Interesting post once again. I think it can be frustrating how people in larger or more influential countries sometimes completely disqualify that other countries exist (like it doesn't occur to them??) or that things can be different elsewhere... Like everyone else in smaller countries has to hear about what the big countries are up to, but those in big countries are a bit insulated? and wrapped up in themselves. Of course this is a generalization.
I visited Taiwan in early 2014 and had a great time. I wouldn't mind visiting again. Although, I went in January and had to buy sunscreen, so I'd probably be better off avoiding the summer.
I've had friends from Taiwan over the years and it was fun to visit as a tourist, but I did read the blog some years ago of a Malaysian scientist of Chinese heritage, who did her PhD in Germany and was working in a lab in Norway before moving to Taiwan to be closer to her family in Malaysia (she'd also lived in Japan). She was miserable there. She often talked about the awful aspects of the culture... It's hard to sum up, but she said that even though she's ethnically Chinese, her mindset is completely different and more European, and she found the competition and fakeness and so on hard to bear. I wish I still had access to her blog, but I never paid for Dayre when it became a subscription-only app. Maybe those aspects of the culture affect her more since she's Chinese? and I suppose the things she described that I unfortunately can't articulate well are also common in China, and therefore not unfamiliar to you
anyway, perhaps Taiwan is the right choice for you and I hope your search goes well!
Small countries are perhaps overly conscious of what their bigger neighbors are doing, because they know that their neighbors' decisions can impact on them. But on the other hand, i feel like that sometimes compounds the parochialness, because people are so tired of feeling bullied that they build up a stronger or more rigid cultural identity as a kind of defense mechanism.
But then big countries don't give a shit about their small neighbors, so you could make the point that they are especially self-involved. On the other hand, when they do throw their weight around on the world stage, it's really a big deal. Like, nobody cares what Canada says at the UN, but everyone cares what the US says. So it's a bit of both.
I can understand ethnic Chinese born in countries with a more "western" culture due to colonization (US, Canada, Malaysia, Australia etc) might find going into hardcore East Asian culture stifling, especially in the workplace. And, i imagine, it is more difficult for a foreign-born Chinese. As a laowai/gaijin, people don't include you in the same conversations due to xenophobia or ethnic chauvinism, so perhaps you escape it a little bit.
All that said... i also think a lot of it has to do with the social circles you associate in. When i was in Taiwan and mentioned i was thinking of looking for work in China, i was told it was a bad idea, because Chinese only care about getting rich, they are greedy and scheming and fake. But while i did experience those people in China, outside of work i mostly just talked to local shopkeepers and working class people, and they felt just as down-to-Earth as those in Taiwan. I came to the conclusion that there is a certain type of wealthy or upwardly mobile Chinese that does have this extreme attitude of doing anything to get ahead, but there is also a less ambitious type who i feel i connect with a lot better. And ironically, since they are usually less educated and less cosmopolitan, those people might come across as more "western" simply because they're less uptight.
I think it can be frustrating how people in larger or more influential countries sometimes completely disqualify that other countries exist (like it doesn't occur to them??) or that things can be different elsewhere... Like everyone else in smaller countries has to hear about what the big countries are up to, but those in big countries are a bit insulated? and wrapped up in themselves. Of course this is a generalization.
I visited Taiwan in early 2014 and had a great time. I wouldn't mind visiting again. Although, I went in January and had to buy sunscreen, so I'd probably be better off avoiding the summer.
I've had friends from Taiwan over the years and it was fun to visit as a tourist, but I did read the blog some years ago of a Malaysian scientist of Chinese heritage, who did her PhD in Germany and was working in a lab in Norway before moving to Taiwan to be closer to her family in Malaysia (she'd also lived in Japan). She was miserable there. She often talked about the awful aspects of the culture... It's hard to sum up, but she said that even though she's ethnically Chinese, her mindset is completely different and more European, and she found the competition and fakeness and so on hard to bear. I wish I still had access to her blog, but I never paid for Dayre when it became a subscription-only app.
Maybe those aspects of the culture affect her more since she's Chinese? and I suppose the things she described that I unfortunately can't articulate well are also common in China, and therefore not unfamiliar to you
anyway, perhaps Taiwan is the right choice for you and I hope your search goes well!
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Small countries are perhaps overly conscious of what their bigger neighbors are doing, because they know that their neighbors' decisions can impact on them. But on the other hand, i feel like that sometimes compounds the parochialness, because people are so tired of feeling bullied that they build up a stronger or more rigid cultural identity as a kind of defense mechanism.
But then big countries don't give a shit about their small neighbors, so you could make the point that they are especially self-involved. On the other hand, when they do throw their weight around on the world stage, it's really a big deal. Like, nobody cares what Canada says at the UN, but everyone cares what the US says. So it's a bit of both.
I can understand ethnic Chinese born in countries with a more "western" culture due to colonization (US, Canada, Malaysia, Australia etc) might find going into hardcore East Asian culture stifling, especially in the workplace. And, i imagine, it is more difficult for a foreign-born Chinese. As a laowai/gaijin, people don't include you in the same conversations due to xenophobia or ethnic chauvinism, so perhaps you escape it a little bit.
All that said... i also think a lot of it has to do with the social circles you associate in. When i was in Taiwan and mentioned i was thinking of looking for work in China, i was told it was a bad idea, because Chinese only care about getting rich, they are greedy and scheming and fake. But while i did experience those people in China, outside of work i mostly just talked to local shopkeepers and working class people, and they felt just as down-to-Earth as those in Taiwan. I came to the conclusion that there is a certain type of wealthy or upwardly mobile Chinese that does have this extreme attitude of doing anything to get ahead, but there is also a less ambitious type who i feel i connect with a lot better. And ironically, since they are usually less educated and less cosmopolitan, those people might come across as more "western" simply because they're less uptight.
Reply
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