Me: "No all of my friends are Taiwanese, I only really have two foreigner friends here."
Taiwanese: "Really!? Why?"
Me: "Because foreigners are terrible people."
Taiwanese: "But you are a foreigner."
Me: "Yep, so I'm terrible too. Oh well."
This is a conversation that I have almost weekly. Granted it's very tongue in cheek, but the sentiment is true. Life in Taiwan seems to attract three different types of people. A. people who just want to come over and party and have fun, with little regard for anything else. B. people who want to explore and learn about a new culture and give back. C. Odd people. I'll let you decide which one I am.
Unfortunately group A is the largest group, and it's one reason why many have a very negative view of westerners, and why I go out of my way to be overly polite and kind to everybody so that hopefully I can change some people's minds about westerners.
But there is quite a few people who belong to group C, and for them Taiwan is a sanctuary. One guy I met many years ago summed it up for me very succinctly. He said that back in Canada he felt like a real oddball and he never really fit it. People didn't understand him and he didn't have many friends. He didn't enjoy his life there. But here in Taiwan he's considered quirky and exciting. Many people are excited to learn about him and his unique personality. They just soak up anything about the west and don't come in with any preconceived notions of what a foreigner should be like.
What he said was very eye opening. In fact it's something that I share with many unique Taiwanese people I know. People who struggle with life here because they don't follow the one way you are supposed to live and think. I mention to them that perhaps here they don't fit it, but they can move to another country where they are valued for the same traits that make them a pariah here.
The picture today is of a...unique gentleman that I sometimes see when I'm out. As you can see he is barefoot, but what you can't see is that each of his toenails are painted some different color or design. He also has a penchant for buying food from shops and then sitting on the ground outside that shop and eating that food. In America he seems like a guy most people would stay away from, but here I bet most people think he's pretty cool. Strange, but cool. And that makes Taiwan a pretty cool place in my book.
