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duckfarts posted:On drugs, you may want to add "if you want them, don't bring them yourself"; getting caught smuggling is not a happy place. When you come into Taoyuan they have that scary sign that says that drug smuggling carries the death penalty. They're not even that hardcore in the PRC, well at least in the cities I've flown into. quote:Also, other than to work and to visit, lots of people visit Taiwan as a place to study Chinese either through a university, or through a language school like TLI. You can learn Chinese in a country that's less scary than China depending on your views, though you'll be learning Traditional Chinese characters(used generally everywhere but China to a degree) vs Simplified Chinese characters(used in China, and China is big), though it's recommended that if you want to be able to learn both scripts or really get into learning Chinese, starting with Traditional Chinese is the way to go. It should be noted as well that the Taiwan accent, which is like the Fujian accent, is awesome. I loved talking to people because they were always clear, reasonably paced, and had good pronunciation. It's almost like textbook Mandarin.
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Mar 5, 2012 07:51
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Spanish Matlock posted:They're pretty much exactly that hardcore in the PRC. I meant telling people about the punishment when they enter the country. Last two times I've flown into Shanghai I don't remember seeing a sign informing people that smuggling drugs carries the death penalty. I guess China's reputation is well enough known to the world that they don't need a sign. Some people probably forget that Taiwan is still pretty hardcore about the death penalty even though they're a full democracy now.
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Mar 5, 2012 10:17
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In Taiwan, do they do the thing where you work a weekend to "make up" for a three day holiday?
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Mar 30, 2012 03:23
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I really hate it when the girls wear the jet black ones and the fake glasses. For some reason that bothers me more than blue "anime" eyes. It really threw me off when I was first confronted with it. It's more off putting in China because the fashion sense and clothing is worse, much worse. Be lucky you don't have to see girls with literal stuffed animals on their hands in the winter. Simplified wins in my book because you write 个 instead of 個 and 什么 instead of 什麼. Most kids will be incapable of writing any characters in a few generations thanks to cellphones and apathy according to most alarmist hardliners in China, Taiwan, and Japan so enjoy it all while it lasts. Taiwan should adopt pinyin on the principle that the guy who made it, Zhou Youguang, is a huge critic of China and an 106 year old badass.
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May 2, 2012 16:53
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USDA Choice posted:Taiwan already has adopted Pinyin. It's not used in instruction since it doesn't really matter what the local 6-year-olds use, but signage and post office stuff etc... are in Pinyin. Admittedly the exceptions are numerous, but at least they're pretty established and famous places. It was pretty noticeable when I was in Taipei a couple months ago. I'm trying to think of examples but all I remember is the traditional character signs. Wade Giles is the tool of the (foreign) devil though. I think the character issue is just one of those, "This generation..." outcries that's largely not true. Most my kids can write pretty well and they're very low 高考 scoring Mainland Chinese, from Henan no less.
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May 2, 2012 17:52
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Haraksha posted:I saw 中 written us Jung on a street sign yesterday. I wept. That's some Hong Kong bullshit.
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May 3, 2012 03:28
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Monkey Fury posted:Hey Taiwan thread. You can honestly do a good deal in Taipei. I went there last December and did a fair deal of stuff over the span of a week but I like going to museums. I'm also into city wandering and taking my time as well doing stuff. Eight Elephants hostel in Taipei is nice. http://www.eehostel.com/ They have a good location, right by a subway entrance and not too far from a laundromat with dryers if you need to clean clothes. You can also walk to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial/National Theater if you're into sightseeing. It's kind of surreal coming from Mainland China and seeing that place all covered in Nationalist/Taiwan flags.
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Jun 28, 2012 07:39
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nubdestoryer posted:I managed to find a job with no weekend work, no babies, and even no splits. The last part especially is nice because in South America my classes were from 8am through to 9pm. My friend had a house full of them out in the middle of nowhere in Florida. They don't really bother anybody and they run away most of the time. You should be more worried about the snakes.
