tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321329750397667796.post1278954937892536254..comments2024-03-26T19:47:09.310+08:00Comments on Lao Ren Cha - 老人茶: Yes, I Can Use Chopsticks: A RebuttalJenna Lynn Codyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04032277820150000198noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321329750397667796.post-13564840598976424522012-05-20T15:59:31.431+08:002012-05-20T15:59:31.431+08:00I am definitely NOT the prickly type who is lookin...I am definitely NOT the prickly type who is looking to identify cultural transgressions. When I am living and working in a foreign country, I am trying my best to blend in and disappear ...which admittedly is much easier in some places than others. But I admit that my interests in history and culture do make me curious about the way people react to me. <br /><br />Another reason for my curiosity John Scottnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321329750397667796.post-36357693481161593662012-05-20T11:06:26.986+08:002012-05-20T11:06:26.986+08:00John - the thing is, I really don't think it&#...John - the thing is, I really don't think it's a phenomenon. With one possible exception: it might happen to Western men more than it does to Western women, and it gets so much press because 1.) the men notice it and 2.) there are more foreign men than women in Asia. I could see how someone might find a Western woman less 'threatening' than a man and therefore be fine sitting nextJenna Lynn Codyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04032277820150000198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321329750397667796.post-61454355521689571882012-05-20T03:48:06.427+08:002012-05-20T03:48:06.427+08:00This is one of the best articles I've read rec...This is one of the best articles I've read recently. I definitely need to bookmark it to use it as a quote for some of my future posts. Big thumbs up from me. I agree 100%.TGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15796150972580581810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321329750397667796.post-74690158556439171232012-05-20T01:11:16.687+08:002012-05-20T01:11:16.687+08:00"Micro-aggressions"? Oh, no-- another tr..."Micro-aggressions"? Oh, no-- another trendy pop-psychology term that I need to add to my vocabulary? :)<br /><br />The empty-seat-on-the-bus/MRT "thing" (sure it's not a phenomenon?) has happened to me many times in Taiwan. Is it my fault? Perhaps you are right, because I am quite tall and have a beard, and am obviously of European ancestry.<br /><br />But it doesn'tJohn Scottnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321329750397667796.post-79039314192962333952012-05-15T22:49:35.991+08:002012-05-15T22:49:35.991+08:00I live in downtown Taipei too and rarely get asked...I live in downtown Taipei too and rarely get asked *in* Taipei about my chopstick use - but I often work in places like Tucheng Industrial Park, Wugu Industrial Park, Hsinchu Science Park, Taoyuan County (and occasionally downtown or Xinyi) and I get asked all the time in those non-central places where one rarely encounters foreigners, and when you do, they're usually visiting on business Jenna Lynn Codyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04032277820150000198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321329750397667796.post-62065468551577308662012-05-15T21:42:27.694+08:002012-05-15T21:42:27.694+08:00Oh, now I am beginning to worry that there is some...Oh, now I am beginning to worry that there is something wrong with me! No-one ever asks me if I can use chopsticks. Maybe this is because I live and work in downtown Taipei, and people will notice you are a foreigner but try so hard to be cool and cosmopolitan about it. And I have noticed similarly that other foreigners tend to avoid eye contact with each other, presumably because they want toTaiwanxifuhttp://www.taiwanxifu.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6321329750397667796.post-52019999564061420682012-05-14T00:29:27.597+08:002012-05-14T00:29:27.597+08:00See, if I ever actually got 'Can you use chops...See, if I ever actually got 'Can you use chopsticks?' here in Taiwan I'd naturally assume that I was being involved (against my will) in a piece of performance art concerning interactions between Asians and Westerners. And I would respond that I was uninterested in playing that role, I have my own life to live, sorry.<br /><br />But that leads into one point I want to make: people in Brendanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00847368266562961223noreply@blogger.com