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.

Phase 2 underway!

I stopped working at the end of October, then met Sha Sha in December. I was being lazy about finding a job until she started to make me feel motivated. I applied to a few places and had horrible luck. I applied for Pla-za art store and they dicked me around, had me come for 2 interviews then ignored my e-mails and calls. In early February I decided (with the prodding of my mom and grandmother) to join with a temp agency. Apparently mother knows best because it turned out really well!

I think within a week they had a job for me - The Housing Oppurtunities Commission, doing IT!
I was doing IT at towson, but this job pays $15 an hour as opposed to $6, the management is WAY better and the people I work with are really awesome.

Now that I have a steady income (with no rent still, thanks dad!) I am able to have fun on the weekend and save up for my future Taiwan trip.

Heres another issue though, Sha Sha needs to stay here for about 2 years or so to finish school and get some work experience, I really wish I could go to Taiwan with her now, but it looks like I'll have to wait. If nothing is going wrong I don't want to give her up just to go to Taiwan, especially if I am finding some decent work.

Sha Sha and I have been having a lot of fun too - had just about the best Valentines day ever- we went sledding, we built a snow-bunny, watched a lot of movies, and this weekend he have tickets to see the Washington Capitals VS Tampa Bay Lighting (these are hockey teams in case you dont know...)

I will try to update this blog more often, but I tend to forget!