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Dec 19, 2012 03:29
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duckfarts posted:Selfish plug: If your English writing skills are super solid and you're technically competent, you could apply for the tech writing job posted on Formosa, though it's full time so there's no time (realistically) to take formal classes. When would that job start?
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Jan 26, 2013 17:45
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I just put in an application to HESS as a backup in case any other teaching jobs I've applied for fall through. What's an area of Taiwan to avoid that they might push on me? I'd like to be in Kaohsiung or Taipei just for convenience but I have no problems dealing with only having buses or buying a scooter.
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Apr 15, 2013 04:50
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thegoat posted:When are you coming to Taiwan? I should give you my bosses email and you could send over a resume to her. Not a huge chain like HESS but 7 schools in Kaohsiung. Would it be alright if I hit her up in a couple weeks? I don't really want to waste her time and a referral from you if I get something else.
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Apr 15, 2013 12:08
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HappyHelmet posted:After 4 years in Taiwan I honestly think the hardest part of living here (long-term) is living with the bitterness toward other foreigners. 20-somethings who come here straight out of college to bang chicks and act like idiot frat boys. Guys who find girlfriends or come here with their girlfriends and cheat on them every chance they get. Dude's in their late 30's and 40's with no future trying to live in a fantasy world with some young girl who is desperate for a foreign boyfriend. Oddly enough I went on a rant like this last weekend. China and Taiwan are not so different in this regard. Is there also a return to high school clique mentality?
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Jun 3, 2013 04:48
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Atlas Hugged posted:I just picked a fancy sounding beer at random. I'm a total fraud who only drinks 7-11 brand beer. Do they still have "The Beer" because that was pretty awesome? Great Wall is swill. Changyu makes a decent brandy though.
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Jul 8, 2013 20:25
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TetsuoTW posted:They 100% do not test for THC. I... have a friend who knows this very well. They have to do a specific test for THC. It doesn't show up in most medical blood and urine tests. This is a common worry among ESL teachers in East Asia but I don't think even Korea tests for THC*. EDIT: *Unless you've been ratted out or turned in by an angry ex.
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Aug 22, 2013 15:34
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Atlas Hugged posted:I'd be happy to accept your PM once someone buys me Plat. 19-22 works for me. I'll be in town around that time as well and probably hanging out with Kant, Lummox, and a guy I work with. I would be down for this and the 21st would work awesomely for me. What's the best way to go about seeing Taroko Gorge? Can you see it in a day or do you have to overnight in Hualien?
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Jan 7, 2014 10:22
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POCKET CHOMP posted:In 2012, when my dad came to Taiwan the first time, we did Taroko. We showed up in Hualien via train in the morning, about 10 AM or so. Ate an early lunch and then paid a taxi driver some ridiculously low sum (I want to say NT$1600? NT$1200?) to drive us around through the Gorge all day. He dropped us off back in Hualien at about 7 PM or so, I'd definitely say it seemed like a good value. I have no doubt we probably missed a lot of good stuff, but I'm pretty sure we hit all the typical touristy spots. He would let us off and even do hikes for 30-45 minutes, and then pick us up at the trailhead again. Alright, good to know. Apparently they've started up the official tour bus system again so I'll look into that as well. Atlas Hugged posted:I guess it doesn't really matter what day we do it since they're all work nights for me. Seriously who does Taipei for Sunday/Monday/Tuesday? Oh well, at least Tucheng is close so I can get there and back without much hassle. I'll be in Taiwan until the 29th but I'll possibly be all over the place. I'm going down to Kenting on the 19th and coming back on the 21st. I have a work buddy with me so I'm trying to plan things out a bit for his sake. He leaves on the 25th so I don't know what's going down the 25th-28th. I know I want to go out to Cihu and see Chiang and Chingkuo to knock a couple names off of my modern Chinese leader tomb list. I have a lot of academic interest in the KMT so if anyone has any suggestions for interesting or crazy stuff I would appreciate it.
