Comments for An Expatriate in Taiwan

Comment on Online banking woes… by The Expatriate

The Expatriate — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:04:45 +0000

Thanks for the helpful info. The problem has since been resolved. Both my wife and I have accounts at Bank of Taiwan, through which our school pays us. They make it rather easy for us to send money back simply by transfering from my account to hers and then her account to a Wells Fargo account, all online. It takes us about 2-3 days total after payday to have some money in our American bank accounts ready to pay off credit cards, etc.

Happy Chinese New Year! 新年恭喜!

Comment on Mandarin and Taiwanese family names by An Epic Update… « Becky's Blog

An Epic Update… « Becky's Blog — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:22:13 +0000

[...] you refer to them as the eldest, the second eldest, etc. Gah… just trust me and go to this link, because I’m going to be using a lot of pinyin (romanization of Mandarin) to refer to family [...]

Comment on Online banking woes… by Mr. Monkey

Mr. Monkey — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:33:41 +0000

You don’t have to use your school favored bank to transfer your money overseas. You can bank at more then one bank. After the school direct deposits the money into your account, you can transfer money from your bank account to another bank account at any 7-11 ATM. Or you could do the transfer by hand and then go to your second bank. A third option is to have your bank automatically transfer money but this is only good if your school always pays you on time and you make the same amount of money every month.

As an aside, if you send money overseas every other month you still get reasonably stable cash flow into your foreign account but cut your transaction costs and transaction times in half. You could do it every three months but you may want to get your money off the island more often then that.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Comment on I’m filthy stinking rich! by anon

anon — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:49:34 +0000

Things could be worse. I remember when the ratio was 26NT:$1

Comment on President shoes by anon

anon — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:07:50 +0000

Considering Bush’s almost reflexive response to a question about Taiwan’s defense, “whatever it takes,” I think earned him respect among Taiwanese, whatever else they may think of him and his policies.

On a lighter note, in hindsight, shoes just seem to be a recurring theme in the Bush presidency!

Comment on I think I’m speaking Chinese by anon

anon — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 02:27:53 +0000

They speak English to you for the same reason you want to speak Chinese to them — practice. And I’m sure they’re just trying to be gracious to their guests. Engage them in more substantial conservation than just functional language such as “two please” or “how much” and perhaps they’ll respond in Chinese.

Also, hate to say this, if you’re not fluent enough in Chinese or speak with a heavy foreign accent, they can tell, so they may just be trying to make things easier for you.

Comment on Erroneous Taiwan Stereotypes by anon

anon — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 02:08:12 +0000

I’m an American of Taiwanese descent, and I’m guilty of “driving while Asian.” Must be the genes.

Comment on Erroneous Taiwan Stereotypes by The Expatriate

The Expatriate — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:24:57 +0000

No, I don’t think so. I’ve lived here for 3 years and also seen plenty of accidents. But I’ve also ridden with many very good drivers who obey the laws and traffic regulations.

I’ve seen the driving tests, the driving schools, etc. There are many cultural factors that come into play, such as people not waiting for the green light (They’ll wait for the other side’s light to turn red), people turning left before the people going straight have gone through, etc. Those certainly are cultural factors, but the fact of the matter is, the population density here is higher than most places back home, hence you will see more horrible drivers more often. You will see more accidents more often.

So, yes, you see a lot of accidents, but every one of those those accidents, how many days have you gone by not seeing an accident at all? I’ve gone weeks, if not months, without seeing an accident and even gone several days with nobody passing me on the shoulder, cutting in front of me, etc. It’s all a matter of perspective. If you choose to focus on the negativity (“Taiwanese are all horrible drivers!”), that’s what you’ll see.

Comment on Erroneous Taiwan Stereotypes by No way....

No way.... — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:04:52 +0000

Sorry but you’re just being culturally correct. I’ve lived here for 5 years and Taiwanese people are some of the worst drivers on the planet. It has little to do with population density and more to do with licensing requirements. The drivers test is in a bloody parking lot…they may as well just hand out licenses in a box of cereal. I see an accident at least once a week and in 5 years here I have seen 3 dead people either in body bags being lifted into the ambulance or rolled over in the street by EMT workers and one woman fetal on the road with her shoes missing. My whole life back home I’ve never seen 1 dead person due to traffic accidents. Standards are non existent here and people really just don’t know what the f they are doing on the road. Even the best ones.

Comment on Hanzi Milestone: 1000 by Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:56:22 +0000

I can see the Hanzi characters now that I have Windows 7. This is awesome!