After getting my recent job and meeting more Taiwanese friends, I noticed some interesting things about Taiwanese people and their patterns of behavior. Some of the things mentioned below were noticed a long while ago, while some of them are fairly new observations. Those of you, who also live here, might have come to similar conclusions, but who knows, maybe not. Keep in mind, that I compare these things with the ones from my home country Slovenia. And keep in mind that I am specifically talking about Taiwanese who live and work in Taipei, as that's where I live and where I notice all these things every day.
1 Taiwanese always plan plan plan
The first thing I noticed about my wife (then girlfriend) is that she likes to plan her daily routine. Now most of the workweek, she would spend at work (she's Taiwanese!), but usually right after knocking off, she would go to the gym. And she has a very strict routine. Missing an appointment would make her feel stressed and disappointed. As for the weekends, she will carefully plan what to do and who to meet and at white time. In Slovenia, our working hours are shorter and we have more free time. We usually have a routine during the workweek, but on weekends we're much more spontaneous. If someone unexpectedly calls us to meet, it's usually no problem for us to do so right away. But I've noticed that for many Taiwanese doing something like that is a little stressful. Many like to know about meetings few days in advance and carefully plan every little thing for that day. I'm not sure why that is and maybe that's typical for Taipei or bigger cities, but it's definitely something I noticed very quickly here. Are Taiwanese insecure people or are they just so busy, that they treasure every minute of their free time?
2 Taiwanese always rush rush rush
Taiwanese always hurry! But let me emphasize again, that I mean those in Taipei (but that still seems to be half of Taiwan's working population). I can completely understand, why they do so during the workweek, because I do the same. There's always a traffic jam making you late, a full bus to catch or a small spot in the MRT to contend for. Every morning, especially on Monday, is a real struggle to come to work (based on my own experience). But then I wonder: Why do Taiwanese rush on weekends? Every time my wife and I go out on Saturday, she would suddenly start to walk fast, but we have no deadline to catch, nobody to meet. I usually let her walk away from me until she realizes that I'm few meters behind her and then she stops. When I catch up, I usually ask her: "Are you going to work? Do you have a train to catch?" Then it makes click and she walks slower... for like 5 minutes, haha. I think I need to find the spot, where she hides her Duracells. My Taiwanese friends, I give you a tip: Slow down on weekends and enjoy yourselves, waste time, indulge. If not, I might need to send you to Southern Dalmatia, Sicily or Greece for training.
3 Taiwanese mostly go Dutch
Taiwanese are very particular when it comes to managing money. The concept we have in Slovenia, where one time one party pays (or treats) the whole bill and then the next time the other party does the same in return, is seen as very strange here. Taiwanese count every single dollar (1 Taiwan dollar is 0.025 Euro btw) and if they had pennies, I'm sure, they would count them, too. Of course we also go Dutch in Slovenia, if we eat out in large groups. If we just drink, we go semi-Dutch, which means we do collect money, but don't go into every penny (some give more, some give less...). In Taiwan, if you go and eat out and your meal costs 99 NTD, but you give the person who collects money 100 NTD and tell them to keep the change, they will still return that 1 dollar to you. I've done that several times, but it's like they don't listen or they don't understand what you mean by that, haha. Now I don't bother anymore and count every penny dollar like they do. I think the reason for this kind of money management is that they don't want to owe anything to anyone, not even a single penny dollar. They don't want someone to badmouth them behind their back in regards to taking or owing money (and lose face). Not sure, if I got that right, but that's my impression.
4 Taiwanese way of saying bye bye is different
I don't know, how people say "bye bye" in your country, but in Taiwan (compared to Slovenia) it's very different. If I meet friends in my home country and we're just about to split up and go home after a drink or meal, we usually say "Keep in touch." or "Talk to you soon." (kinda hard to express the exact Slovenian phrase in English, but you get the point) and that's about it. Young people in Taiwan, when they say bye bye, it's always accompanied with smiles, repeated and extended "bye byeeeeees", waving and small nods. And it always feels like both parties are a bit awkward or embarrassed in that moment. No idea, why that is, but that's how I see the situation. I would be happy, if someone explained that to me better.
Ok, I gotta go, I have to rush out after counting my money again. Bye byeeeee ^_^
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