Could my laxness possibly be owing to my gradual adaption to the Taiwanese culture? I am absolutely not trying to say that the Taiwanese are a neglectful people, as this is most definitely not the case. Quite the contrary, they are probably one of the most hardworking nations in the world. If I have the time, I will attempt a little analysis of their industriousness, the motives and the implications.
The reason why I am a little sluggish during my last days here in Taiwan after finally settling in probably lies in the different perception of time.
I have discovered that while I keep track of the time non-stop around the clock trying to plan in advance and making sure to be punctual, this concept is apparently completely strange to Taiwanese people. To them, time schedules, deadlines and the like seem to be but mere landmarks. Consequently, virtually all buses and trains are late, appointment times turn out to be very flexible and all times given in general are not reliable.
Trying for almost two months to get used to this system and assimilate has left me hanging somewhere in between these two ideas of time and time management, I assume, resulting in my current half-heartedness concerning time.
Collective disrespect of certain general agreements indeed seems to be a recurring scheme and a distinctive characteristic of Taiwanese culture.
For instance, although Taiwan in theory for sure subjects traffic to comprehensive rules, everybody obviously makes disobeying these a virtue. Speeding, cutting corners sharply and carelessly, aggressive driving and, I guess much to your surprise now, traffic accidents are very common.
In nine weeks that I have mostly spent on the farm far away from any traffic, I have witnessed four traffic accidents on different occasions. Believe it or not, that is twice the number of accidents I have witnessed in my whole life in Germany and Japan.
Actually, I have the feeling that these two examples, time and traffic, are symptoms of another general trait of the Taiwanese spirit: a slight indiscretion with details and planning.
I mean, knowing that they are bad with directions (and most are) and aware of the fact, that passers-by also err quite often when asked for directions, why take notes beforehand so there will be no problem at all? I cannot fight the impression that it is their mentality dictating them to skip the planning and just go for the good.
It catches me off-guard every time this leads to complications and never fails to irritate me. But this also makes them so refreshingly spontaneous! While I focus on one single plan and am left completely clueless how to continue when it fails, they always come up with many alternatives. It is really admirable!
While I admire their spontaneity, many Taiwanese seem to have developed an obsession with German thoroughness, particularly manufactured goods and certain consumer goods from Germany. Their love of German cars, although they are horribly overpriced also due to protectionist import duties, they share with many other nations. Sadly, many of them have to realise this is no good topic to chat about with me - for some mysterious reason, I have never developed as high an interest in cars as many of my fellow male individuals.
Furthermore, they highly praise China Oil, an all-round home remedy to cure headache, colds, muscle soreness and many more. Yes, China Oil. A product named after the country of origin of the main ingredient, developed and produced in Germany, and now sold in China and Taiwan under this very name.
But the most astonishing thing I found is this: German-style bread is becoming increasingly popular. Take a look at the picture.
The characters in red font translate to "Mr Mark Bread Shop - European-style Bread Master" and the single sentence in Roman letters is German: "Natural health through selected ingredients".
This was so funny, when I first saw it, especially because the slightly weird sounding German term "natürliche Gesundheit" (natural health) immediately evoked within me associations with certain natural medical treatments of questionable nature and success - mostly regarded as eyewash in Germany.
Should I tell them? :D
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