Top 5 strangest characters in Taipei Metro

If you're like me, someone who's taking the Taipei Metro almost every day, I'm sure you must have noticed quite a few characters in your daily routine. During the work week, I spend almost 2 hours a day in and around the trains. And what else is there to do than observing people. Now I have to say that Taipei Metro is probably one of the best in the world and people here are just too polite and too normal for me to write a very funny posts about them. I've seen real weirdos in the Seoul Metro and by that I mean people who really crept me out. However, Taipei also has a bunch of strange characters roaming around the subway. But they're not strange in the sense that they are weird people per se, it's rather that they stand out by not behaving according to the subway etiquette or to put it bluntly: They seem to be so caught up in their own world that they forget others around them.

I have made a top 5 of these strange characters, listed from bad to worse and worst:

1. The Sleeper

This type of commuter is sitting on the priority seat and sleeping or pretending to sleep. By that they blend out everything around them such as elders or pregnant women, who are in desperate need of that seat. Sadly I see this type quite often lately. But for every bad seed, there's like 5 people who do the right thing and pass the priority seat to the right person. I need to praise my wife here. She's the type who would sometimes block an empty seat and pet an old person or a pregnant woman on the shoulder and redirect them to the seat. She's really a very kind person.

2. The Blocker

This type of commuter is also quite common. They are either blocking the main door or one of the seats. No idea, why some, who need to travel like 10 stations, have to stand near the door and then always block others, who want to go out. It's really a crazy crowd every morning, especially from the Main Station to the City Hall Station. I think, if you have space to leave the door, go inside. And then there's the type who stands in front of an empty seat, but doesn't want to seat down. I see others are eying the empty seat, but are too polite or shy to ask him to move aside, so that they can seat. If I intend to stand (for some reason), I usually move away from an empty seat. If I can't, I rather sit down. I know many would like to seat, they're tired, so blocking an empty seat is a little rude, if you ask me.

3. The Screamer

This type is not so common, but I heard them few times: For some reason they scream in one of the station and I have no idea what has happened. All I see is people at the station are looking in the same direction and the ones in the train (when the door opens) are trying hard to hear what's going on. Usually it's not enough time for them, the door closes and just like me, they keep wondering. I guess I'm the most clueless one. And I guess sometimes it's not so bad to not know what's going on. But the screaming is definitely not pleasant to hear.

4. The Jumper

This type is sadly also very common. Every morning, when I change the train at the Main Station, it's really crazy. The crowds are unbelievably huge and there are officers (officers?) trying to get people in order by whistling and fumbling, no, just by whistling, but they remind me of Taiwan's famous traffic policemen, where I always wonder, how much effect they really have on the traffic. Anyway, there are always long queues every morning. People sometimes wait 10 minutes for boarding the train and 99% of the people will wait patiently until it's their turn to get in, but there will always be someone, who will appear out of nowhere at the last second before the door closes and place him/herself in the tiniest spot available. That for me is of course understandable human behavior, people are late and use this way as the last resort. However, I don't condone it, it's still wrong, because the rest of us are still waiting.

5. The Pusher

This is for me the strangest Taipei subway character. Just like before, I see this every morning at the Main Station. It's basically "the Jumper", but with the difference, that he (usually it's a she) pushes everybody inside to get the last free spot and then gets in. Luckily I've only observed this from the outside the train, I wasn't jet pushed by the pusher. I hope one day I can make a short clip of that, I think it would definitely be a YouTube hit. Dear Pusher, I know you are late, frustrated and hyperactive, but pushing people so directly is a bit over the top. I've seen the shocked faces on many pushed commuters, it's definitely not a pleasant experience for them.

There are of course many other strange characters, but not occurring as often and not so significant as these 5 and hence don't really add any value to my post's topic. I need to say I really think Taipei Metro is for me personally the best in the world. Not only the service is top, the Taiwanese people are really a pleasant bunch to commute with, I truly have a great experience. But I have to say that taking a subway train every day is really tiring. But for me, I still prefer it over a car and scooter.

How about you? Do you have any interesting stories to share from the Taipei Metro or from any other one? What are the strangest characters in your subway? Please share, I'm curious.

[My LIFE IN TAIWAN page][Photo by MKL, 2011]

Unique Taiwanese traits? My observations

My latest observations about my Taiwanese friends

After getting my recent job and meeting more Taiwanese friends, I noticed some interesting things about Taiwanese people and their patterns of behavior. Some of the things mentioned below were noticed a long while ago, while some of them are fairly new observations. Those of you, who also live here, might have come to similar conclusions, but who knows, maybe not. Keep in mind, that I compare these things with the ones from my home country Slovenia. And keep in mind that I am specifically talking about Taiwanese who live and work in Taipei, as that's where I live and where I notice all these things every day.

1 Taiwanese always plan plan plan

The first thing I noticed about my wife (then girlfriend) is that she likes to plan her daily routine. Now most of the workweek, she would spend at work (she's Taiwanese!), but usually right after knocking off, she would go to the gym. And she has a very strict routine. Missing an appointment would make her feel stressed and disappointed. As for the weekends, she will carefully plan what to do and who to meet and at white time. In Slovenia, our working hours are shorter and we have more free time. We usually have a routine during the workweek, but on weekends we're much more spontaneous. If someone unexpectedly calls us to meet, it's usually no problem for us to do so right away. But I've noticed that for many Taiwanese doing something like that is a little stressful. Many like to know about meetings few days in advance and carefully plan every little thing for that day. I'm not sure why that is and maybe that's typical for Taipei or bigger cities, but it's definitely something I noticed very quickly here. Are Taiwanese insecure people or are they just so busy, that they treasure every minute of their free time?

2 Taiwanese always rush rush rush

Taiwanese always hurry! But let me emphasize again, that I mean those in Taipei (but that still seems to be half of Taiwan's working population). I can completely understand, why they do so during the workweek, because I do the same. There's always a traffic jam making you late, a full bus to catch or a small spot in the MRT to contend for. Every morning, especially on Monday, is a real struggle to come to work (based on my own experience). But then I wonder: Why do Taiwanese rush on weekends? Every time my wife and I go out on Saturday, she would suddenly start to walk fast, but we have no deadline to catch, nobody to meet. I usually let her walk away from me until she realizes that I'm few meters behind her and then she stops. When I catch up, I usually ask her: "Are you going to work? Do you have a train to catch?" Then it makes click and she walks slower... for like 5 minutes, haha. I think I need to find the spot, where she hides her Duracells. My Taiwanese friends, I give you a tip: Slow down on weekends and enjoy yourselves, waste time, indulge. If not, I might need to send you to Southern Dalmatia, Sicily or Greece for training.

3 Taiwanese mostly go Dutch

Taiwanese are very particular when it comes to managing money. The concept we have in Slovenia, where one time one party pays (or treats) the whole bill and then the next time the other party does the same in return, is seen as very strange here. Taiwanese count every single dollar (1 Taiwan dollar is 0.025 Euro btw) and if they had pennies, I'm sure, they would count them, too. Of course we also go Dutch in Slovenia, if we eat out in large groups. If we just drink, we go semi-Dutch, which means we do collect money, but don't go into every penny (some give more, some give less...). In Taiwan, if you go and eat out and your meal costs 99 NTD, but you give the person who collects money 100 NTD and tell them to keep the change, they will still return that 1 dollar to you. I've done that several times, but it's like they don't listen or they don't understand what you mean by that, haha. Now I don't bother anymore and count every penny dollar like they do. I think the reason for this kind of money management is that they don't want to owe anything to anyone, not even a single penny dollar. They don't want someone to badmouth them behind their back in regards to taking or owing money (and lose face). Not sure, if I got that right, but that's my impression.

4 Taiwanese way of saying bye bye is different

I don't know, how people say "bye bye" in your country, but in Taiwan (compared to Slovenia) it's very different. If I meet friends in my home country and we're just about to split up and go home after a drink or meal, we usually say "Keep in touch." or "Talk to you soon." (kinda hard to express the exact Slovenian phrase in English, but you get the point) and that's about it. Young people in Taiwan, when they say bye bye, it's always accompanied with smiles, repeated and extended "bye byeeeeees", waving and small nods. And it always feels like both parties are a bit awkward or embarrassed in that moment. No idea, why that is, but that's how I see the situation. I would be happy, if someone explained that to me better.

