Made in Taiwan
POSTED BY: Visionary
UPDATED: Monday, August 24, 2026 21:24
VIEWED: 8433
PAGE 1 of 2
Hey folks. I know this probably isn't the best place but I need to vent badly. First, a little about myself: I am a 25 year old guy who recently moved with his girlfriend to Taiwan to teach english. Now, I have only had a month to settle in but the one thing I can NOT get over is the roads here. My God, I can't believe there's so many people is Taiwan, they should all be dead in car accidents. While cruising around in my little defenseless scooter I have begun to recognize some apparent rules of the road:
- If you are on a scooter and approaching an intersection wanting to turn right, there is no need to check if it's clear. Just go! Do a shoulder check AFTER you merge into traffic. It doesn't do any good but if you cause someone to swerve to miss you, then you have an excellent chance of seeing someone get creamed, which would be cool.
-If you ever need to change lanes or turn, just do it. Cars and scooters have brakes...people will get out of your way.
-Taxi's are equipped with invisible, invincibility force fields that allow their drivers to do whatever the hell they want.
-If your car is parked on the side of the road, or in the road (or in the intersection...no joke), the best time to open your driver side door to get in or out is right when scooters are approaching at 60 km/h. Drivers like to have their reflexes tested. Keep them on their toes!
-When turning left, you have the right of way as long as you creep as slowly as possible across the intersection. If you do it slowly, maybe no one will notice.
-As long as the person in front of you does something, it's okay for you to do it too. If he turns left, keep going. If he runs a solid red, keep that parade moving, man.
-And my favorite: When making turns, please use your turn signal the WRONG way. You know how to use it, I know this because you turned it on to make your turn, so it is very logical to conclude that if you are making a right turn should turn on your left indicator. That's right, right?
The best part is that these are not just random occurences that I happened to notice. These are the things I have seen enough to question whether or not I'M doing something wrong. My girl and I sat in stunned horror at a light and watched a garbage truck do a u-turn right through the middle of an intersection.....TWICE!
Sorry to rant but I needed to get this off my chest.
Peace out
"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you finish criticizing him, you are a mile away....and you have his shoes."
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You should get a blog. Then you can rant away to your heart's content! I should know - I do! 
Book: “A duel?”
Wash: “With swords?”
Simon: “The Captain's a good fighter, he must know how to handle a sword?”
Zoe: “I think he knows which end to hold.”
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Not to detract from the discussion of the finer arts of motoring around in Taiwan, but speaking blog, would any of you be interested in keeping a blog on this site?
I've been playing around with the idea for quite a while now. Mostly because I wanted one. And since I already wrote most of the code for it, does anyone else want to make use of it? If there's interest, I'll finish it up and get it working.
Now, back to our regular program in progress.
I bet there's a lot of swearing on Taiwan streets.
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Are you sure you moved to Taiwan? Maybe, you're only living in Boston and don't know it. 
Viva Firefly!
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Quote:
Originally posted by Haken:
...but speaking blog, would any of you be interested in keeping a blog on this site?
Um, What's a blog?
I'd use one (if I knew what they did) and could get away with it at work Viva Firefly!
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I'm with him.
Mal: “See how I'm not punching him? I think I've grown!”
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This tells you all about what blogs are and has tons of links if you want to see some done by other people.
http://www.blogger.com/about.pyra
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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle
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Quote:
Originally posted by Haken:
Not to detract from the discussion of the finer arts of motoring around in Taiwan, but speaking blog, would any of you be interested in keeping a blog on this site?
I've been playing around with the idea for quite a while now. Mostly because I wanted one. And since I already wrote most of the code for it, does anyone else want to make use of it? If there's interest, I'll finish it up and get it working.
Hey Haken! It's alway so nice to see you post. How's the little one?
I'd blog some. We've actually created kind of an ad hoc blog ring with Moral Calculus, The Rubble, The Carnage, Dumb Philomel, and Insights... Wild Poptart. It's getting referential and very fun.
Let me know what, if anything, I can do.
Sarah
I'm a dying breed who still believes, haunted by American dreams. ---Neko Case
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I read your post, Kayt, but I don't see how a blog is different from a thread. The only difference I see is that I may be able to post pictures from my pc to the site without having another site host them first. Is that about accurate or have I missed the point?
Oh yeah, and "Dang Taiwanese drivers!"
Viva Firefly!
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