Is Taiwan Strange? Uhhh, yeah...

A few days ago a Taiwanese college student approached me at the Mandarin Training Center and asked me to fill out a form for her research. This is not unusual and I usually try to make up some excuse as to why I couldn't do it (these forms usually take 20-30 minutes and are not fun) but this time the form's title caught my eye: Taiwan is strange. I decided to take it.

I have written down some of the 'strange' things that go on in Taiwan so you can see what kind of culture-shock things I have experienced and how (if) I've adapted to them. Just a disclaimer: some of these things really annoy me (I still really like living here though, and believe the good things far outweigh the bad).

It is strange that Taiwanese eat stinky tofu

Near my apartment is a restaurant which serves, among other things, stinky tofu. When I first moved here I couldn't stand the smell as I passed by every day. Now, I eat there regularly. Most of the time I don't even notice the smell. I still don't like the smell of stinky tofu, but it tastes great.

It is strange that there is some stuff you can eat inside of your drink (for example pearl milk tea)

I have to admit, even if I have gotten used to this, there is still some part of me that thinks it's kind of weird that when you are sipping from a straw some gelatinous substance ends up on your tongue.

It is strange that there are a lot of foreigner models on Taiwanese advertisements

Well, not really. I got used to that in Japan. The thing that is weird is their choice of foreigner models. Sometimes the models are not all that good-looking and make me wonder about the difference in perception of what is beautiful.

It is strange that Taiwanese wear thick-framed eyeglasses

They look kind of dorky. No, very dorky. Still, they do have some interesting variations on the theme and I have on more than one occasion considered getting a pair.

The way Taiwanese dispose of their trash is quite weird (for example, in Taiwan garbage truck pick up trash at a certain time and place while announcing their arrival with music)

I bet anyone that when Beethoven composed the opening lines of 'Fur Elise' he never imagined that hundreds of years later the song would be played to signal to residents to take their trash out to a garbage truck. I guess it's because nobody wants to leave there stinky trash on the street (yeah you can imagine how much that would smell in the hot summer months). When I first heard it I would think of Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, "If you think it's time to fu*in rock, and fu*in roll, out of control..." but pretty soon that got old.

The noise pollution of this, and other trucks which emit various sounds (such as recordings of commercials to fix your window screens), is something I think I will never get used to (most of them park right outside my apartment building, where there is a park).

Especially when I'm just about to take a mid-afternoon nap.

It is strange that there are water dispensing machines everywhere in Taiwan

This isn't so strange as the fact that Taiwan still doesn't have clean drinking water. My landlord keeps a huge kettle in the kitchen which he uses to boil water so we can drink it. Every time I wash a dish I have to dry it before eating from it. Same with fruit. When I order a drink I never ask for ice as I have had stomach aches from ice, which I guess was from water that was not boiled properly.

For a country which has a high quality of life, high-speed Internet access, and modern roads and transportation systems, you'd think the government would invest in mass filtration systems. It makes me wonder whether those companies which make the water-dispensing machines have some kind of lobbying power in the government.

It's strange that there are a lot of scooters in Taiwan.

It's strange that Taiwanese often travel with several (three or more) people on one scooter

I've already talked about the scooters in Taiwan. I guess it annoys me both on a personal level (as when I'm walking on the sidewalk and some scooter almost runs me over, assuming that he has every right being there) and an environmental level. The 2-stroke engines that many people drive here emit much more than their 4-stroke counterparts.

To be fair, scooters are pretty convenient and according to one expat friend, cheaper than riding the metro. Also, they are fun to drive.

The KTV culture of Taiwan is quite strange (for example: one person may sing several songs without a break and nobody mind)

I remember when I first came here, some friends invited me to sing karaoke. There was this one Taiwanese girl who simply wouldn't put down the mic. Apparently you can bump up your songs in the order. This really annoyed me. I haven't sung karaoke since.