As if last week's crushing work stress wasn't enough, this week i had two - count 'em - social events lined up to sap every ounce of my mojo
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I didn’t start following you until after your China time, so I’m fascinated to read about what it was like under COVID. I suspect your colleague is right and things are continuing to get worse. It is certainly what I hear in my work (though it’s not my file so I don’t follow it closely). Living in a truly walkable community would be so great. My armpit capital city (especially the idiot mayor) can’t even wrap its mind around the idea of active transport. Our public transit system is appalling and the rental bikes you rent to go everywhere don’t even exist here. They wouldn’t work for four months of the year anyway because cars are prioritized over everything for snow clearing. People with mobility issues suffer even more than the noisy whiners like me. I have no qualms about taking a lane now, and to hell with the carbrains.
There are a lot of articles about the expat/immigrant thing, and I think it depends a lot on which country the person is from, which country they now live in, what their legal status is and what their intentions are. I think it's really tough to take on the title of immigrant if you are living in a country that will not even give you permanent residence. The most you can ever hope to be is a literal migrant worker. But in a lot of countries - Taiwan included - there is a codified difference between blue collar and white collar migrant workers - they have different visas and different rights under the law. That tiered system probably adds to the public opinion around who gets to be called "expat" or something else
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How long are you now in Taiwan? Almost a year? If all it takes is 5 years I’d say stick to it and get it first. Then you can continue to explore. I’m more of the overcautious type so to have that safety net would be very comforting.
Your colleague is right that it’s very difficult to find fruit in Japan. Whatever that is available in supermarkets and conbinis (convenient stores) are usually sliced up fruit, so it’s like they never see the actual fruit.
(That reminds me of a boggling story where someone bought a poodle and didn’t understand why it didn’t eat any of the dog food - and apparently what they bought was a baby sheep).
Yes about the fried food too. It’s mainly fried food and noodles, once you go to a more residential area.
Funny you mention 媚外, that used to seem to be the case before. I’m not sure if now the gweilos are saturated or we’ve successfully transitioned to a developed place so we see that much less now.
Yeah, i am a bit over a year in Taiwan now. The real challenge for me is not necessarily keeping my "base" in Taiwan for long enough to pass the threshold, it's remaining employed for that long without a break. In the past 10 years or so i have never made it more than about 3 years without a career break, but when you are living on most migrant worker visas if you stop working then you're done. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this. Maybe there is an option for me to switch to a gold card or perhaps even a student visa if that still counts as residence? I dunno. We'll see how i go over the next year
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I have no answers, as usual, but as usual, I enjoy reading.
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How long are you now in Taiwan? Almost a year? If all it takes is 5 years I’d say stick to it and get it first. Then you can continue to explore. I’m more of the overcautious type so to have that safety net would be very comforting.
Your colleague is right that it’s very difficult to find fruit in Japan. Whatever that is available in supermarkets and conbinis (convenient stores) are usually sliced up fruit, so it’s like they never see the actual fruit.
(That reminds me of a boggling story where someone bought a poodle and didn’t understand why it didn’t eat any of the dog food - and apparently what they bought was a baby sheep).
Yes about the fried food too. It’s mainly fried food and noodles, once you go to a more residential area.
Funny you mention 媚外, that used to seem to be the case before. I’m not sure if now the gweilos are saturated or we’ve successfully transitioned to a developed place so we see that much less now.
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