An Expatriate in Taiwan

Category: Taiwanese Culture

  • Rice dumplings

    If you’ve lived in Taiwan long enough, you’ve probably eaten or, at the very least, seen some rice dumplings. They usually look like this before unwrapping: Inside is a delicious little rice “hot pocket” stuffed with a variety of goods, usually meat and some vegetables. They really are quite good. Mrs. Expatriate’s mother usually gets…

  • Taiwanese sign

    I really like Wulai (烏來) in Taipei county and try to get up there whenever I can. On one trip I snapped a picture of a very odd sign. It’s in Taiwanese and some form of pinyinized aboriginal language. I would guess it’s Atayalnese (The Atayal being the natives in Wulai), but can’t quite be…

  • Random stuff

    Just some random pictures today as I’m still trying to get stuff organized and upload all these weird little treats that I’ve discovered throughout Taiwan before the New Year hits. Let’s start off with a dog we discovered in Kaohsiung’s Liuhe Nightmarket. Now, some people might look at this picture and cry “Animal abuse.” Actually,…

  • Incoming pictures

    I’ve finally had some time to go through a lot of old pictures and pick out all of the gems that I’ve been saving for this blog. I’ll try to get through them in the next week or so. For now, here is a CD cover that Mrs. Expat’s father had lying around the house.…

  • Repeat offender

    Mrs. Expatriate and I were coming home this morning. I decided to stop by the school and pick up some books to make an order. I ran up to my office, grabbed my books, and popped into the office. The secretary was working and my boss was gone. Me: [hanzi]早安[/hanzi] ([pinyin]zao3an1[/pinyin]) [Good morning!] Secretary: [hanzi]æ—©[/hanzi]…

  • “Rock” ‘n Roll Elvis

    Last November, Mrs. Expatriate and I went with her grandfather to some garden/art exhibit near Changhua. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but there was a small building adorned with geodes, jade, and other such “natural” art pieces. One of them was a rock with a naturally-formed Elvis on it. I just came across…

  • 新年快樂! Happy New Year!

    新年快樂! Happy New Year!

    I just want to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!

  • The Gukeng Coffee Festival

    Last weekend, Mrs. Expatriate and I decided to take a trip to the Gukeng Coffee Festival. It’s a small gathering of people selling coffee, food, handicrafts, and other such things. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and there were quite a few people out and about. If you get a chance, I recommend you go.

  • Erroneous Taiwan Stereotypes

    Catherine over at shu flies had a great post a while back about one of her blogging pet peeves – people who generalize and stereotype about every Taiwanese person based on the actions of a few. This also happens to be one of my pet peeves and something that I, being a foreigner, have to…

  • Someone wants us to have kids

    In Taiwan, it is common to eat sweet foods on and after your wedding day. It is thought that eating sweet food will help the newlywed couple have a baby boy. The reason is a Taiwanese proverb: [hanzi]吃甜甜，生兒子[/hanzi]。 ([pinyin]chi1 tian2tian2, sheng1 er2zi4[/pinyin]) It doesn’t sound as good in Mandarin, but it rhymes in Taiwanese ([pinyin]jia…