Ok, I gotta go, I have to rush out after counting my money again. Bye byeeeee ^_^

Related: [I'm becoming Taiwanese! Help!]
[LIFE IN TAIWAN][Photo by MKL, 2011]

I'm becoming Taiwanese! Help!

If you have read my posts from the past few months about my life in Taiwan (and all the preparations), you're probably just like me completely overwhelmed by the changes I've been through. In the past 6 months I have saved money, acquired documentation, bought air ticket, left my family and home in Slovenia behind and came to Taiwan to be with my then girl friend, whom I married 2 months later. And now I'm working like a mad person every day, usually 10 to 11 hours a day, but today I broke my own record: I worked nearly 13 hours. And the funniest thing is: I really worked. I didn't slack or sleep, I worked.

If someone would've told me to work overtime for no money back in Europe, I would've thought they're crazy. If someone would've told me to work all day 5 days a week back in Europe, I would've thought they are inhumane and a threat to society.

And then I came to Taiwan, got a new job and slowly fell into a Taiwanese work routine. At first I went home "early", which meant I only worked 2 hours overtime, instead of 5 (like most of my colleagues did). Even those 2 hours of unpaid overtime seemed crazy to me, especially because I didn't have much to do in the beginning. Every hour seemed endless and I felt: How the heck will I ever be able to work until 9 pm? (- the time that makes my boss happy). And today I finished at 9.30 pm and still felt I could stay longer.

On the way home I was thinking: WTF is happening to me? Am I slowly turning Taiwanese? I observed people on the bus and subway today, most were so tired. I'm sure most of them worked overtime until very late, until they nearly collapsed. It was a moment where I (for the first time) felt very connected to the Taiwanese people, I felt like I was one of them. But heck, why did it need to happen for the wrong reasons? We all seemed so screwed up. I came home at nearly 11 pm, took a shower, grabbed a bite to eat and decided to write this piece. Now it's midnight and if I don't want to look like a zombie tomorrow, I need to go to bed now, the night will be short anyway. And tomorrow won't be any different: Just like me, millions of Taiwanese will rot in the office with bad air cons trying to get something done. I'm now part of Taiwan's army of workers, who are fighting to keep the GDP high at all costs. Taiwan would not be one of the top economies in the world without our tireless effort to sell our products overseas.

But we're a tired army. Those of you, who enjoy life here, like teachers and journalists, if you see us, tap us on the back and shake our hands, we're also fighting for you. We have no life but work, lunch is our highlight of the day, we drink that coffee from 7/11 so we don't doze off...

My fellow Taiwanese, how long can we do this? How long will we keep saying it's only temporary?

Related: [Taipei Blues from 2010][Photo by MKL, 2011]

Living in a condo in Taipei

What happened to my privacy?

A condominium like many others.

Last year I used to live in this area in a cheap apartment on ground level with a very small window, a bed, a desk, a TV and a bathroom. It was cheap, small and usually very dark. We went to check the apartment out in the evening and signed the contract right away, because we were in desperate need to get something reasonably priced as soon as possible. We had no idea that it will be so dark inside during the day and that was for me very hard to bear in the beginning. I used to live there alone and my wife (girlfriend at that time) used to visit me every evening. And even though the area was noisy, smelly and not very clean, the people were friendly (sometimes the convenience store clerks would chit chat with me) and everything we needed was available nearby for a good price (we even had a night market nearby, within 5 minutes of walk). The only thing that used to be a little troublesome sometimes was waiting for the garbage truck. But I felt free.

This year I'm living in a condo, similar to the one you see on the photo above. I live in one of the upper floors and have a good view of the surrounding area. I can even see the top of the Shin Kong Life Tower on a clear day. The apartment is not that much bigger, it's just one room with a small kitchen and a bathroom, but we pay almost double than for the one I rented last year. We have security guys, a lobby, elevators, a gym, a playground for kids and even a swimming pool (these are of course all common facilities). I like more space and I like the big windows, basically everything's fine so far, my wife chose a great place to live as a couple. But just the other day I was thinking: Where did my privacy go?

As you can imagine, I'm very obvious here. I'm a blonde white man and I'm always very interesting to the local population. The thing is, I can't lose myself in the pool of people like everybody else here. I will always be very easily remembered, people will wonder about me, probably saying things like: "Who's that young white guy every day passing by? What's he doing here?" "I saw him with a local girl, maybe he's married with her." "Oh, I see..." - That's a new situation for me. In Europe I'm "normal" and just one of many, here I'm "different" and one of the few. And not only that, I'm one of those few that are always sparking interest among the majority of people. That's of course very human and I can totally understand the locals, when they see me and become curious about me. I can live with that.

What bothers me more are the security guys. Every day when I leave my apartment, I need to pass through the lobby and greet one or more of them. And when I'm outside, another one will be there managing the traffic in front of our building and I need to say another hello or just throw a nod of recognition, when I pass by. And that basically means they know when I'm going out (to work) and when I'm returning home: I feel so monitored. It's like staying in a hotel with just a reception and no room service (How long could you take something like this?). Sometimes I feel like finding a way to sneak out without anyone seeing me just to get that feeling back, the one where I feel completely free.

Are you willing to trade security for less privacy? It's really hard sometimes, because where I grew up, we had nothing like that. Security personnel would be something you only see at factories, warehouses or government buildings. Growing up in a house surrounded by a forest marked me for life. In my heart I'm not a city person, but I know that living in Taipei is the best thing that ever happened to me. I want to enjoy it to the fullest, but at the same time I should not forget where I came from and where my heart really feels at home.

And the only ones, who monitored me there, were the chirping birds, that woke me up every morning. I hope I will see them again one day.

[My LIFE IN TAIWAN page][Photo by MKL, 2011]

Japan Quake 2011: The things I've learned

Some things, that have popped into my head these days

In the last 4 days my blog had over 6000 visits, because I was updating on the situation in Taiwan and Taipei right after the horrific earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11. Even in this very moment people are still googling things like "Is it safe to go to Taiwan", "Has Taiwan been affected by the tsunami" or "Will Taiwan be hit by the tsunami" and coming to my blog. All this makes me think about life and people, be it the ones close to me or the ones I've read and hear about in the media. Here are some things I've learned or realized these days and I would like to share them with you.

1 Reporting on Taiwan in English sucked

Check some of the comments I received on my previous post:

"I stumbled across your blog while looking for news on Taiwan. Thanks so much for the update (it's the best I've seen yet)!" by Bunny

"Thank you for the updates, you're currently the best source on the web." by Tim Poultney

"Thank you. Sitting half a world away wondering about my wifes family. Google search for tsunami taiwan 2011 gave me your site, and your news was the only I could find, better than CNN and BBC afas the situation for Tawian." By Anonymous

I was lucky to be at home, when the quake hit Japan. I felt I need to report the things I saw here in Taipei, share my view from Taiwan, especially after CNN announced that the tsunami might hit us as well. Those two hours were very nerve-racking and even though I knew Taipei will be safe, I was really worried for the good people in Keelung, Ilan, Hualien and Taitong. Interestingly, it seemed that nobody was really prepared for a huge tsunami here, life continued pretty normally even after these things were reported and warnings were issued. It was a surreal feeling, as if people knew that nothing will happen. Luckily, they were right, but I'm still wondering, why people seemed to be so indifferent. Who knows, maybe my perception was wrong, but that's how I saw everything. It is sad, that I was one of the best sources in English about what's exactly going on here. Don't news networks know that people are hungry for news? Some were planning to fly to Taiwan these days, some had friends and family here and of course they were worried.

2 People don't really know a lot about Taiwan

Those foreigners, who are here, are experts on Taiwan. We know every spot, every city, we know how close we are to China and how far from Japan. But generally, people don't know a lot about this country. That also includes my mum. She knows where I am, she knows it's in East Asia, close to China, Japan, Korea... but that's all. Most people just can't imagine how Taiwan really is. Even, if you see tons of photos and videos, it's still not enough. You need to come here and then you'll realize how wrong your idea of Taiwan was before you came. I know that happened to me and I am well traveled, always interested in geography and I see myself as fairly well educated. But Taiwan was something else for me, when I first set foot on the island: The smells, the noise, the scooters, the people, the languages, the architecture, the food... so many new things for me and of course most of them were a pleasant surprise. Some of them were challenges, but I overcame them very quickly.

