One thing that I've learned to hate through my three years in Asia is random people stopping me on the street to say "hello". I understand that this sounds a bit cold and all. I was OK with it, maybe the first 100 times. But after three years I now internally cringe every time I hear the familiar "Hao-lo," shouted out by some strange old person who I've never seen before. I have now coined the term Hao-lo harassment (When Chinese speakers attempt to say hello it can often sound like hao-lo).
China was by far the worst, where it was impossible to walk down the street without 20 Chinese people popping up out of nowhere to say hello. Being there for one month is probably the cause of my hello phobic. Japan was not as bad, considering how reserved they all are, and I'd probably place Taiwan somewhere in the middle
Now all I can think is no! leave me alone, just let me walk down the street in peace, everyone else can walk home in quietly, why can't I? Another problem I have is that I live in an area where there aren't many foreigners, which makes me more exciting. These days I mentally cope by ignoring them. I hope that if I don't respond they'll stop doing it.
Old people and Children are usually the worst when it comes to speaking English, and staring in general. I don't really have the heart to ignore children and teenagers, but I try my best to shun everyone else.
I understand that it's an attempt to be friendly, but I can't help but think that the only reason they do it is because of the way I look. If I looked Chinese would they do it? It's not like I'm new to Taiwan either, I've been here six months already and I speak their language. I understand that it may look cold, but I'm a girl who lives by herself. I'm already the local neighbourhood foreigner, so it's not wise to attract any unnecessary attention.
Yesterday I was walking home when a car full of old men stopped at the traffic light and waved out "Hao-lo," I quickly glanced at the blankly before continuing on my way. Thinking I'm just going to erase that moment from my mind
Saying hello back also comes with it's own set of risks. It's usually leads to questions such as "Where are you from, where do you work, come eat food with me, why are you running away?"
Late one night I was walking home when a man sitting on a scooter said hello to me. I thought that he may have been someone that I work with, so I stopped to talk to him (recently I've had people I know said they saw me and said hello, but I didn't say anything back). But his following question was "What's your name?" to which my first thought was shit I don't know this guy. I then decided that maybe it was best to get out of there, but he began to follow me on his scooter, yelling things such as "Where are you from, do you want to eat dinner with me?" Sometimes they also yell "This is Taiwan, it's safe here!"
Right, if you say so.
On the subject of Taiwanese people trying to speak English, the other day I went into my local convenience store, and I thought the old man at the counter was speaking Taiwanese to me before I realised that he was trying to say sorry.
Of course I've talked about this with many of my foreign friends. Some are a lot nicer than me and at least smile back.
China was by far the worst, where it was impossible to walk down the street without 20 Chinese people popping up out of nowhere to say hello. Being there for one month is probably the cause of my hello phobic. Japan was not as bad, considering how reserved they all are, and I'd probably place Taiwan somewhere in the middle
Now all I can think is no! leave me alone, just let me walk down the street in peace, everyone else can walk home in quietly, why can't I? Another problem I have is that I live in an area where there aren't many foreigners, which makes me more exciting. These days I mentally cope by ignoring them. I hope that if I don't respond they'll stop doing it.
Old people and Children are usually the worst when it comes to speaking English, and staring in general. I don't really have the heart to ignore children and teenagers, but I try my best to shun everyone else.
I understand that it's an attempt to be friendly, but I can't help but think that the only reason they do it is because of the way I look. If I looked Chinese would they do it? It's not like I'm new to Taiwan either, I've been here six months already and I speak their language. I understand that it may look cold, but I'm a girl who lives by herself. I'm already the local neighbourhood foreigner, so it's not wise to attract any unnecessary attention.
Yesterday I was walking home when a car full of old men stopped at the traffic light and waved out "Hao-lo," I quickly glanced at the blankly before continuing on my way. Thinking I'm just going to erase that moment from my mind
Saying hello back also comes with it's own set of risks. It's usually leads to questions such as "Where are you from, where do you work, come eat food with me, why are you running away?"
Late one night I was walking home when a man sitting on a scooter said hello to me. I thought that he may have been someone that I work with, so I stopped to talk to him (recently I've had people I know said they saw me and said hello, but I didn't say anything back). But his following question was "What's your name?" to which my first thought was shit I don't know this guy. I then decided that maybe it was best to get out of there, but he began to follow me on his scooter, yelling things such as "Where are you from, do you want to eat dinner with me?" Sometimes they also yell "This is Taiwan, it's safe here!"
Right, if you say so.
On the subject of Taiwanese people trying to speak English, the other day I went into my local convenience store, and I thought the old man at the counter was speaking Taiwanese to me before I realised that he was trying to say sorry.
Of course I've talked about this with many of my foreign friends. Some are a lot nicer than me and at least smile back.
No comments:
Post a Comment