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Jan 7, 2014 23:44
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hitension posted:Well, there was that time the capital was apparently Nanjing, but that got redacted real fast  Moving the official capital might be a wise decision. The chairs need new upholstery and it looks like it hasn't been renovated since the 40's. I think the real question is will the big fancy rocks and jerked meat be cheaper and higher quality than what is currently offered at the Presidential Palace?
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Feb 18, 2014 13:11
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url posted:It wouldn't be without precedent, didn't Brazil move their capital so it could be in the exact geographic centre of the country. I forget why Australia put theirs not in Sydney, but I seem to remember it was some equally asinine reason, but I'm not 100%. Canberra was chosen as the capital because it was a geographic compromise between Sydney and Melbourne to prevent favoritism. It was set up in the same manner as Washington, D.C. was, which was a compromise to prevent Northern and Southern favoritism. Brasilia was supposed to have been built in the 1800's to prevent regional favoritism but building never began until the late 1950's. Taiwan is so small and transportation from one end of the island to another is so easy and readily available that such talk is asinine. It really doesn't make any sense to move the capital other than a political statement to separate the country from its past. For instance Ankara was chosen to be the capital of Turkey because it wasn't associated with Turkey's Ottoman past. I could only see it being done if the president at that time wanted to do something stupid like proclaim Taiwanese independence. EDIT: They'd have to change all the Olympic stuff as well since they couldn't be Chinese Taipei.
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Feb 18, 2014 15:34
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TetsuoTW posted:You say that like Taiwan has any say in the matter. They were given a choice between Taiwan and Chinese Taipei. It could have been worse, they could have been Chinese Taibei. Chinese Taipei gets to have the 12 pointed sun on their flag though which is a banned symbol in the PRC. That's actually enough to drive a good deal of PRC nationalists into hysterics.
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Feb 18, 2014 16:21
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I was told by a number of Chinese people that it's a symbol that will get you in trouble, in the same vein as other separatist or anti-government symbols. It's allowed in a historical context and when they depict the Guomindang as brutal tyrants in dramas. A coworker of mine for instance was talked to about wearing a Guomindang pin with the same tone and concern that you'd have for someone wearing a Nazi pin in the West. We teach kids from Taiwan too and they all thought it was awesome. I've been told as well that flying the flag can land you in jail or get you a visit from the police as well. The Revolutionary Committee of the Guomindang doesn't actively use those symbols as well to my knowledge, they're not on their website, and most Chinese people have never even heard of them either. Most Chinese people, even educated and knowledgeable people, don't seem to know about the existence of the 8 minor political parties. The ROC was given the choice of "Chinese Taipei" or "Taiwan" by the IOC. The ROC took Chinese Taipei because it implied that they were still a part of China while Taiwan was ambiguous. EDIT: I'm not seeing a flag and I've been straight up told by Chinese employers that GMD stuff was unacceptable. DOUBLE EDIT: It's also unacceptable in the context of the Chinese Taipei flag because it implies ROC control over the island of Taiwan. The PRC still proclaims that they are an illegitimate government and does not recognize their control of Taiwan. It's one of the reasons why Taiwanese fans had to wave similar looking flags during the 2008 Olympics. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 04:04 on Feb 19, 2014 |
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Feb 19, 2014 03:56
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TetsuoTW posted:Also Imma just take this moment to remind everyone that while Taiwanese politics is loving mental, Taiwan has only been a full democracy for like 18 years, so of course a lot of poo poo's hosed. It should be noted that an American Senator was beaten close to death in the Senate by another Senator just prior to the US Civil War. Microphone shenanigans aren't that bad. Also, South Korea is still worse with free trade agreement tear gas shenanigans.