3 New things to worry about

Being in Taiwan not always easy, especially when you think of of the tricky political situation and China's missiles pointed at us. I'm still not used to this, partly because I've nearly missed a real war in 1991. Although we were lucky back then, I won't ever forget the fear I had felt when the conflict was unfolding. And now in addition to the fear of war, the recent events in Japan added a fear of a big natural disaster happening here as well. We have nuclear power plants and a high population density and that's something that does make me feel a little uneasy. I really really hope that Taiwan will not experience anything comparable to the quake and tsunami in Japan, but that's all I can hope for, I have to say I feel a little helpless in all this. I don't like remarks of the sort "nature is angry". Nature has always been this way, these quakes are normal. They just happen in heavily populated areas and do a lot of damage to the people, that's why we feel very shocked and saddened. Had a quake of the same magnitude happened in Antarctica, how many of us would really have these apocalyptic feelings right now?

4 Disasters bring out the best and worst in people

These days you can read all kinds of messages, some will touch you, some will appall you. It's incredible how humane and helping people can become in such catastrophic times and also how vicious and evil some others can be. I guess that's what you get, when half of the world is connected via internet. The most funny thing is, that even though the internet is the biggest information source in the world, some people still don't have a good understanding of Pearl Harbor, World War II and Nagasaki and Hiroshima. One of the things I have realized these days is how stupid people can be, sometimes so deeply stupid, that I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry or do both at the same time. It is just mind boggling.

5 Life is precious, we have to cherish it

These days we see how short and precious life can be and how fast it can end. It must be so saddening for those people who argued with someone on March 10 and the next day he or she was gone forever. We can't reverse the events in Japan, but we can learn from them. We can at least try to be more sensitive to the people we love and cherish small things life much more. Live your life every day as if it was the last time. Do things that you never have thought of doing before, be spontaneous, be friendly, spend time in nature, surprise your dear ones... just appreciate life.

Photo on the left is Queen's Head, located in Yeliu. For me, "she" is the symbol of Taiwan. I think as long as she stands there and rules over Taiwan so proudly, I will feel safe and secure.

Read more about Taiwan here>>

Blackout Korea scandal 2011 - A view from Taiwan

And a comparison of foreigners in Taiwan with foreigners in Korea

For quite a while I've been following English language blogs in Taiwan and Korea, because I'm very interested in both countries and I want to be up to date on what's going on in each country. Regarding Taiwan, my primary source of information is my girlfriend, who is born here and so I think I'm very well informed about stuff that goes on in the media, even if I'm not fluent in Chinese. In addition to that, I like to read other foreign blogs to get another perspective on things. As for Korea, my primary source are few popular foreign bloggers such as the Metropolitician, James Turnbull, Roboseyo and some others. I can't really be 100% sure that the reality they see in Korea would be my reality, but I know they back up their claims with solid arguments, they don't just write stuff without giving it some serious thought. But as much as I want to talk about foreign bloggers in South Korea and Taiwan, I would like to touch on the general idea of being a blogger in a foreign country. What has triggered this post was the recent "Blackout Korea blog scandal", that's upsetting local netizens as well as foreign bloggers in South Korea. Let me briefly explain what happened.

1 The Blackout Korea blog scandal 2011

A 20-something foreign English teacher started a blog in 2009, named it Blackout Korea,...

...where he and other foreigners submit photos of excessively drunk Koreans sleeping it off on the streets (later pics of foreign binge drinkers were posted, too). Most photos are accompanied with one or more silly foreigners posing alongside the drunk (read passed out) person. You can be sure that the very moment the first photo was published the blog became a ticking bomb waiting to explode. And that's exactly what happened in recent days. It was discovered by Korean netizens and some media and as Koreans are, they weren't happy about it. If you want to check the blog out, go to: blackoutkorea.blogspot.com. I fear it will soon disappear from the web, so be quick.

A Korean blogger started a counter-blog named Who Teaches English in Korea (englishteachersout.blogspot.com), where he's using the photos from Blackout Korea (even though there's no evidence that the people appearing in them were English teachers) and comparing them with the infamous Abu Ghraib photos of American soldiers humiliating Iraqi prisoners. Of course this was a ridiculous thing to do, but it shows how careful one has to be about what they put online. All that upset the Metropolitician, who wrote a post encouraging his followers to comment on that blog. And that's what they're doing and the dance continues.

2 The South Korean online community

This is how things look on the surface to someone like me, who does not know a lot about the Korean foreign and local online community: There's a small, but vocal group of expat bloggers, who constantly complain about the country and its people and don't care how it comes across. They vent, they rant and use offensive language, oftentimes purposely, because they want to provoke Koreans for whatever reason. On the other hand there's a vocal group of Korean netizens who reject every criticism of their nation from a foreigner, even if it's constructive and well-argued. Not only are they spewing threats to those who dare to say anything "bad" about Korea, some even go as far as to gather information of a particular foreigner and try to harm them in real life. And then there's a significant part of the South Korean media, that seems to be biased towards foreigners. These 3 fractions are usually the ones, that are the loudest. Many times they start nontroversies, fabricate the truth and reinforce stereotypes. They're the ones that operate with ideas like "English teachers are losers in their own country, dangerous sexual predators, troublemakers" and on the other hand "Koreans are stupid, rude, overly proud and aggressive". Apart from these three fringe groups, there's the silent majority of foreign and local blogs, websites and forums, who keep it decent and non-confrontational and seem to get along fairly well. Of course their stories of peace, love and harmony won't spark as much interest as a scandal involving inconsiderate foreigners, drunk Koreans and unflattering photos (these comments are telling). All this is of course not only typical for Korea, but can be observed in many other countries.

3 The Taiwanese online community

I think, if you're generally not a trouble seeker, you won't find any in Taiwan. Things here are on much smaller scale compared to South Korea, because foreign (read Western) residents are still a very small minority. Hence the English speaking online community remains relatively small and is mostly overlooked by Taiwanese netizens and media. That has it's good and bad sides. If any, it's the political blogs that gained some recognition such as The View from Taiwan. All other domains are fully dominated by Taiwanese bloggers, who are probably one of the most passionate in the world. In comparison with Koreans, Taiwanese seem to be more forgiving to foreigners, who point the finger at some of the flaws of their country. That may partly lay in the fact, that the Taiwanese society is relatively young, greatly divided and still seeking its identity, while Koreans, who throughout history suffered attacks and invasions from China and Japan, had to stick together in order to preserve their language and culture and therefore formed a strong national identity and a strong sensibility to all "attacks" from the outside (or outsiders). With that said, there are always boundaries one should not overstep, when blogging about Taiwan and Taiwanese people. You will hardly find any drunk people sleeping on the streets in Taiwan, so that topic would not fill a blog. I guess the number one reason for Taiwanese to get upset are politics, which is common in many other countries, but I've never seen a democratic nation so greatly divided by political convictions as Taiwan is. Yet, despite all these divisions, the country functions better than many other so called "harmonious" countries out there. That's certainly fascinating and I would surely have a lot to say about it, but I won't. I won't touch Taiwanese politics on my blog other than what I said here in this post. If others do that, it's their choice. I rather stick to fun stuff like food and travel. I would only make an exception, if something really bad happens and I want to share my view from inside. Back to Taiwan's media. As a foreigner you need to be more careful outside the virtual world. Small irrelevant things tend to be reported and sensationalized and there's always someone with a camera at hand, who can take a photo of a "silly" laowai doing something funny or bad or just embarrassing. Not sure how often it happens, but I think my freckled face must have landed on a Taiwanese blog or two... I just hope they didn't write anything mischievous about me.

