Tag: Life in Taiwan
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Ghosts, spirits, and demons, oh my!
Spirits and demons are big business in Taiwan. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to me or any other American – after all, about 40% of Americans believe in ghosts, 34% believe in UFOs, and 68% believe in Angels. Not in the spiritual sense, either… they honestly believe they exist and interact in the world.…
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Education in Taiwan
This will probably be the first post of many where I examine the education that students in Taiwan receive and talk about the greater issue of education and problems with the educational system (as I see them, obviously) in Taiwan. This first post will be rather short and concerns the teaching of history in Taiwan.…
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Memorial Day in Taiwan
April 5th is celebrated as Memorial Day here in Taiwan. In America, Memorial Day is a day for remembering soldiers, especially those who have given their lives in service. In Taiwan, however, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for every member of your family that has passed away. It is very closely tied to…
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Love them little mousies…
A long time ago, the Jade Emperor, emperor of Heaven and all creation, decided that there should be a way to measure time. On his birthday, he told the animals that there would be a swimming race. The first twelve animals to cross the fast-flowing river would win and would have the years of the…
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Christmas Season
Christmas is upon us once again. Every man in a serious relationships knows exactly what this means: Women’s “shopping sense” and “deal radars” are operating at 200% above threshold and they are going absolutely insane trying to find good deals, bad deals, and buy everything in sight. I’m pretty fortunate with Miss Expatriate, as she…
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Traffic
Let’s go ahead and get it out of the way: Taiwanese are horrible drivers. There, I said it. I’ve gotten it off my chest. Normally, I try not to speak in stereotypes and generalities, but in this case – at least from my experience here – it really is true. The problem stems from 2…
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People are strange…
It’s not easy being an ambassador. No, I’m not affiliated with the United Nations. No, I’m not a recognized delegate of any nation, group, sect, or what have you. I mean to imply that I don’t come across very many Americans (or other Caucasians) in Taiwan, so going out in public often results in many…