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Mar 19, 2014 16:35
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Grand Fromage posted:I was at my local Chinese joint and noticed the big PRC wall map with Taiwan as a province and was wondering, how do Taiwanese maps show the mainland? Is it depicted as a different country or what? South Korean maps sometimes have both Koreas, sometimes just have the south without any acknowledgement there is a north, or just have an undivided Korea. Which is extra fun if the map has details, and for some mysterious reason the northern half of the peninsula has no cities or rail lines or anything marked on it. If you're going to dream, dream big.   EDIT: Fun recent story from my school. I work at an international school in the PRC and a good deal of my students are from Taiwan. They were asked to write an essay in a class about how they felt about "My Country of ___________" and a kid did one on Taiwan. The administration was livid and we had to get a lecture on the three T's (Taiwan, Tibet, and Tiananmen). All maps these days of China show Taiwan as a province and don't even hint at its actual status, which will get people screaming at you half the time. I do have a map from the 60's though that has Taiwan white instead of red and says, "We will certainly take back Taiwan" on it in Chinese. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 04:04 on Mar 30, 2014 |
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Mar 30, 2014 03:48
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hitension posted:I mean, the situation is still better than China I guess... was reading about how basically no foreigners can get permanent residency there? WTF? So you just renew your visa every 1-3 years for perpetuity? You can but you have to do something like build several hospitals from what I've heard. It's the equivalent of getting your gently caress up kid into an ivy league school when you're a millionaire.
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Nov 13, 2014 06:52
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Spanish Matlock posted:Friend of mine swears to god he saw a dog with a human hand in one of the parks once.  Kenting was lousy with strays.
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Mar 25, 2016 04:56
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Mr. Belpit posted:Glad I wasn't the only one to take a pic of this. My girlfriend couldn't understand why it was funny. I think it was only made better by the fact that one of the cemeteries, the one along the highway, was full of stray dogs.
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Mar 25, 2016 11:39
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YF19pilot posted:Phone posting. I'll link this properly later. The inclusion of her cat is pretty awesome.
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May 21, 2016 14:05
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USDA Choice posted:
You don't have to see the jade cabbage with the grasshopper on it if it doesn't interest you. It's impressive but it's not really worth the wait on a super busy day. I personally think the nut with the boatman carved into it is far more impressive but I think it's in the same room as the cabbage, so always crowded. The first time I went the boatman was part of a special collection and no one really knew it was there. You could get a really good look at it without being ushered along. Taroko Gorge is a nice day trip from Taipei and the train ride along the coast in the morning is beautiful. You can find guides online who speak English and will drive you through it. It might be a bit out of the way for what you want.
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May 28, 2016 14:45
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Thanatosian posted:Since you say you like museums, I'll third or fourth the National Palace Museum. Just an unbelievable amount of incredible artwork. I would also strongly recommend the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, with the understanding that the museum there is maintained by the Kuomintang, and definitely not presenting an unbiased point of view. It gives a much more modern (if one-sided) history of Taiwan. If you can get a clear day, I also recommend the Maokong Gondola, and wandering around Maokong for a day. I recommend these as well. I will note that the Nationalist bias at the memorial is very obvious if you know anything about modern Chinese history and all the pictures of Kai Shek and Ching-kuo makes them look like the Kims in the 70's. There's a lot of cool artifacts though. The changing of the guard is cool too if you like military ceremonies. The Republic of China Armed Forces Museum is really good. When I was there a couple years back they had an exhibit dedicated to the Flying Tigers. The officer's club is either connected or right next to it and has an awesome oil painting of the Battle of Jinmen above the entrance. They allegedly used their Sherman tanks  to run over throngs of PLA soldiers when they ran out of ammunition. It was the last ground battle of the Chinese Civil War and the PRC doesn't talk about it outside of military think tank papers. https://www.google.com/maps/place/A...34!4d121.508277 I'm a Chinese history nerd, especially the Nanjing Decade through the Cold War, so it was extra cool to me but the other goons and nongoons I went with enjoyed it.
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Feb 8, 2018 14:36
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GoutPatrol posted:https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/foxconns-gou-quits-opposition-kmt-033518753.html Broke: Gou will divide the vote and allow the Greens to slide to a win. Woke: Gou will win and hand over the country to the PRC because most his factories are in the PRC and his US deal seems to be DOA.
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Sep 12, 2019 14:08
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