird.
I mean now there’s all kinds of trigger words, diversity training, etc. that it’s a losing battle trying to figure out what’s taboo and what’s ok, and inevitably you’ll say a trigger word by mistake and you’ll offend everyone.
Maybe all the foreigners have saw the light?
Why does Taiwan have so many weird foreigners?
My old friend would answer “I resemble that remark”
He was always good with words.
9 years in Singapore and 20 years in Taiwan. From my experience the “weird” foreigners were those that have loosened themselves from any society conventions/expectations. They simply do not care what others think…and maybe have taken this to the extreme. Of course, some have run into many of life’s pitfalls and have struggled to cope. I feel for them as I have been so very lucky here.
I have removed myself from much interactions with foreigners as I have gone “local” so don’t know if Taiwan has a lot of “interesting” foreigners anymore. My bet is that us older types equate strangeness with some of the irregularities of youth…and the younger ones would view us as strange. Meanwhile, no doubt some of my friends back home consider me a little strange due to my lifestyle.
2 Likes
Does Taiwan have weird ‘local’ foreigners?
Foreigner is not tied to a residence permit, it is tied to skin color here.
Everywhere there are going to be assholes that go out of their way to try to bother you. Culture shock, being away from family and friends, going through some hard time. Off course some people are going to snap one day.
The weirdos back home that I knew went to Japan. I’ve met so many strange people who are enthralled with everything Japanese. So I would think there is a higher concentration there but I have never been.
2 Likes
When we go down South we get a LOT of attention still.
Even in Taipei my family gets attention but less of the death stares.
Maybe I just don’t pick up on it. It’s a weird thing.
QFT.
I’ve been trying to reacquaint myself with new foreigner stock in Taiwan, with mixed results. Main issue I have is the topics and issues they find refreshing I find boring having gone through all of that ten or fifteen years ago !
Then I have to stop myself going into the 'well back in the day we did x/y/z and it was way tougher than you pampered folk with your GPS and Facebook groups and a coffeeshops on every corner (all of which I equally enjoy mind you 
)…And there I go again .
I meet some longtermers here sometimes , some I’ve known since they moved here, and you kNow what, they are mostly very solid nice types making a living , raising a family, running a business , sometimes fairly strong personalities of course since they made a life out of nothing much in many cases. Some of them speak Chinese, some are more localised than others. I also know some hippies who tend to do much better for themselves in the towns and mountains living a good lifestyle for them keeping it real. I don’t think they are weird at all. All of them are pretty chill . Anybody who has lived here 20 years or more , we’ve seen the ups and down, disasters, not much phases us.
Mostly I hardly see foreigners at all, ‘weird or not’.
2 Likes
A lot of weirdos here initially wanted to go to Japan (or Korea), but fell back on Taiwan when they couldn’t find a job in those other places.
You have to be a bit of a weirdo to relocate to Taiwan to begin with.
2 Likes