Working in a Taiwanese company has provided me with great insight into how things work here. I get to witness and participate in group decisions on a daily basis. On one hand it can be particularly frustrating because people are not forthcoming with their thoughts, or when they do say something, they try to say it in a way without rocking the boat. On the other hand, one can witness the deeply rooted attempts to maintain harmony at work: the principle of “不好意思” (bùhǎoyìsi). One example occurs daily at lunchtime, the question being “where should we eat lunch?”. Read the rest of this entry »
If I was to pick one thing that really hurts the image that Taiwan projects to foreign visitors, the one thing that sticks out above the lack of standardized romanization of Chinese, the relative lack of English and the general lack of organization and consistency, it would be the airport. In particular, the customs line for incoming foreign nationals. Read the rest of this entry »
Being here for a few years, I’ve just attended what has to be at least my tenth wedding here in Taipei. Though each wedding has its nuances, just about every wedding I’ve attended save one has followed a simple formula. I’m writing this guide as a record for myself and also as a tip sheet for others who are less familiar with weddings here in Taipei.
While in Kending during the last weekend of the Lunar New Year, I witnessed the boldest manifestation yet of that crudest and most-desperate species of the Taiwanese cock-block family: the Brokeback Attack.
Well, I signed up for the Versions app beta and finally got it about a bit over a month ago. I installed it and then minutes later, I clicked it off, fired off an email to their feedback address and removed it from my dock, expecting never to use it again. You see, the problem was I couldn’t get it to work with my Site5 SVN setup. I received an email back from the beta team and now it’s working and back in my dock.
I don’t know what it is about senior citizens here, but they simply refuse to oil their bikes. I’m guessing that they have to leave their bikes outside and they rust up. I ride frequently around Taipei and at least once every time, an oldie will come screeching to the corner I’m at, raising the hair on the back of my neck and damaging my already-damaged hearing.
I participated in the Olympic Day 8K run this morning behind Da-Jia Elementary School, just by the riverside. There were a lot of people there, many groups and societies.
The most amusing bit had to be the warm-up sequence, led by a woman who had to be an aerobics instructor. The music started out with “Chariots of Fire” of course and then ended with a bizarre, Disney-fied rendition of “Amazing Grace.” We started out doing some easy movements, but it just got weirder with everybody holding hands and jumping left and right.
The motivational warm-up over with, the race began. In my case, this was a perfect example of slow and steady wins the race … I burned myself out and had to walk after two-thirds through the race. This old guy who I passed way at the beginning (and then who passed me and then I passed again) passed me and finished the race probably a couple minutes before me. Finally, in homage to the Taiwanese penchant for lining up for free stuff, I jumped in line for five minutes to grab a free cup of honey-water.
I joined a company-sponsored outing to Fulong yesterday for some surfing. I’d been really looking forward to it because I’ve been talking about going surfing in Taiwan for more than two years and because, being raised in Miami, I love the beach.
I’ve been to Fulong before, but both times it’s been rainy or overcast. Fortunately, the weather was pleasant yesterday. We met at Taipei Main Station and jumped on the 10:35 train to Fulong. Since we grabbed the “stops at all stations” train (ticket at 85 NT was marginally cheaper than the express train), it took about an hour and a half to get there. The express train will get you there in about an hour.
The Fulong train station is a five-minute walk from the beach (nice!) and a 30-second hop into a line of lunch-box shops. Fulong is famous for its “Railroad lunch-box” (éµè·¯ä¾¿ç•¶) and that’s normally the first item on the agenda for visitors. We dug into our 50 NT lunch-boxes and then met with the surfshop to organize our surfboards (500 NT for a day’s rental including a free rinse-off).
Finally, we set off towards the beach. I’ve only been surfing twice (this time was the second time) but even I was shocked at the number of people trying to catch a wave. There must have been about 80-odd people in the same 100-200 meter stretch. I hit one of my workmates TWICE and another workmate was skewered by me and another guy once. It was CROWDED. Good news is I finally stood up and actually surfed. The feeling was nice and I can see how it can get better as your skill increases (and if there aren’t too many people around).
After about an hour, I decided to go out a bit deeper to watch the experienced guys surf. They could grab the wave MUCH earlier and ride it much longer, unless they had to jump off to avoid hitting us newbies in the front blocking their way. They were unbelievably patient, I never saw any of them mouth off to any of us guys floating right into their paths.