4 Taiwanese are tolerant, but...

...there are of course limits to everything. I just don't get people, who come to East Asian countries to live and work and behave like they are back home and even want to apply the same standards to the country they have moved to. Coming from a small less known country like Slovenia, I can relate to Taiwan's situation well. And the small yet unique Slovenian culture helps me understand Koreans and Korea. Well, to a certain extent. I feel that, if you're a blogger, you're putting yourself out there and people will judge you. It's impossible to please everybody, when writing a blog, of course, but there can be a difference in tone and manner. So many bloggers just keep on criticizing without even offering any ideas, how they could make it better. They don't take an effort to try and figure out why something is different than in their world and just bash and trash continuously. I usually unfollow these blogs instantly, I don't want to waste my time by reading someone's personal frustrations all the time. And there are a few blogs about Taiwan, who hate everything about the life here (I wonder, what keeps them here). I always tell my girlfriend, that foreigners see reality with different eyes. I can spot every dirty spot or every weird thing someone does, while walking to the MRT station, but my girlfriend would not see a thing. It was interesting to see the reversed situation last year, when she visited Slovenia and Europe for the first time. She saw so many things I haven't noticed before and caught every person staring at her. It was like seeing my own country with completely different eyes. That's of course great and very insightful, but it's totally lame, if you use it for ridiculing people, making fun of traditions or mocking the way of life, just because you have some personal issues with that. You're not doing anyone any favors by behaving this way. In relation to Taiwan, I've found this odd blog post from 2008, written by a female English teacher nicknamed imaniou:

Cranky Laowai... having an "I hate Taiwan" night (rated R version)

"As I mentioned before, I lost my cellphone in a taxi two weeks ago. I finally broke down and bought a new one tonight for $2500 NT (a little over $80 USD) at the Tong Hua St. Night Market after dinner. As I rounded to climb the pedestrian overpass, I saw two high school kids copping a smoke on the steps, completely blocking the path save a narrow space between them. When I got close, they started saying something about the "heiren" (black person, literally). As if those two shits had any room to talk. After a surreal night last night, bad service at dinner (I'm not even sure why I bother thinking the waiters will do their jobs despite smiling politely and looking into their eyes to say thank you every time they do what they are paid to do...which rarely happens) and only a few hours of sleep, I was in bitch mode and not to be trifled with. As I passed, I "accidentally" kicked the shit monster on the right's box of milk tea down the filthy stairs into a mucky puddle below and pai sei'd him (the untouchable word for absolving fault in Taiwanese). Gosh. If he hadn't been sitting there making it hard to maneuver around him, it probably would have never happened.

"Ni kan, hei ren" must have been the theme at the night market as every tai ke scumkin made it a point to turn, point, whisper, and stare as I walked by in search of a phone. I stopped into one store to be violently ignored before I muttered "fuck this" and walked out. I stepped into another store where the two dribbling xiao jies giggled and pointed. I waved the money I had planned to spend there, put it back in my pocket, and said that it was no wonder they had no customers. Then I cranked my MP4 player up and moved along. From the toothless hag selling polyester beaded clothes on the street to the betel-nut chomping creep in the stained wifebeater dribbling red betel nut saliva into the greasy sausages he was grilling, I was a source of entertainment. And then I realized why the street was so dead. Most of the decent people in this country wouldn't touch this place with a 20-foot pole and a gallon of disinfectant. Now Taiwan in general is a filthy, repulsive place to walk with dog shit, blood red betel nut spit and chewed up pulp, litter, human waste, and prolific cockroaches everywhere you look whether you are in the city, in a small town, or even in the national parks. The Japanese tried to civilize the originals (the ones that most of the taikes are comprised of) and CKS's people tried slaughtering them and both groups tried to get them to drop their culture and assimilate to their conquerors. And yet they still persisted to spread all over the country, bringing their ignorance and taike-ism with them even into the cities. The bid for the UN is laughable at best and pathetically oblivious at worst and voiced the loudest by those who would discard a half cup of milk tea into a bush, make their kid piss next to the slide at the playground, and not even blink when dumping the dog they bought because it's no longer tiny and its bad behavior is no longer cute. Even the Philippines does not treat every inch of its country as a public toilet/dump/temporary home the way the Taiwanese treat their land and still have the audacity to think not only are they better than the rest of the world, but that they deserve a place in deciding what happens to it when they can't even get people to stop dumping their domestic garbage into (or rather, on and around) street litter bins.

Buildings are filthy, covered in dirt when they are covered with tiles that are easy to clean off if someone actually cared enough to clean them. Wires hang all over them, off them, across rooftops weaving in and out of windows and air conditioner holes. The little bit of green on the ground is crabgrass and weeds, but mostly algae growing on congealing puddles of dead land where people couldn't be arsed with walking on the actual sidewalk. Or couldn't walk thanks to the thousands of parked scooters and illegal carts of clothes, food, and cheap plastic shit clogging the already narrow walkways.

Most days, I can look beyond the filth of both the landscape and see the beauty of many things here. Sitting in the classroom with my students and having a rare glimpse into the fact that the kids I am having engaging conversations with are all Taiwanese non-native speakers who, for some, have only been learning English for four years. I know how badly I sounded like after four years of French and I had a lot more class time than they do.

But for tonight, I feel that Taiwan is making itself easier to not miss when I leave this fall."

Post: Source

I'm not saying, that bad things don't happen in Taiwan (or Korea) and I'm not saying one should not vent, but some things are better not to be published, after you write them down. I rather vent to my girlfriend or send emails to family back in Slovenia. It's not like the cyberspace needs to store every thought that pops up in your head. Just know that words and photos have consequences and it's better to be overly sensitive than overly insensitive. I try to walk a fine line between being funny, entertaining and informational and now and then critical and analytical. Sometimes I go too far, but I have no problem to correct myself, if necessary. The important thing is, how you do it, not if you do it. If you write controversial stuff, be man (or woman) enough to sign your real name below.

In regards to the above topics, my questions are:

• Are those photos of drunk Koreans going too far?
• Is that blog attacking English teachers in Korea going too far?
• Which topics do you personally avoid to write about on your blog?
• How should a Westerner in East Asia blog about the things he sees?
• How did you find that rant of the "cranky laowai" about Taiwan?

Very interested to read your opinion on these issues. More about Taiwan here>>

Prohibition in Taipei Public Parks

Culture specific prohibitions

While walking around Zhongzheng, Taipei's old center, I went to a small park and came across these park rules and regulations. What was interesting to me were the culture-specific bans, such as "no gambling", "no vendors" and "no fireworks". I can hardly imagine these things being listed in public parks in my country Slovenia.

Do you have any specific bans in your country?

Taiwan, 1 week later

How I'm feeling so far

It was last Saturday, when I packed my bags and left my home, my home country Slovenia and my native continent Europe to move to the other side of the world: To Taiwan. Even though I am an experienced traveler and even though I've lived in Asian countries for a year before (including Taiwan), it's like none of this really matters these days. Leaving the place where you're one of them, where you speak their language is very different from being the exact opposite of that. I'm a foreigner and that's obvious everywhere I go. Maybe the biggest challenge for me is the change of roles I play in the past days: From being the son, the brother, the friend, I've become the boyfriend, the foreigner, the English speaker... And I will need some time to feel comfortable being the new me. Interestingly, I don't have the same issues I had last year, when I came here for the first time. I remember being annoyed by the scooters and the crazy traffic in general, the masses of people, the staring... This time I feel I have some inner struggles that are not caused by the new environment, they're rather amplified by it. It's a big step for me and it's a lot to digest in a very short time. And on top of it, I just got sick. I have a runny nose and a sore throat. It's raining almost nonstop for the past week and all this has taken its toll on me and my body. I hope I recover soon and strengthen up. I have to.

[My LIFE IN TAIWAN page]

Mark Zuckerberg spent New Year in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan!

OMG! Mark Zuckerberg wants to be like me, part 2!

Some of you might remember a post I wrote a while ago, about how Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, wants to be like me? Remember when I said he's white, blonde, has a thing for Asian women, is dating a Chinese girl by the name 陳, which is exactly my girlfriend's family name? If you haven't read that post, check it here. Many of you were skeptics at that time, among them nobody less than the most famous Malaysian travel blogger FuFu:

I wasn't even shocked, when he became Time Magazine's man of the year (I on the other hand became Jong Magazine's Man of The year). That was of course an easy guess, since both of us have transformed internet this year, so duh. But something else seriously baffled me today! You won't believe it, when I tell you where Mark Zuckerberg spent this New Year. He spent it in Taipei! Of all the places he could fly to with his private jet, from the Caymans to Mauritius, he went to Taiwan with his girlfriend (I would not be surprised, if she was Taiwanese, too) and was seen on various famous spots around Taipei. One of them was the Huaxi Street Night Market with the famous Snake Alley (See the snakes getting killed). Look at this photo and my photo on the right:

This photo is circulating around the net in Taiwan.

