Tag: Life in Taiwan

  • 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.…

  • 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.…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…