6 Things in Taiwan That Still Shock Me: Even After 5 Years

October 09, 2017

Sleep wherever you want

#1 Sleeping in public- Standing straight up on the train, the MRT, or the bus, doesn't exactly seem like the most comfortable sleeping spot to most people, right? However, the Taiwanese sleep like this all the time. You can also see people sleeping outside 7-11. You can see construction workers sleeping right along the highway if they are tired and drunk enough. So, if you like to see people sleep EVERYWHERE, Taiwan would be a fantastic vacation for you. For those of you that have been to Taiwan or even Asia, what is the strangest place you have seen someone sleeping?

Cell phones always come back

#2 If you lose something, don't worry about it. A Taiwanese person will go extremely far out of their way to get it back to you. - If you ever come to Taiwan for let's say more than a month, you probably will have a story about leaving a cell phone behind, a wallet, or anything valuable, and not only does nobody EVER steal it, the Taiwanese people will find a way to get it back to you even if it costs them money. It is literally INSANE at times how honest they are when it comes to returning belongings to another person.

When it comes to getting an A on an English exam, same ethics at this guy:)

#3 Cheating on an exam is completely acceptable- Do you remember all that nice talk in #2 just above about how extremely honest Taiwanese can be. You can toss that right out the window when it comes to English tests. Everyone wants the best grade possible. The students learn at a young age to do anything in their power to get that grade. At the risk of sounding like a complete stereotypical jerk, it has at least been my experience that students cheating on exams is completely acceptable.

More than just a terrible hot dog vendor

#4 Life revolves around your 7-11- Pay a bill, get drunk, run a tab, get a job. In no particular order,it can all be done within these doors. The only thing I remember about seven from the states was it being a place to eat terrible hot dogs, and drink slurpees. I wouldn't be caught dead in there longer than five minutes when I lived in America.

Stack 'em up and put 'em on the scooter

#5 Dudes driving scooters with multiple canisters of gasoline attached to the back of the scooter- As if the adventure of managing the obstacles on Taiwan's roads with scooters, golf carts, trains, psychotic blue truck drivers, drunk grandmas, and suicidal street dogs playing dodge ball in the middle of traffic weren't all enough of a challenge, one of the more common moving fire hazards you can see is drivers with multiple gas canisters on their scooter on their way to a home delivery. Jesus, that thought alone makes me palm my forehead.

#6 The annoying questions- The nicest way to put this is that Taiwanese are very curious about foreigners. After a few years of living here, it seems like you have been asked the same set of questions by every single Taiwanese person you meet on thousands of occasions. I have learned to have a little fun to ease the annoyance and awkwardness of these pre-determined questions. It usually goes like this.

Taiwanese person: How do you come to work?

Me: I check my bathroom every morning to see if somebody left a scooter in my bathroom. If it is there, I'm driving. If not, it's a taxi.

Taiwanese person: Can you use the chopsticks?

Me: Yeah, for eating.

Taiwanese person: How much money do you make?

Me: I'm not really sure. I was hoping you could tell me.

By the way, I don't have any Taiwanese friends:)

What still shocks you?\