just this evening i saw a guy approaching me, and i just knew it was coming…. sandals, baggy pants, carrying a stick of all things, he stopped beside me and gave me the “heil hitler” salute (where did people in Asia learn that from and why do they think it’s friendly?) and a big “thank you!” in English.

Me: why’d you thank me?
Him: (pointing to the bottle of coke on the table) that will give you cancer! (probably because he exhausted his English vocabulary on the first salvo).
Me: huh?
Him: yes, that stuff will give you colon cancer.
Me: you’re an expert?
Him: yes
Me: yes, i can see it – you’re an expert.
Him “thank you! (English).
Me: (rolling eyes) “crazy”

I’m still laughing. I’m getting a picture in my mind of how you handle these types of situations. We need to hang out more so I can witness it first hand.

Will do on the Sound Off. I don’t have many days like this one, so I guess I have to deal with it every once in awhile.

I went back on Monday and everyone was sweet as pie.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Carrie, several suggestions have sort of hinted at putting it back off onto that person. that is what i come right out and say to do. you’ve been to my neighborhood. so the typical situation is remarkably similar day after day:

The Announcement “A Foreigner is here!”

my response is simple, but direct:

“oh, this is your first time here.” notice that this isn’t a question – it is one of those condescending statements that we frequently get.

after that, you can maintain the upper hand if you keep your wits about you.

“Where are you from?”
“You don’t know because this is your first time here, but I’m this neighborhood’s da ga“

you have to keep thinking in that condescending way – this i know, is not characteristic of you. i found that people ask questions for the sake of asking – not to get answers. in Thailand every person i ever meet asks me where i’m going. i never tell them where i’m going. it’s like “have you eaten yet?” – that isn’t meant to be answered. so i normally treat each and every question as totally optional. it helps if you roll your eyes and say things like “so inconvenient” or “crazy” as those things get the point across more than trying to actually answer dumb questions. i’ve had situations where bystanders stepped in and asked a dumbass to stop bothering “our foreign friend” after a few Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions.

by all means post a followup! this was very nearly a Sound Off!

I speak Icelandic. (in Chinese, I’m too lazy to look up the proper pinyin.)

Works every time.

I hate shopping.

Then again, I’m not too crazy about certain aspects about Taiwan. I’m not in love with Taiwan and I don’t plan on living the rest of my life here.

My wife and I find that some foreigners who stay here for a while become Taiwanese and act the same condescending and passive aggressive way as some locals do. Some foreigner bosses come to mind.

To reciprocate, I’m just rude. If a local is bitchy or rude, I just reciprocate. It’s my way of dealing with their bullshit and it’s satisfying. Then again, I’m not a world class shopper and spend a lot of time at home.

To reiterate, most of my dealings with the locals are great. I’ve got no problems with vendors, and I have a great relationship with my scooter shop who does all of my repairs. The people at the park where I walk my dog all know me by sight as well as my Frenchie.

HA! I’m guilty of this one, especially when men leer at me. Every Wednesday and Friday afternoon I walk by two young vegetable vendors who catcall really loudly across the street at me. I’ve never answered them in English. At first I used to curse myself everytime they yelled at me because my first instinct is to look when someone calls out to me. Now I pay no attention.

My first year in ?hina used to drive me nuts. ?verytime i went out, people would yell, “wai guo ren lai le!” or they’d point and scream, “wai guo ren!” It used to piss me off so much ?’d turn right around and scream, “zhong guo ren!”

That always stopped them in their tracks. People in Taiwan seem to be better mannered. I don’t notice it much or maybe I’m oblivious to it now. Can you imagine if that happened in North America? I’d get the crap beat out of me.

I’m usually quite patient. I didn’t get angry with anyone, nor was I rude, but I can’t help getting aggravated every once in awhile. Everyone I met that day reacted in the same way. This fact is illustrated by the title of my post. All it takes is a simple question. It doesn’t need to be made into a big deal.

I know how it feels to be intimidated when you think you might not be understood or you don’t know how to deal with something in a foreign language, but I don’t run away from the problem or talk about others right in front of them.

I agree with your last point wholeheartedly. Most days people will go out of their way to help me just because I’m white.