Superstitions - A guide to Taiwanese women.

All in all, women around the world are all the same. There is no special trick to them. Taiwanese women have the same parts as American women, they like it when you do something sweet and they get pissed off when they think you're not thinking of them, or being selfish.

One thing though that seems to bring up some troubles with the waiguoren and taiwanren couples are when the foreigner won't bow down the the taiwanese superstition, urban legend, or some odd thing they heard from their grandma/some friends/'the news.'

One example I have heard a BUNCH of times, and a whole thread about it on Forumosa, is:

You must wait for hot food to cool down before putting it in the fridge.

If you try to go against a superstition such as this you will face an hour long argument, which will not end well for you, and you will be forced to do things 'her way' next time unless you want to face it again.

'Chris' posted, citing the NY Times:
"In the olden days, refrigerators were "powered" with ice. Putting hot food into an icebox caused the ice to melt faster.

Nowadays, this is not a concern. If it increases the electric bill, the amount of the increase would be so negligible as to be unnoticeable on a bill. And leaving food out to cool slowly increases the length of the period in which bacteria can multiply: it's best to put hot food in the fridge right after dinner, thereby cooling it quickly and minimizing bacteria growth."

I am not sure if this applies to Taiwanese men as well, but it seems women latch onto these ideas more often. There is almost never a way to convince them otherwise, because they see it as an insult to their culture, their intelligence, or the person who told them. It seems the only way to bring it up with out a problem is to do it when there is no argument yet. You just say, hey my friend told me -insert counter-superstition here-, what do you think? If you can cite a good source and she believes in science you might be able to convince her. Its not about proving her wrong, its about doing things in a more sensible way. If you make her feel stupid for making a small mistake then you're just being an asshole.