I was there! And suddenly he was there, too!? Do you think this is merely a coincidence? Are you really that naive? Of course he's reading my blog and thinks I'm cool, there's no other explanation for this. I'm sure he saw my Best Taiwan Blog 2010 Award, checked all my Taiwan posts and said to himself: »Wow, Taiwan is so cool. And he had so much fun in Taipei. That's awesome. I have to go there for new year!« And then he probably called his girlfriend Priscilla to show her my blog and said: »Babe, look! This guy is so awesome. Check his Taiwan posts. How about we go to Taipei for New Year?« She checked my blog a little and then most likely said: »Hon, we gotta see Taipei. It's uh-maiz-ing! OMG!«

I have to say I feel honored not only that he's trying to be like me, but also that he's reading my blog and using it as a resource for traveling. Mark, have you tried the snake soup or snake blood? I havn't... so I guess you haven't, too. How about frog? I have. I'll be soon in Taiwan, so when you come next time, we can go to some smaller night markets, where all the paparazzi would never expect you. I'll treat you some tasty bubble tea. Deal? ;-)

Btw, I even heard that he's trying to learn Mandarin (just like me!)... Are you even slightly shocked now? I think, if you follow my blog, you're not. If you're new here, pick up your jaw, it dropped on the floor. Now I have solid proof that Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook wants to be like me. Frankly, I am a bit puzzled about all this, I mean he is a tad bigger celeb than me. I feel very honored, though ;-)

Photos of Mark Z. circulating on the web (by Taiwanese): Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3
Articles about Mark Z. in Taipei (in Chinese): Liberty Times, Yahoo! Tw News, UDN.com

Related: [VISIT TAIPEI!][My TAIWAN page]

Let's tear down some walls

So long, best year of my life!


This is the biggest wall I ever made. Hope it'll last for decades.

What a year this was for me. A year of travel, love, new horizons, new food and new adventures. A year of many ups and few downs. A year of work, saving and enjoying. I've seen all of Taiwan and Slovenia this year, went on a trip to Macau and Seoul, toured Vienna twice, saw Bratislava, Trieste and Gorizia for the first time. I helped replacing the old roof on our house, we worked on it for 3 weeks. I constructed 3 walls in our basements and helped to pave a 10m long road near our house. I was lucky to buy me a new laptop, which helped me to blog faster and easier. In the end I even won a blog award with the help of my awesome friends. Looks like everything was somehow paying off this year. I wasn't already there where I thought I'll be by the end of 2009 (read my resolutions), but I'm happy how things turned out. I have never thought I would see Seoul and Korea so fast, I never thought I would go on such a big road trip with my girlfriend and have so much fun. There are so many more things I have not anticipated this year, too many to list them here.

So what's next in store for me? I have no idea. I have plans, hopes and dreams for next year. Moving to Taiwan and tying the knot is not something you do every day. And I hope I can have a good career and a happy harmonious life. Although I love adventures, I need a peaceful environment, where I can retreat. And in recent years it's been too much back and forth, so many travels and changes, it affects me. I need to find my base and hope that will be in Taiwan. I enjoyed my life the way it was, 5 intercontinental trips in 5 years, living in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan all together for a year has given me so many new perspectives on life, has broadened my horizons the internet could never do. I love it, when you guys read my travelogues, but my posts could never really give you that atmosphere, that feeling, when you're somewhere in rural Malaysia in a house of friendly Chinese, who cook for you and make you feel special. Or the feeing to walk in a tropical jungle or to dine on top of a super tall skyscraper with your loved one. How many times I arrived and parted in these past years. I connect tears of joy and tears of broken hearts with airports, I love and hate them. Yet, I can't live without them. It's for me hard to live without my laptop, but even that you can take away from me. But don't take away from me the ability to hop on a plane and end up on the other side of the world the next day. My life's a big journey.

I was never sitting on a pile of banknotes, I always invested them in my trips, which were fueled by my hopes and dreams. Maybe next year that will change, but I think only a little. I'm very eager to see Japan and more of Taiwan. But I don't push myself anymore. Whatever will be, will be, I just hope it will be good. You can't really plan a whole year, you can only hope that some goals you set for yourself will be realized. If it's 50%, it's already more than you could dream of. Don't have too many expectations, but don't be aimless. Don't try to push yourself too hard, but don't lack passion. Embrace a new year with all it's dangers, challenges and possibilities. Don't regret a single thing, a mistake, a quarrel, a mishap. The year will pass too quickly and soon you can make it better in another year... and then another... and another.

Thank you everybody, who went on this journey with me the past year (and the past 5 years). It will never be the same again - it will be different - but that doesn't mean it will be worse. I am now 30, experienced and wiser (or that's what I hope). Sometimes I miss the 24 years old me, who had no idea how the world really looked like. I'm not sure, if I am that much happier now, though. But we can't stop ageing, we can't stop the world from changing. What we can do is make sure, that we adjust our pace to its pulse and hope for the best.

Happy 2011, everyone! Let's tear down some old walls.

PS: I've got another award: Blogger of the year by Netster.

This year just doesn't stop surprising me. Thanks so much, bro. I'm speechless.

Paulina 胡文英, Taiwan's wonder mom

Let me introduce you yet another exceptional woman from Taiwan


Meet Paulina: An exceptional mom.

I noticed Paulina, known under the real name 胡文英 (Hú Wén Yīng), in one of the updates on Nicole's Facebook page. So I had to check her out and wow: She truly is an incredible woman. Why you might ask? Well, she's a mom of 3 kids (the oldest is 17 years old) and looks that good. Don't you agree? She became popular in 2009, when she appeared on a Taiwanese variety show featuring beautiful mature women. She was 42 years old back then. She was born in 1967! She instantly became popular online, appearing on various blogs and forums. She's 43 now and still posting photos of herself on her blog. Do you remember, when I wrote about "Taiwan's wonder woman" Jeannie Hsieh a while ago? I couldn't believe how good she looked at age 36, but what about Paulina? I had a hard time finding a title for her, but I think "Taiwan's wonder mom" would do her justice (I don't wanna use that abbreviation that ends with -ilf, let's keep it classy).

Check some videos of Paulina, first is a slideshow of her photos, the second her appearance on a Taiwanese variety show:

According to Paulina, she doesn't do sports, she just keeps a strict diet. The rest is taking care of her body with various beauty products. I'm sure some of her photos were retouched and she also uses a lot of make-up, but we can't deny that she's blessed with great genes, that keep her looking young after the dreaded age of 40. Sure, she has a very skinny body (she's 167cm and has 43kg according to sources), but that alone doesn't make her look young. I think a lot of it is the attitude. Her fashion style and the way she takes photos is the one of a young girl, maybe a teenager, but definitely someone in the early twenties. There are photos of her, where I would say she looks 23, some others make her look way over 30. It depends on the angle, the light, the zoom and the expression. With that said, one thing is sure: She definitely doesn't look over 40. But these days, they say, you're as old as you feel. Age does matter, of course. If it wasn't, I would not write this post. But more and more men and women are pushing the boundaries, baffling us, inspiring us. As long as they age naturally, I will give them thumbs up.

Paulina, a 43 years old woman your cute girl next door?

Since I try to keep this blog somewhat semi-decent (alright, stop chuckling), I didn't wanna post some of her sexier photos. Believe me, she's pretty bold, when it comes to photo shoots, so if you wanna see some of her hottest pics from 2009, when she was at the height of popularity, go to:

性感熟女辣媽胡文英爆乳寫真>>

You can also visit her blog or browse through her personal album.

So what do you think about Paulina and how do you like women, who at an age over 40 still want to look like younger women or girls and behave that way?

[My TAIWANESE WOMEN page][Photos by Paulina, 2009/10]

[My photo 1, photo 2] Bonus: Paulina with 17yrs old daughter

Racist tirades against Obama

It looked so promising in 2008

Those who followed my blog in 2008, knew how excited I was about Obama's victory at the 2008 Presidential election. I remember how closely I followed the whole campaign since 2007. Obama particularly caught my attention by that time, I had the feeling that he may go really far. And man, he really went further than my wildest expectations. His speeches gave me goosebumps and sometimes they still do. I won't ever forget that night and his speech in Chicago. in front of thousands of people, knowing that he will be the next president of the United States. It was about 4am in the morning, when I watched that speech live on CNN and I won't ever forget that moment, when Jesse Jackson cried. I guess I was moved a little, too, even though I'm not American. I think there probably wasn't a single African American, who wasn't somehow touched that night. But this was beyond America, the whole world was amazed by what just happened in that moment.

