An Expatriate in Taiwan

Author: The Expatriate

  • Hanzi Milestone: 1000

    I finally broke the 1000 mark on my Hanzi Flashcards on Friday. Feels good, yet I’ve got a long way to go. I officially started studying Hanzi on Feb. 9 of this year, armed only with Anki, pen and paper, and a book. I learned approximately 300 Hanzi by simple rote memorization (I also learned […]

  • Harsh winter

    It’s early December, which means Taiwan is frozen over. All the Taiwanese people have donned their thick winter jackets to protect themselves from the cold. There is already ice on the ground and forecasts call for more snow. No, actually, I’m just kidding. One of my absolutely favorite things about Taiwan is the weather. When […]

  • Small victories

    One of the greatest and most underrated joys of learning a new language is have small victories. All too often, big victories are emphasized – especially here in Taiwan and especially when learning English is the topic. However, I find so much more satisfaction in small victories. Learning new [hanzi]漢字[/hanzi] and recognizing them on tv, […]

  • The Gukeng Coffee Festival

    Last weekend, Mrs. Expatriate and I decided to take a trip to the Gukeng Coffee Festival. It’s a small gathering of people selling coffee, food, handicrafts, and other such things. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and there were quite a few people out and about. If you get a chance, I recommend you go.

  • Erroneous Taiwan Stereotypes

    Catherine over at shu flies had a great post a while back about one of her blogging pet peeves – people who generalize and stereotype about every Taiwanese person based on the actions of a few. This also happens to be one of my pet peeves and something that I, being a foreigner, have to […]

  • Someone wants us to have kids

    In Taiwan, it is common to eat sweet foods on and after your wedding day. It is thought that eating sweet food will help the newlywed couple have a baby boy. The reason is a Taiwanese proverb: [hanzi]吃甜甜，生兒子[/hanzi]。 ([pinyin]chi1 tian2tian2, sheng1 er2zi4[/pinyin]) It doesn’t sound as good in Mandarin, but it rhymes in Taiwanese ([pinyin]jia […]

  • Getting married in Taiwan

    Been a while. I’ve been busy. However, I did find time to turn Miss Expatriate into Mrs. Expatriate and thought I would write about the process of doing so here. Like most things involving government in Taiwan, getting married is a very simple process that is muddled in bureaucracy. The process of getting married I’m […]

  • Random Fact about Taiwan #1481

    In Taiwan, many people don’t eat beef for various reasons; however, religion doesn’t appear to be one of them. A coworker of mine doesn’t eat beef because her family has always been farmers. I guess they raise cows for milk and think that because the cow has given them so much (allowed to make a […]

  • Random Fact about Taiwan #325

    Many Taiwanese are extremely superstitious. Among their beliefs are that if you whistle at night, it will attract ghosts. It doesn’t matter if you are in a car, outside, or in your house: if it’s after dark in Taiwan, no whistling!

  • Happy Bird’s Day

    Today is my older sister’s birthday. She’s come a long way… To honor this occasion, I thought I would give my Big Sister a uniquely Taiwanese Birthday Present. In my meager Taiwan existence, it has become extremely clear that there is one birthday custom which MUST be honored: a trip to the KTV for a […]