Realizing What A “Straight White Male” Is In Taiwan
There was a time when I cringed at people saying “straight white male.” It was a strange statement to me. The kind of statement that bunched together a very large group of men together and treated their entirety as wrong. But the more, and more I live in Asia and see how US politics is […]
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Getting a Master’s degree in Taiwan: Likes and dislikes of Taiwanese universities from a international student’s perspective
After completing my Master’s in June 2018, I sighed because I was so relieved. For a long time, I was quite dissuaded from finishing my program. I was never sure what I was doing, learning, or even knew how this was going to help me. What kept me going was realizing the opportunity afforded to […]
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The Problem of Taiwan’s Libel Laws – How to avoid being sued and understanding the law
Taiwan’s democracy, civil society, and all round freedoms are something to be proud of. But, there is one problem, freedom of speech isn’t so free. In Taiwan, defamation and public humiliation is, incredibly, a criminal offense under Article 310 of the Criminal Code. You might be thinking, “what’s the big deal about Taiwan’s libel law then?”, well, […]
Read moreSmall World in Beijing: How I Randomly Met Family in a Hutong Bar
There’s nothing more cringeworthy than being asked if you know someone from Ireland because you’re Irish. I remember drinking with Americans that were tracing their roots in Dublin, and they kept asking me if I had ever heard of their great aunt this, great Peter Willy Malone, and whatever they were going on about like […]
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English Teaching in Taiwan – Overt Racism That Everyone Knows About
News broke that a school in Taipei was discriminating against black and dark-skinned people in their hiring practices and everyone lost it. By everyone, I mean mostly the international community and some locals. As quickly as the story broke, it was gone. There hasn’t been much discussion on the topic since. I didn’t want to […]
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Being an Irishman With a Beijing Accent in Taipei
In 2011 I took the dive to study Chinese and International Business for my undergraduate. Many people ask me “why did you study Chinese?” and my answer has always been “I really don’t know.” I didn’t put much thought into my future at 17 and I chose 10 courses, and I came out with Chinese […]
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The Enjoyment of Being a Foreigner – The Foreigner in the Room
I’m not crazy about always being referred to as a foreigner. Even in my local little beef noodle spot, I am still referred to as the foreigner despite the owner and staff knowing me on a first name basis. I don’t enjoy being reminded with interactions that I’m “different”. I know I’m different because the […]
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The Best Souvlaki in Taipei – Get me to the Taiwanese-Greek
There is a litany of places around Taiwan that claim to be “authentic” cuisine. I’ve had everything from “authentic” French to Brazilian food in Taiwan and not a lot of it ever met my expectations. It isn’t a case that the food was too localized that it didn’t meet my taste buds halfway, but rather […]
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We Need to Talk About Mental Illness and Taiwan’s Foreign Community
It is easy to be noticed on the Taiwan foreigner scene. For better or worse, we have a small ecosystem of foreigners in Taiwan. Some people take advantage of this fact and network like there is no tomorrow. Seriously, look at all your friends in Taiwan and chances are, you all have a friend in […]
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