Back home I’m an individual, with individual thoughts, individual actions and individual behaviour.

You wouldn’t ask me why that guy over was doing what he was doing, or why she wanted to break up with you, or what sense of satisfaction they got by throwing up all over the sidewalk after a night out.

Why?

Because most likely I’d have no idea. Back home I’m just a guy.

Here in Taiwan, I am Oz – Westerner Extroadinare.

Although only being here in Taiwan a relatively short time I’ve already had more then my fair share of ‘why do westerners ….?’ type questions. They’ve come from different people across different cities so I’m pretty sure at this point it’s going to be a widespread thing.

My first major exposure as a spokesperson for all things west came after I left and then returned to a school I was briefly teaching at.

Originally contracted to substitute for a few weeks on my second last day I helped out with interviewing a new teacher. Two candidates had come from Taichung and I was to engage in chit-chat with them while the headmaster listened in.

I guessed this was to ascertain their level of English proficiency. You know, just incase they came from the other west where nobody speaks English.

After spending approximately an hour with each candidate the headmaster then had a chat with each of them. I had classes to teach so after our chat that was the last I saw of them that day.

Later that night my boss asked me what I thought of the candidates and I attempted to give a very brief rundown from the information I’d gleaned in our very brief chat. During which of course I’d wound up doing more talking then my interviewee. I hadn’t had a chance to flex my English in a proper conversation since arriving in Taiwan subconciously my brain was a little starved.

The following day, my last, I was informed that my boss had chosen one of the teachers and that they’d be arriving that afternoon. I’d already gone through the motions of moving to an unknown smaller town and offered to show the new teacher around the small town before hitting the apartment.

Out of the two candidates my boss had gone with the one with a little bit of private tutoring experience but a quieter voice. I indicated that this probably meant she’d have a harder time controlling classes.

The other teacher had no teaching experience but carried himself a bit more confidently. I felt, that if willing to learn, he was the stronger candidate.

After showing her around that night I gathered up my things and headed back to Taichung. I was eager to get back to a city and had made plans to go out that night. Although cozy, the nightlife in small towns in Taiwan is non-existent.

The day after I left I received a phone call. The teacher hadn’t worked out and the school had asked if I could come back and help out for the week. I kinda saw this coming but hoped everything would work out.

With nothing much to do till my other job started and satisfied after a weekend of alcohol and women I jumped on a bus that Tuesday and headed back.

After arriving at the school the questions began.

They weren’t in the least bit accusing so I don’t want to paint that picture. Moreso I found the questions being asked out of a genuine sense of curiosity.

Questions that, after meeting someone for an hour or so literally had no answers to.

It turned out that the teacher wasn’t really open to taking instruction and had apparently no idea about lesson planning. Then when queried on it was quite rude and well things escalated.

Words were exchanged, etc. etc. you know how it goes.

All this happened in one day.

I’d come to Taiwan with an open mind and took it upon myself to adapt to their culture, be it how they teach, drive or just have day to day conversation. I guess not everyone had come here with the same mindset and with my very limited exposure to other foreigners here (I can count them all on one hand thus far), I didn’t have any concrete answers.

Although I did my best to try and convey that everyone is different and comes with their own life experience and baggage I got the feeling that if I suddenly decided to crack the shits, my boss would probably have the exact same conversation about me to the next foreign teacher that came along.

My second major exposure came shortly after I’d met a girl in a bar. We’d gone back to my hotel and it didn’t take long before she started telling me about a guy she’d been with for the last few months.

She’d broken it off a month or so back but he’d continued to pester her insisting that she take him back. He’d finally left Taiwan to go home for the holidays but was due back in mid January.

She was worried that upon returning he’d put the pressure back on and she’d cave. Admittedly I only heard one side of the story but he seemed to be the jealous type… always checking up on her and getting insanely protective if she talked to any other foreigners.

Back home had this of happened my alarm bells would have gone off and I’d be verbally doing everything I could to get myself the hell of the conversation.

At that moment after two weeks of being attention starved in a small town I was just happy to have the company. So I let her pour her heart out and listened.

Of course it didn’t take long for the life story to turn into Q&A time. On one side of the bed you had the Taiwanese girls burned by foreigners and then on the other, myself representing every foreign guy that had ever come to Taiwan.

Again I couldn’t stress enough that I’d barely been in the country long enough to know anything and that even if I did, getting me to dissect some random guy I’d never met before from a select few relationship stories was kind of pointless.

At 4am lying naked on my bed she wasn’t looking for reasoning or rationality, she just wanted somebody to tell her everything was going to be ok.

I remember staring at my ceiling that night just before I fell asleep. I promised myself whatever happened in Taiwan that, through my own actions, I’d make a conscious effort to avoid putting other foreigners in situations where they’d have to attempt to explain my behaviour.

You aren’t you as a person in Taiwan, you’re just another foreigner who doesn’t quite fit in.

We’re all the same.

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