I have been told a number of times that I should try to ‘fit in’ more to the local way of thinking. I find this to be quite insulting. Chinese people in England tend to form their own communities, and run things in their own way. They even have the gang systems in operation. I see little effort on their part to become ‘more English’. So I say nuts to fitting in. Lets be even more Western!
Here come the flames!!!
It is entirely true that some Chinese, as the glorious Pauline Hanson of Australia’s One Nation party would say ‘form ghettoes and do not assimilate’. However, they get plenty of flak from ‘traditional’ Australians and right-wing political parties with an agenda. Even speaking a language not English in public will earn you dirty looks in some areas. It also leads to backlash against all Chinese, because they all look the same, right? 
Whether you think this is a problem or not depends on your outlook. Obviously, in the end, people will do whatever the hell they want to.
Likewise, what you choose to do in Taiwan is entirely up to you. The people who tell you to fit in are going to keep telling you to fit in, and you have the right to ignore them or to be ‘even more Western’ - whatever that means 
Patterson,
Of all people, an American co-worker of mine says this to the rest of us. About how we aren’t immersing ourselves enough in the culture. He proceeds to boycott everything American or Western here (food, movies, etc.) due to his own “immersion.” He gives everyone the impression that he hates the West. I’m mulling over whether or not to rouse him to relinquish his citizenship if he hates the U.S. so much. I’d be curious to see his reaction. Basically he’s a pompous prick who looks down on the rest of us for not being as obsessively involved as he is. :raspberry:
The key point is not being more Taiwanese. The key point is the reality that you are in Taiwan and they are not going to change to your way of doing things. Start a western ghetto. You can continue to turn your back on the way things are done here but you’ll only hurt yourself.
Taiwanese and Chinese in Western countries have the power of numbers and can create their own communities and system of doing things. There is nothing stopping westerners in Taiwan from doing the same thing, apart from sheer numbers that is.
Going against the flow is like me deciding that Taiwanese drive on the wrong side of the road and I am just going to continue doing things my way and drive on the left. Before long I’d be going home in a box, but at least I did it “my” way.
The simple reality is that we knew it was a different culture before we came, if we didn’t we were stupid, perhaps we didn’t really comprehend just how different it would be.
I don’t think those who totally go native and hate their roots are smart either. You do what you need to do to get by and be a success, that is all. There is no point in cutting off your own nose to spite your face.
You don’t need to really be more Taiwanese, you just can’t expect them to be more western.
Well the day that I start whining about Nike screwing me because I bought a scalped ticket and don’t feel like I got my money’s worth!! take a gun and pull the trigger (several times just to be sure). No matter how long I live here, I never want to start whining for compensation. Ever. Period.
You think too much Fred. Just do it. 
Somebody said that to me last night. How is that possible to think too much??
Somebody said that to me last night. How is that possible to think too much??
You’ve hurt my feelings. I want compensation. Whine! Wah!
The american mantra.
The American mantra.[/quote]
And you should know. You’re a lawyer.
I actually quite enjoy the little triumvirate of Mexican-American-Chinese culture I got going on here in Taiwan. :lovestruck:
I’m too steeped in my own ethnic culture to allow myself to become “more like Chinese”, although it’s not like that’s a bad thing. 
Then there’s the old saying, “When in Rome…” Sure, can be hard to follow at times, though.
make a ghetto on ninang road
only white people foreigners
we can even do stuff like sit on the block to 5 am with a coffee can
wear nice clothes and paradise then mornign we go take their money and at night back to the ghetto where we have bbq
stop being lazy we can make a gang and goto pig and whistle with aussies with plastic knuckles
One of the teacher’s at my school keeps admonishing me in a good natured way, “When in Rome do as the Romans do” whenever I express annoyance, exasperation, etc. at some of the typical local habits. For instance, I was asked to lead a workshop recently and just before I began speaking one of the teachers decided it would be a good opportunity to pop out and get a bowl of pow mien. This annoyed me because a) she would come back in the middle of my lecture and b) she would be slurping all through it. My colleague had the same reaction when I complained to her; “When in Rome do as the Romans do”.
My students constantly come late to class, chat with each other in the middle of my lectures and smoke in the bathrooms in clear violation of the school rule against it. I can never let up harping about this at them and yet I have made little progress in changing what I view as bad behavior (obviously they don’t).
The point is, some things are just so ingrained in us that we cannot except and change ourselves for them. I take my shoes off at doors of residences, eat Chinese food with chopsticks for the majority of my meals, give and accept namecards with both hands, offer nice toasts with those little thimble-sized glasses at banquets and in general follow all local customs. There are some things I will never be able to assimilate into, such as homicidal driving habits, littering, letting my dog run without a leash, letting children run rampant in restaurants, hacking up deep loogies and phleming them out on the street or stopping my car to pee on the roadside in broad daylight. I could go on but my point is you give and take in this game and most sensible locals understand there are some things that will never change about you and most sensible expats accept that there are certain things that will never change about them (even if you never stop trying to make it come about).
SteveZeAuthor wrote:
As for these types, they’re usually a bit weird. I remember talking to a local I met at a party here not long ago who remarked about their western boyfriend who studied Chinese, practiced Chi gong (spelling?) in the park, refused to speak English or eat anything but local food that “sometimes he’s more yellow than I am”. I couldn’t help but laugh.
[quote=“Interlocutor”]My students constantly come late to class, chat with each other in the middle of my lectures and smoke in the bathrooms in clear violation of the school rule against it. I can never let up harping about this at them and yet I have made little progress in changing what I view as bad behavior (obviously they don
Who wants to be a white Uncle Tom?
There’s such a huge variety of “Romans”, it’s hard to say what is culture and what is individual personality or some other factor like gender, socioeconomic class, education, etc… I’m sure there are people anywhere in the world who fall on different sides of thinking whether or not it’s rude to slurp on pow mian during a presentation, including the Taiwanese.
If you find yourself sticking out like a sore thumb all the time, maybe it’s a good idea to examine your behavior relative to the people around you. If you’re sticking out for things people might think of as “stereotypical” of someone of your background, then maybe it’s a blending into the culture issue. Otherwise, it might not be anything at all.
I learn what the Chinese expect culture-wise and then decide if I give a shit and act accordingly.
[quote=“Bassman”]
Going against the flow is like me deciding that Taiwanese drive on the wrong side of the road.[/quote]
Actually I haven’t worked out which side of the road they are supposed to drive on. Or what red lights are for that matter.