And then 2 years later at the midterm elections, Obama and the Democrats lose their majority in the Congress and the general mood in the country seems anti-Obama. And there seems to be a small but loud group of people, who think it's OK to voice racist comments. I read this article on Yahoo! News (this is just a snippet):

Since the expectations were so high in 2008, Obama couldn't possibly meet them. 2 years are too short for a decade of wrong decisions and failed policies. But well, everyone expects super things from Superman, right? Even though I admire Obama and support most of his policies, I can understand that some Americans are disappointed. But what I don't understand is the disgusting racism against Obama, that seems to be OK now, almost mainstream (I'm talking about online). I remember, when everyone ridiculed the birthers and the tea party a year ago, but now they're getting elected! Now they're mainstream. Same was with the racists: They seemed to be totally nonexistent in 2008 (with few exceptions), now it seems they can spew out their hate against Obama and even get applause from a lot of people (especially online). If you read any article about Obama on Yahoo! News these days, I guarantee you, that you'll come across a lot of flat out racist comments (accompanied with many "likes"). Let me show you some comments on the article above (published a day after Obama lost the midterm elections. I highlighted the worst parts):

Since I'm not American and my impressions about the current situation in America base on what I see on TV or read online, I wonder: Is it really so bad? Judging by the comments on Yahoo! News, America is ruled by an "African born Muslim who is an anti American racist, that can't run the country and needs to be imprisoned, if not executed". That's scary. How can someone in their mind really believe such things? Or am I making too much of it?

What I'm reading these days is a total opposite of what I was reading in 2008. America, what happened? Hope my American followers can enlighten me on this. But please, explain to me why are there more and more racist comments online on Obama. Or is my impression completely wrong?

[Read the COMMENTS by thorswitch][Screen caps: Yahoo! News]

Lady Gaga was waving the Slovenian flag!

Croats were baffled, while Slovenians cheered

Lady Gaga loves Slovenia! Well, she probably does not. But that's what Slovenian netizens think today. She had a concert yesterday in Zagreb, in the capital city of our neighboring country Croatia. Since Zagreb is so close to Slovenia, a lot of our people also went to the concert. But the crowd was not only full of Croats and Slovenians, there were many Italians, Austrians and Hungarians, she attracted people from all over the region. Well, the concert would not be so noteworthy, if there wasn't an incident, that left the Croatian fans baffled and the Slovenian fans stunned. A Slovenian female fan, who wrote on the flag "Italian girl from New York, my only love" for her (see here), threw it on stage and Gaga picked it up. She wrapped herself in the flag and continued dancing and singing, but dropped it few seconds later (so it was like nothing...) But those photos are now all over the web. You can imagine that many Croats weren't amused, especially because the relations between our countries have been strained for the past 20 years, but especially in the recent years, when a border dispute (read here) heated up like never before. Slovenian and Croatian netizens constantly provoke each other online, they come to our forums, we come to theirs. Our languages are pretty similar and it's not hard to learn few phrases and go to the opposite forum and be a jerk. And today the provocations continued. Croats were bitter, some angry at Lady Gaga and wondering, if she did that on purpose, while our Slovenians were overly proud and full of silly remarks.

Can't we all just take a chill pill and relax? She probably had no clue which country's flag that was, nor did she care, if she'll upset anyone. She didn't mean to offend Croats, nor did she express love for Slovenia. I hope those Slovenians, who are now full of national pride, would be fine, if she waved a Croatian flag in Ljubljana and I hope that those Croats, who are now offended, would be equally critical, if their flag would be waved in Slovenia. But I'm afraid both sides would react the same, just the roles would be exchanged...

How would you feel, if a singer waved a flag of a foreign country on a concert in your country?

[Read my posts about SLOVENIA][Photo source: Večernji.hr]

Singapore: My second Asian destination

How I ended up living in Singapore in 2005

If my first trip to Singapore in January 2005 was merely a vacation between two semesters, my second trip in October 2005 was supposed to be much more than that. In Slovenia the last year of your studies is reserved for writing your thesis and many people don't do just that. The year is long and there's plenty of time for other things such as work, travel or volunteer. And since I was so impressed with Singapore and I had someone there, I decided to find a job or internship for at least 6 months, which I hoped would be a great experience for me and beneficial for my further career. And an opportunity presented itself: I met someone, who said he will provide me a job.

First meeting with the agent

I was introduced to a Malay man, who supposedly helps foreign students getting a job or internship in Singapore for a fee. I guess we were naive and trusted that man blindly, because he was full of promises and showed a lot of effort only during the first meeting, where he expected to claim his fee. He made a good impression on me, we met in a big shopping mall, it was probably Suntec city, where we sat down and talked. He was visibly a practicing Muslim, which was comforting for me at that time, because I feel, if someone is so religious, he will not only abide be the rules of his faith, but also try his best to help this young student from Slovenia. It was so hot that day, but I saw he was very thirsty. However, he told me, that he's not allowed to drink before dusk, because it was Ramadan. Our conversation was short and he tried his best to hint, that he came to collect his fee. Since I had no ideas about how these things work in Singapore (all I knew is that money's number 1 concern), I paid the fee for an exchange of promises, who would later turn out to be empty.

The HDB block in Tampines, where I used to live.

The weird apartment owner

I lived in the same apartment I used to stay during my three weeks in January. I only rented a room like last time (signed a contract, paid my fees). The owner, a young Chinese guy, was living there with me, in the rest of the apartment, which was pretty small. I had the keys to the main door and my room, where he didn't have access. But I had to pass through his living room to come to my room. I have to say, he was a weird guy. Sometimes I greeted him and he just stared at me. He never spoke to me directly. If he had something to discuss, he would call the agent and the agent would contact me. Of course I did not cause any problems, I paid my rent always on time and lived my life quietly. Probably the weirdest thing that ever happened to me was when we accidentally had to leave the apartment at the same time. I didn't know that he's already at the main door, trying to unlock it, when I was locking the door of my room. I say hi, but he doesn't even reply. And guess what? He locked the door back in front of pretending I'm not there! Can you imagine that? We stood like 1m apart from each other and he did that. That was the ultimate weirdo moment.

I used to walk here a lot, it was a small walkway from Tampines to Simei.

Bridge over the highway in Tampines.

They paved the way from the Tampines Mall to my home. I walked here daily.

I started to become bitter

As the day passed by, I became more and more bitter. I was only allowed to stay 30 days in Singapore (with the possibility of extension for another 60), so I hoped I will get a job very soon. That agent said my job is guaranteed, before I came. I was so naive, I know. Interestingly, when he claimed the fee (was around 350SGD, around 150 Eur at that time), his efforts massively decreased. I called him many times, but he didn't answer. A week passed and sometimes he would just send me an SMS with an excuse. After two weeks passed and I became massively nervous and angry, we decided to stop being polite and threaten him by going to the police. That seemed to scare him and in a day he said I have an interview. Guess where? In the Goethe Institute, a German cultural institution, that promotes cultural exchange and the learning of the German language abroad. I wasn't really happy about it, because I had no idea what awaits me. But I gave it a try.

The odd interview experience

I was told to have my interview at 4 pm, where he would introduce me to the interviewer. The institute was located somewhere near Orchard road. I came there all elegantly dressed and 15min before the supposed interview. Guess what? He was 30min late! He came all sweaty and confused, talked like an old granny, but didn't tell anything, that would make me feel reassured. And then the biggest joke: The institute didn't look for an intern at all, they didn't even know why he came and what he wants. Probably my second weirdest moment ever. He talked and talked about me and how I'm good and German and what not, but I saw the lady wasn't interested. She was just polite and let him speak. She soon told us, that they're have no vacancies at the moment. We briefly spoke in German and I told her that the man next to me promised me a job and brought me here saying you have a job to offer. She felt bad for me, but couldn't help me at all. I left saddened and angry. He promised to bring me to more interviews, but I totally lost confidence in him. And actually, I never saw him again after this blunder. He disappeared.