I gave the board a rest and decided to try to swim over to the “paid area.” As I was approaching, I saw a lifeguard jump down to meet me as I crossed the line. I decided not to cross the line and he had nothing to say. I think I saved him from having to deliver the “pay to play” spiel and just walked back to base camp in the “no-swim zone” where all the surfers were.
As the shadows grew long, I got the craving for a beer, but the workmates were rushing to get back to their lives in Taipei so we hopped back into the train. All in all, it was a nice day, I got a nice sunburn, but I don’t think Fulong is a premiere surf spot by any standards.
I should start this series of posts by first mentioning that I’m not a hater. That said, no matter where you go, some things will piss you off, regardless of how open-minded, PC, assimilation-ready you are. Taiwan’s a great country, but it has its rough patches. Here’s one:
It was a rainy winter day in Taipei today. I wore my work shoes today. Unfortunately, the soles of my shoes aren’t exactly Gore-Tex super grip recycled F1 rubber or anything like that. I say unfortunately because whenever it rains here in Taipei (which is often), I slip on the marble-tiled sidewalks which seem to skirt every bank and post office in town. I’m pretty sure that most salarymen here experience the same, slippery imbalance every rainy day.
Luckily, the designers didn’t totally ignore this seemingly obvious flaw. Most of the marble-tiled footpaths have thin “friction strips,” as I like to call them. They aren’t the polished slip-traps of the marble tile, but are rough and cling to your shoe. They’re like buoys in a vast ocean that I tentatively jump to in order to keep from sliding around and bumping into people, or worse, making myself look foolish. If only there were more of these strips.
Update (2011/11/21):
Well, this post has attracted a lot of attention, not because of the post itself, but because of the brazen comments below. A Taiwanese reader (David) translated the post and comments on Mobile01.com for non-English-speaking Taiwanese to understand what foreigners might not like about Taiwan.
From David:
Hi there, your article “Things I Hate About Taiwan #1: Marble-tiled Sidewalks” has been linked, translated, posted and discussed at the website: mobile01.com; under the title “不喜歡台灣的理由”.
I am the author/translator of the said article. My whole purpose is to provide retrospect of the commentators and their opinions of Taiwan to the local Taiwanese, and specifically those that cannot read English.
As a result, the more inflammatory comments in general (translated to the best of my ability) has been discussed with some animosity but actually approved by a large portion of the people who replied, at mobile01.com.
I do not support either side or any specific opinion. If you wish to not have this topic discussed further, I can close the thread.
Let me know your thoughts.
David
I have not asked David to close the thread on Mobile01.com and have reopened comments on this post to see if anything constructive can come of this.
Just returned from a work junket in Japan and have observed some behavior on my part which exposes how culturally “flexible” I have become. Maybe “quick to assimilate” is a better way to describe it. I don’t necessarily think that’s a good thing. Perhaps there’s a point when one becomes so open-minded and flexible that one loses something of their own identity or personality.
I’ve become so used to capitulating to others that it’s like I don’t have any taste. When I say “taste”, I mean, my own likings, my favorites, my dislikes, etc. Instead, I just go along with what others like to do, or what they offer. I believe this is a habit that has developed during my time in Asia. My experience is that it helps to accept what others offer in order to warm a relationship up. Also, locals can offer a new experience and more insight into their culture. So what I like takes a backseat. The by-product of this continual acquiescence is a gradual, but noticeable fading of my own personality.
In the end, any healthy relationship must be based on a truth and honesty. Acquiescing to others, while helpful at the beginning of a relationship, may actually create distance later on between two parties.
Assimilating to a culture I guess is the next extension of acquiescence, though I guess it’s more subtle and much less conscious. In a way, after an extended period of time in a foreign culture, I believe assimilation is inevitable. To remain unchanged requires intense self-awareness and active resistance – an unnatural act which only makes one’s continuing presence in that culture less and less sustainable. Most people I’ve met in Korea and Taiwan have assimilated in certain ways and have resisted in others. They’ve found some sort of equilibrium between reaching out and guarding their identity. Others I’ve met (though few), actively defend against assimilation on all fronts and in turn make life miserable for themselves and others around them. Those are definitely not the travelling types.
I used to think that if one opened themselves up completely, then they could find their true “self.” But now, I’m not so sure. Maybe you just end up getting lost.