A key difference between Taiwanese and Americans

[Winston]

From a Missionary who lived in Taiwan a few years:

"Americans are easy to meet hard to know.

Tw are hard to meet easy to know

This is what I was told in social psychology class.

This means it is ok to talk with strangers and to be polite but don't let them in your house here in the us

And tw don't talk to strangers but if you are someone a few times it is ok to be their friend and invite them to you house.

In tw I have to press and push to become friends with people but once we have a friendship they will give me the shirt off their back and welcome me to stay in their home.

In the us it is a little hard to get someone to give up their shirt and house.

I think the us culture has a lot of influence from the early settlers. Often when you would marry you would move away and set up your own farm. Can you image not seeing another person beside your parents and siblings for many days. How refreshed would you be once you did see someone else, finally someone new to talk to.

Also self reliance was a huge principle that today is not valued like it use to be.

Today in America it is the land of entitlement.

Taiwan you live your life for our family not for your self.

Jesse"

[ladislav]

Americans are tall, white skinned,blond haired blue eyed people with names such as Smith, Johnson, Brown, etc. Taiwanese are shorter people with more yellowish skin and black eyes and names such as Lee and Wong. Or at least, that is the typical picture that an average TWese or average Asian would have about these two peoples.