Another blunder at the Singaporean police station

So we decided to go to the police, because I was so angry, that he cheated me. That was another adventure, I tell you. The police station was located at Orchard road. The person I was with, she was a Singaporean, did all the talking, explained the whole story and the woman was typing everything in the computer. Although everything seemed so simple to us, she typed so slowly and asked 100 questions. We had his name and we had a business card with the address of an office, that didn't exist. He just used someone else's address and posed as his own. About 1h and a half passed, I was nearly melting in my chair. Policemen came and go, the woman that worked on our case, was also busy with other stuff. And then, when we were nearly finished... guess what happened? She accidentally deleted the whole fine -_- FML! I saw that, because she was fumbling around and her reaction was very telling, but she pretended everything's fine. But we had to retell the whole story again and she started to type the whole thing from scratch. We sat there nearly 3h, but the biggest joke was: Nothing happened! Nothing! Not that day, not a week later, when we checked the progress. I guess they just put my case in a drawer and continued sitting around doing nothing. Singapore has a very low crime rate and I've never seen policemen so laid back like in Singapore.

I gave up! That was it for me

And after all that I said to myself: That's it! I don't care anymore! The first month was so stressful for me, I was totally not enjoying my stay in Singapore, because I have expected something completely different. But I'm the type who is at first greatly disappointed, but after my emotions settle, I try to find something positive in every situation. So I said to myself, I will

try to make the best of it. Screw the agent, screw the police, I will do things my way. I extended my stay at the immigration for another 30 days (and later for another 30) and lived my life normally. My savings were nearly gone, but I had her, who helped me a lot and I'm grateful to her until this very day. You have to know, money goes out of your wallet very fast in Singapore and at that time I was just a poor student, who used his savings for this trip. The air ticket was expensive, then came the fee for the cheating agent, then a fee for the real estate agent and a rent in advance plus the normal rent... and add to that transportation, food and other small expenses and money is gone pretty quickly.

The first two weeks after the agent blunder I took a rest from everything and went to shopping malls, explored Singapore, lived a daily (boring) life.

This is the shopping mall in Simei, where I used to frequent.

Simei mall in November 2005.

All shopping malls in Singapore have a similar look and concept.

My Hari raya experience

Then came Hari raya (the Malay celebration day at the end of the Muslim fasting month Ramadan) and I was invited to join in the festivities, which were basically family gatherings and visits with a lot of food and chatter. I mostly had fun, although I was the only white non-Muslim person at the table. The food was really yummy and abundant, Malays are famous for being very hospitable. I probably had eaten more during that time than any other time in Singapore. But there were some moments, where I felt uncomfortable. A group of Malay men (all in baju) asked me to join them at the table and they questioned me about various things, where I come from, how's life in my country. That was all fun, until one of them started to make fun of my (for them) big nose. I don't like taunts that target someone's ethnic particularity such as the supposed "long nose" of White people or the supposed "small eyes" of East Asians. From what they said, I had the feeling that they were full of stereotypical thinking about Whites in general. I just smiled, nodded, but felt very uncomfortable in that moment. But all in all, it was a fun time. It was one of those times, where I really got to know the Malay culture in Singapore from the inside. It gave me a lot of food for thought in 2006, when I was long departed from the city state.

Malays bake many cookies before hari raya, they're meant for visitors.

I spent a lot of time in Suntec city in the big shopping mall.

Inside Suntec city mall.

The Heeren, a mall in Orchard road I really liked.


What Singapore meant for me

In 2005 I got the chance to catch a glimpse of how another nation lives. Prior to 2005, I've only been to some European countries and briefly in Tunisia. But I have never stayed 3 months outside Slovenia before and I've never been so far from home. That itself was one of the best experiences I ever had. I grew up. I changed. Suddenly I was that guy who travels far, who goes alone (although I had someone there), who puts on his backpack and leaves. I realized that traveling is what makes me happy, that exploring cultures, that are so far and so different, is something I want to do all my life. I was infected with the travel virus. And although I initially thought, that I will settle in Singapore, I realized a year later, that this is not where I'll find my luck. Fate led me to Malaysia in 2007 and 2008, but that's a long story for another post.

How I saw Singapore and Singaporeans

I have no idea, how Singaporeans saw me. Some saw me as that white guy, who lives in the same HDB block and wondered, why is that so, since most Singaporeans thing "all White people are rich" and should therefore live in condos. Maybe that stereotype cost me few more cents, because sometimes my food was charged more than it cost for the locals, probably because of the color of my skin. That upset me at that time, but now I can only smile. It also upset me, when a kid and her mum laughed at my nose (yep, they pointed at it). I'm fine, if kids do that, but grown ups? Come on... Yeah, there were definitely many things that made an impression on me during my time in Singapore, good and bad.

Singapore is very crowded, you always have the feeling that you're living in a big city, rather than in a small country, even if Singapore is both. I've met totally friendly awesome Singaporeans, but I've also encountered weird people, like a Chinese uncle on the street, who started to yell at me for no reason. I'm happy I didn't understand him. We all base our opinion on the things we see and encounter. For me, Singapore is a fine place (no pun intended), but there is a lot of room for improvement. A lot. And I'll leave that to Singaporeans, I'm sure there's a lot of people, who will bring about change to the way things are done there. There are two types of Singaporeans: The well-traveled cosmopolitan ones, who usually worked and studied abroad and the ones, that seldom leave the state, live in their HDB reality most of their life and don't see outside the bubble.

What I liked and disliked about Singapore

What I love about Singapore is the efficiency, the convenience for everything, be it food, shopping, transportation, everything works fine (again no pun intended). But sometimes I felt Singaporeans lack a human touch or a human approach. Give Singaporeans a plan and they'll do a perfect job. Tell them to be spontaneous and they will suddenly be lost. Well, that's not the case for every Singaporean of course, but there's some truth in it. The economic and social situation is not as good as the government wants to portray it, I've seen too many Singaporeans work like crazy for meager wages. And the race relations are not as good as Singapore advertises them (some Malays feel they can't make the same career as the Chinese), although I have to say in Malaysia they're worse (if that's anything to be proud of is another question).

I have to say that was 2005. A lot has changed in the recent 5 years, so I'm not sure how up to date my assessment is, but I'm sure those who know Singapore, will find some truth in it.

Chinese styled post-modern hotels at Orchard road, Singapore's main shopping area.

I didn't do much sightseeing during my 2nd stay in Singapore.

I went to the Merlion park, because I forgot to see it the first time.

The Swissôtel The Stamford, the tallest hotel in Singapore. I went up there.

It was tons of fun to see Singapore from above, fond memories.

I also went to Sentosa few times. This was in December 2005.

A small island near Siloso beach, Sentosa.

A day before leaving. All my things nearly packed.

I had my struggles when I returned

I have to say it wasn't easy to leave. After 3 months you just start to adapt to life, you start to mingle, you start to see yourself as part of the locals, not a visitor. But then you have to leave and start over again. I came home before new year 2006 and it was really hard. Not only did we have snow and almost 40 degrees less than Singapore, it was also a big change of life, I had to get used to the Slovenian food and people. From a big hot city into a cold snowy countryside in Slovenia is a huge changed. I struggled. I was disappointed in a way, but still happy that I could have this experience. 2005 transformed me into a traveler, Singapore made me interested in Asia and that's why it will always have a special place in my heart. I returned to Singapore in December 2008, but only for 2 days and everything felt different. At that time I came as a visitor from Malaysia, my heart and mind were there, Singapore was just a destination for a short trip and nothing more.

That was the last time I visited her.

[My SINGAPORE page][All pics by MKL 2005]

Dr. Peter Bossman, first black mayor in Slovenia

And what does that mean for Slovenia

ALERT: Please watch Peter Bossman on CNN tomorrow 12.30 CET. A pic>>

Dr. Peter Bossman (born 1955 in Ghana) was yesterday elected as the first black mayor in Slovenia. He is now the mayor of Piran, one of Slovenia's most beautiful towns and top tourist destinations. And no, it's not his cool family name, that made his victory so special, it's the fact, that he's not of Slovenian descent and that he's black. Both facts are something new in Slovenia and many Slovenians outside Piran have never heard about him until this year's mayoral elections. And symbolically it's also a big deal for this part of Europe. How many black mayors do you know in Austria, Germany or Poland? I guess not many... if any.

