Repatriate wrote:
Just a few observations Winston..I notice that you have this habit of categorizing groups of people and adamantly suggesting there is little room for non conformity or variation within that group yet you characterize yourself as a Chinese non conformist that defies categorization. So essentially you're judging people by your own double standards and refusing to be judged yourself. It's really just base stereotyping.
From my experiences with Chinese people in general there's a huge diaspora that's extremely varied. Maybe it's the fact that you hang out with the typical office nerds when you go to Taiwan instead of going out and meeting a wide assortment of people in different social circles?
You can draw all sorts of false generalizations based on a tiny sample size.
Everyone categorizes people except New Age hippies. You have to. Would you rather have me claim that everyone is the same everywhere? Patterns exist. What is wrong with me identifying them?
You must be saying this because you disagree with some of my categorizations. Which ones am I wrong about?
I don't see the double standards you're referring to. I am a nonconformist yeah. Most Asians are not. They are pure conformists who live to conform. Every honest person I know can see that. Why do you deny it? How many nonconformist Asians do you know? There may be a few, but they are not the majority. Most Asians rebel by conforming to American culture.
Even Ladislav, who is far more well traveled than you and I, says this. He has never seen a truly nonconformist Asian either, except those that try to Americanize themselves and act American, to rebel against their parents' culture. The guy I quoted before, Peter, is an old Scottish guy who's been to 100 countries. He said the same thing. He's never met a truly nonconformist Asian either.
So there you go. What do you have a problem with? Can you be more specific? Otherwise you sound like someone who's been rubbed the wrong way rather than someone who has a legitimate disagreement.
I do not hang out with office nerds in Taiwan. I don't hang out with anyone, except a few people here and there, including some expats. This is not an easy place to meet people, unless you work or are involved in some organized activities. But even when you go to parties here, the boys and girls will tend to clique together by gender, cause girls are far more comfortable with each other and even say so, they like to say "ni sen gen ni sen, nan sen gen nan sen".
Sure there are a variety of people in Taiwan. We are all individuals. But that doesn't mean that patterns don't exist. There are still differences in culture and people. We all know that. So what's your beef?
No I do not base my observations on a tiny sample size. It's not like that. I look at a wide spectrum of people first, before sizing them up. Remember I am right brained and probably better at that than a left brained type like yourself. I have a knack in seeing the big picture of things.
I simply report my experiences honestly here. Isn't that what you want? Or would you rather have me lie?
If you have different experiences, you are welcome to report them. It's ok to disagree with me. But don't create straw mans from me at least.