What I don't like about Taiwan/What I miss most from home
We've been here for over a month now, so I thought I'd post what I don't like here and what I miss most from home (besides family and friends as the obvious!):
What I don't like about Taiwan:
1. The smog/hot, humid days here
2. Uneven sidewalks - not fun with a stroller and a 3 year old who doesn't watch where she walks
3. No shoes in my size - largest womens size is an 8, maybe 8.5 US
4. Hard to find clothes in my size - usually only carry up to size L, which just barely fits here, and I know I haven't gained that much weight eating at McDonalds :)
5. Having no car to just drive around the city in, having to rely on cabs/MRT all the time
6. How rude people can be - we've been pushed, shoved, ignored - it's amazing some people can't seem to see a stroller coming right at them
7. The smells - the food, the people and the cabs. Many people here aren't into personal hygiene and it can be quite nasty to the nose and some cabs just smell awful.
8. The bathrooms - many women here squat over regular seat toilets and make a mess on the seat, it's pretty gross. Many places also won't let you flush the toilet paper down, it goes into bins and if not properly cleaned hourly, it builds up and smells nasty and looks gross since for some reason, women seem to miss the trash bin and it ends up on the floor - UGH!
9. Sometimes, not knowing what I'm ordering to eat since I can't read Chinese yet and they often don't have things translated into English (this is completely my fault because I've been lazy and haven't kept up my lessons on my own)
10. The apartment rental situation - seems every agent works with his own landlords/buildings, so you have to find the right agent to look at the right apartments in certain areas - no central database of apartment listings, very frustrating. And, some landlords will charge more for rental to a company than to an individual - which is our situation. And other landlords won't even rent to a company at all. Sucks! And it's CRAZY expensive for small places.
What I miss most, so far:
1. Super Target - I used to go there at least once a week, oh, I miss it! But our bank account sure is liking it :)
2. Chuy's - mmmm, I really could use some good Tex-Mex food
3. Outback salads with Ranch dressing - they don't use Ranch over here and I've yet to find a salad as good as the Outback or even similar. We did find some Garlic Ranch dressing in the supermarket, but have yet to actually try it.
4. Fresh Cool Air without the "city" smell to it
5. The Weather Radar Channel!!!
What I don't like about Taiwan:
1. The smog/hot, humid days here
2. Uneven sidewalks - not fun with a stroller and a 3 year old who doesn't watch where she walks
3. No shoes in my size - largest womens size is an 8, maybe 8.5 US
4. Hard to find clothes in my size - usually only carry up to size L, which just barely fits here, and I know I haven't gained that much weight eating at McDonalds :)
5. Having no car to just drive around the city in, having to rely on cabs/MRT all the time
6. How rude people can be - we've been pushed, shoved, ignored - it's amazing some people can't seem to see a stroller coming right at them
7. The smells - the food, the people and the cabs. Many people here aren't into personal hygiene and it can be quite nasty to the nose and some cabs just smell awful.
8. The bathrooms - many women here squat over regular seat toilets and make a mess on the seat, it's pretty gross. Many places also won't let you flush the toilet paper down, it goes into bins and if not properly cleaned hourly, it builds up and smells nasty and looks gross since for some reason, women seem to miss the trash bin and it ends up on the floor - UGH!
9. Sometimes, not knowing what I'm ordering to eat since I can't read Chinese yet and they often don't have things translated into English (this is completely my fault because I've been lazy and haven't kept up my lessons on my own)
10. The apartment rental situation - seems every agent works with his own landlords/buildings, so you have to find the right agent to look at the right apartments in certain areas - no central database of apartment listings, very frustrating. And, some landlords will charge more for rental to a company than to an individual - which is our situation. And other landlords won't even rent to a company at all. Sucks! And it's CRAZY expensive for small places.
What I miss most, so far:
1. Super Target - I used to go there at least once a week, oh, I miss it! But our bank account sure is liking it :)
2. Chuy's - mmmm, I really could use some good Tex-Mex food
3. Outback salads with Ranch dressing - they don't use Ranch over here and I've yet to find a salad as good as the Outback or even similar. We did find some Garlic Ranch dressing in the supermarket, but have yet to actually try it.
4. Fresh Cool Air without the "city" smell to it
5. The Weather Radar Channel!!!
posted by The Armstrongs at
9/01/2004