Check also reactions from Slovenians>>

✰ There are not many non-white people in Slovenia

The thing about Slovenia is, that we're a very small country, but very diverse. Every region has its own distinctive dialect, way of life and history. And we're a pretty young sovereign state, few months short of 20 years. And who knows Slovenia anyway? We're constantly mistaken for Slovakia or we're not known at all. And I guess that's the reason that Slovenia is not one of the hot spots for foreign immigrants. It's interesting, but you will hardly find people of any other race than white in Slovenia. There are few Chinese, who usually run restaurants with Chinese food. I guess they will be found in almost any bigger and smaller town (but usually one or two families), but when it comes to Africans, Arabs, Turks or Filipinos (ethnic groups that are commonly emigrating), you will have a hard time finding some in Slovenia. Maybe in recent years foreign influx has slightly increased in Slovenia, but it's hardly visible on our streets. Those who Slovenians perceive as foreigners, came from the former Yugoslav brethren nations such as Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia. There are also many Albanians here as well as Roma (Romani people or commonly "gypsies"), who are an ethnic group with a special status in Slovenia and there are also many issues related to them.

✰ How mistrust in foreigners is connected to Slovenian history

So in these circumstances it's of course something new for a Slovenian municipality to elect a black mayor. Of course there is a lot of racism and stereotypical thinking about foreigners here. Some is the same as found in other Western countries, but some is the result of the painful Slovenian history. We were 8 centuries under Austria, partly under Italy and Hungary and even under France for a brief period. We endured two world wars, where many of our countrymen were executed just for being Slovenians. Many Slovenians immigrated, many were Germanized and Italianized. For centuries we had to struggle to preserve our own language and identity. When other Western nations had their first states in the 18th or 19th century, we had to wait until 1991 to be a fully independent and internationally recognized state. Don't misunderstand, I do not want to condone any racism or stereotypical thinking, I just want to explain the reasons to you. History is always present in the minds of Slovenians and every time there are elections, we start to argue about who was pro-communist and who was anti-communist in 1945 and beyond, because we have two blocks (left and right wing), who exploit these sentiments every time we have parliamentary or presidential elections. Most of it is fought out in the media, but more so online. Stupid comments and provocations on both sides are the norm, but I think that's gradually changing.

✰ Left-right online wars peaked in 2008

The peak of these left-right online wars was reached in 2008, where the (at that time incumbent) right-wing government lead by Janez Janša lost the elections by a very small margin. If you had read the online comments at that time, you'd feel like Slovenia was back in 1942 in peak World War II. I must say I really felt uncomfortable during that time, sometimes it was unbearable. It was better to avoid forums and online news and the comments. Two years later and things have changed a lot in Slovenia. Basically now most Slovenians would say everyone sucks. Be it the right wing or the left wing government, they're all corrupt or incapable of leading this nation out of the recession. Slovenians are bitter in 2010. Very bitter and angry, not only at the politicians, but also at business magnates, that (at least according to the media) run this country. There were many layoffs in factories and a lot of general strikes lately, which gives the impression to the average Slovenian that the economy is in shambles. Now it's probably not a big surprise to you that people are sick of the usual nonsense from the politicians, they want serious solutions to important (usually existential) problems. And these exceed class, race and political preference. Basically we feel we're all screwed in this country. And we don't see a light at the end of the tunnel.

✰ 2010 is the year of change for Slovenians

So it's no wonder that the 2010 mayoral elections in Slovenia brought big change in voters' behavior. People now really read the political programs and try to give their votes to people who are not ideologues and to those who seem honest and don't spew the usual BS and most importantly who can get things done. No wonder that one of the richest men in Slovenia, Zoran Janković, who was mayor of Ljubljana from 2006-2010, was reelected. He was reelected, because he got things done. He transformed Ljubljana visibly, something that the mayors before him did not manage to achieve. And he's not even in a party, he has his own list and that's it. And he did not become one of the richest men in Slovenia by luck, he was the CEO of Mercator, a Slovenian supermarket chain comparable to the Dutch Spar (or Walmart in USA). Something similar happened in many other municipalities, people elected mayors who either did something good for their community or they replaced the old ones with people who have fresh ideas and solutions for the future. And that's where Peter Bossman comes in.

✰ And then came Dr. Peter Bossman

He was not known in Slovenia, but he was known in the municipality of Piran. He worked there as a doctor. Before he started his campaign he even had his own private practice. And judging from the opinions of his patients, he was a good doctor. He came to Slovenia (at that time under Yugoslavia) as a student from Ghana in 1977, eventually stayed here, became a physician and started a family. In the past years he was already a member of the Piran town council, which gave him some political experience.

And then came his campaign two months ago and suddenly his name was raised to a national level. Many people were surprised, that there's a candidate of African descent, who wants to be the mayor of one of our towns, but most people thought he does not stand a chance to win. Well, the people of Piran disagreed with that notion and gave the most votes to Dr. Peter Bossman and a small sensation was made in this country. But two things surprised me: The campaign was not about his race and also most reactions were not racist. Sure, there were and are many racist comments online, but we need to put things in perspective. And there were people from Piran saying on TV that they won't vote for him, because he's black. But there were also people, who said he's a good doctor and an honest person and that they trust him enough to be in charge of their town. In the end he won, because people thought of his program and ideas for Piran's future were good and he deserves a chance. He did not win, because of the color of his skin. Most critics attacked his inexperience and the fact, that he's not very fluent in Slovenian. The racist were in a vast minority. And I think that was a small step forward to Slovenia. I'd say a tiny step. You can't take Bossman's victory as a sign of big change in Slovenia, be it in the way we elect mayors or politicians in general, be it how we see foreigners, especially those that belong to a different race. Piran is after all a very small municipality with its specific problems that are not common in other parts of Slovenia. Interestingly, the media gave Dr. Peter Bossman the nickname "Slovenian Obama", which I think is totally ridiculous.

✰ Why is he not the Slovenian Obama

America has a very specific history of race relations, especially between Blacks and Whites. Peter Bossman just happens to be an immigrant from Africa, who came to Slovenia in pursuit of happiness, Obama on the other hand was (and partly still is) the hope of the people, whose forefathers were brought to America as Slaves and were abused, mistreated and humiliated for centuries. Obama's victory in 2008 showed that Americans can move forward, but his election was at the same time the start of a whole movement, that does not want to see a perceived liberal (actually centrist), Muslim (actually Christian), Black (actually biracial) president. What I read in certain comments on articles about Obama is truly scary. I have never read so many racist comments on American websites like in 2010 and I'm not sure, why that's ok to do in America these days. I really hope that Bossman won't have this type of negative reactions after he had served some time as a mayor of Piran. Lucky for him, he will never be a Slovenian Obama. He will always be Dr. Peter Bossman, the mayor of Piran 2010-2014.

✰ Let's stop seeing the color of his skin

Let's give the man a chance to prove himself. And let the people of Piran judge him in 2014. If he did a good job, he will be reelected, if he decides to run again. If he did a bad job, there will be candidates, who will challenge him in 2014. May the best win. And hopefully Piran will win a better future. Keep in mind, it's not about him being black or a good doctor. It's about him being a good mayor and doing good things for the municipality. And yes, he has the right to fail, he has the right to do a bad job and people have the right to criticize him. But please, just please, stop comparing him with Obama or mentioning the fact that he's black over and over again. From now on he's the mayor of Piran and only that should count. I always say, that I don't see colors, I see people. And those of you, who still see the color of his skin, rinse your eyes with pure water, look again and you might see the person. If it doesn't work, try harder. Eventually you can do it. You can. Yes, we all can. Good luck to Dr. Peter Bossman.

Ps: I only hope that Piran will benefit from recent international publicity about "the first black mayor in Slovenia". It's amazing, how the news have spread all over the world today.

Related: [My PIRAN post][Photos of Bosmann's victory/24ur]

Additional post: [Reactions of Slovenian netizens to Bossman's victory]

[Dr. Peter Bossman and his Slovenian wife (photo)][He's celebrating]

World press: [Slovenia elects its first black mayor/HuffPost]

[Photo and info source: Dr. Peter Bossman's FB page]