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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Why Taiwan is Historically Not A Part of Chinese Sovereign Territory: Taiwan From Quarantine to Japanese Rule
Taiwan’s national identity is not the same as China’s. If anything, the idea that Taiwan is “Chinese” is a notion forced upon Taiwan by the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party. Sure, you can argue that regarding culture, language and certain traditions, China and Taiwan are quite similar, but overall, that isn’t enough of an […]
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Why Taiwanese Aboriginals Vote Blue and Not Green Da Ba Dee Da Ba Daa
Voting in Taiwan isn’t black and white, it’s green and blue. The green being the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and blue being the Kuomintang (KMT). Due to the KMT’s grip on power in Taiwan – which you could say lasted until the first presidential elections were held in 1996 – Taiwan’s political landscape can seem […]
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My time in Ireland: Feeling like I never left and missing Taipei
The first thing I did when I landed in Dublin Airport’s Terminal 1 was give myself a higher risk of heart disease. Seriously, we Irish have a tendency to believe that we aren’t here for a long time, but for a good time. The other famous saying about Irish people is a joke is a […]
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#3 Demographics in Taiwan: North Americans (Mostly Americans) in 2017
Quite a few people were asking me to post the figures for Americans living in Taiwan in 2017 and I have added on the rest of North Americans in Taiwan. Not surprisingly, Americans are the largest group from North America, following by Canada, Mexico and Haiti. Out of 12,291 North Americans, 9,855 (80.2%) were American, […]
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