My culture shock
There are a lot of Westerners who come to Taiwan for different reasons. Some come to study Chinese, some come to make money, and some people genuinely just want to travel and have a cultural experience. Since I’ve arrived, I’ve met all sorts of people from all parts of the world teaching English. From Canada, from the U.S., from S. Africa, from New Zealand, from Russia, from Australia. Many of them are absolutely wonderful people to sit down and talk with.
However, coming to Taiwan after having lived in England and traveled in Europe, I can see distinct differences between the foreigners you will meet in those places and here. I would say that in my Europe travels, about three quarters of the people I met were absolutely amazing. I got along with them, immediately. I’m not saying there weren’t some bad eggs in the carton, but most people had good intentions and were very independent and open-minded.
For whatever reason in Taiwan, it’s not been the same for me among fellow travelers. The reality is that you have a very limited social group – people with whom you share a language. This narrows down the possibilities of whom you can be friends with. But what narrows the possibilities even further is the stupidity and immaturity of some of the foreigners here.
For example, I find it absolutely ridiculous that other foreigners here think that, among other things, it is okay to drink and drive. I’m not saying everyone does it, but a lot of people do.
Oh, of course I’m making my own judgement here. They might say, “Well the police here don’t care,” or “I’m only driving a scooter,” or “There is no one on the road right now,” or “All the locals do it.” These things are all true. So who am I to say you can’t get on a scooter absolutely messed up and ride up and down the street yelling to god knows who? It’s true, the police come and see what people are doing, and for whatever reason they ignore it. It is not as taboo here as it is at home.
However, I think these people need to grow up. It’s really depressing that they not only make themselves look like idiots, but also that I now don’t want to even try to get to know them. There is absolutely no reason. A cab ride is about $6 Canadian and you can get across the city – a big city where there are tons of taxis – in about 20 minutes safely.
I also must say I find it absolutely hilarious when people say that they have not saved any money after being here for a year. If I went to a Western-style bar every night and drank that much, I probably wouldn’t have saved any money either. But honestly, if you are traveling across the world to do that every night of your life here, why bother leaving home?
Well, that’s my rant of the day. I hope the next post will be more positive. 
Good post. I totally agree with you, why travel across the world to do something you could do back at home? I don’t understand why people drink so much that they can’t remember the night before. Which really defeats the purpose of having great memories abroad. Anyways, I’m hoping you’re having some positive experiences as well. I’m currently filling out all the documents required for the working permit/ resident visa, there’s so much! Hope all is well on the other side.
Drinking is one of the most common responses to the stress of being an expat — most expats don’t recognize how stressed they are.
I think if you met more long-term expats and more expats not in teaching, you’d find the same amazing people. There’s a whole niche — teaching English to children in cram schools — that doesn’t exist in Europe. It doesn’t attract amazing and interesting people. It’s also harder to meet such people because the long-term expats are pretty independent-minded, or hang out with each other and much less so with outsiders.
Michael
I totally disagree with Michael – your experiences and observations about Taiwanese expats are identical to my own. I live and work extensively in Tokyo, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and in many European countries. I typically work with teams of 50% local and 50% expat cmmunities in these countries.
For me, the reason for the lack of interesting expats in Taiwan is obvious – interesting people would never CHOOSE to live long term in Taiwan. Why? Look at the genuine financial, cultural, and political superpowers that surround the backwater, reactionary, and politically schizophrenic ROC: Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore.
These global capitals all have what Taiwan lacks: real political ties with foreign nations (this means actual embassies instead of Trade Offices and Consulates which allows in turn for major multinational’s regional headquarters there instead of nextdoor in mainland China or in significantly cheaper and more liberal Bangkok). The business law in Taiwan for foreigners is discouraging at best and hopelessly slow and corrupt at worst. Furthermore, the local media and education is myopically self-centered – so much so that the Taiwanese populace in general has no reason to be interested in the outside world. I prefer the subtle xenophobia of Bangkok or even the not-so-subtle xenophobia of Japan over indifference – at least they have attitude behind their ignorance. I wonder what is behind our ignorance of these cultures back home in the West…
You want more exciting expats, short- or long-term, you need to go to where the action is. Not the cheapest alchohol and apartment rentals, but the most intellectually and spiritually stimulating business, politics, and journalism. When was the last time you hear of a Fullbright scholar travelling to Taiwan to beef up their skills in… anything? How about an aspiring MBA on pins and needles over a competitive internship at a major Taiwanese corporation? How about an arts organization anxiously trying to break into the Taiwanese market in parallel with those of Hong Kong, Singapore, China, or Japan? It just doesn’t happen, and until Taiwan understands why it is a drop of oil floating on the surface of the ocean of modern, global Asia, it will never change. It doesn’t help at all that following any administrative change takes place in Taiwan, private or public sector, the slate is wiped clean and a new course is charted. Ah, chronic institutional amnesia – now that’s a powerful engine for policy development!
All that said, I love working in Taiwan on a contract by contract basis. I have even incorporated there. But I could never live there as an expat – not with so many possibiliies of more a more scintillating life are less than 3 hours away in every direction.
Cheers!