New to Taiwan, new culture

Two weeks ago I arrived in Taiwan after a long, 30 hours of travel. Having never been to Asia, or even away in another country for more than several weeks, I had spent the previous weeks preparing to experience a large culture shock. Right away I noticed some small differences, but over a couple weeks I am beginning to realize some larger cultural differences. After my two months in Taiwan I would like to reflect on this piece and see if my opinions are still the same. I think the largest difference I have noticed so far is the difference between the two countries organization and structure.

I feel that Canadians really take comfort in structure and organization, and we take the large amount of space we have for granted. For example, the driving is very different and almost hectic in Taiwan compared to Canada, but it works (very well!).

In Canada we stick to our lanes with plenty of room in between, our sidewalks are empty except for pedestrians, and there are no scooters zooming around your car; we drive very defensively and become aggravated when someone doesn't follow the rules. But in Taiwan, everyone is paying attention and lanes sometimes don't matter, but there is rarely road rage. I feel that drivers in Taiwan occupy as much space as possible in the road at all times (scooters will fit where cars cannot), allowing for more efficient transportation as more people can fit on the road at that time (however disorganized it is). This could be one of the reasons why Canada has such bad traffic, we don't efficiently use our large amount of space! 

Another friend I had met in Taipei had jokingly described it as orderly chaos, which I actually believe is accurate when compared to Canadian traffic.

I like the way everything is structured here though; people walk more because everything is closer as compared to Canada. They don’t get angry over simple or trivial things, such as traffic. Their restaurants extend all the way to the sidewalk, and people weave between storefront (which makes a walk very interesting and enjoyable). They even allow bikes to ride on the sidewalk! This kind of system makes for efficient travel, at the cost of less organization.

One more large cultural difference is the way that people spend their money and socialize. Eating at restaurants in Taiwan is a lot more common; people eat out much more often, maybe even every day.

It seems Taiwanese socialize by eating at restaurants, and dislike cooking. The food in Taiwan is much cheaper than in Canada, allowing them to spend time at a dinner table as opposed to hanging out in a mall, spending money on entertainment or amusement (such as a movie or coffee), or drinking at a house. In my opinion Canadians seem much more materialistic, possibly because they have more room to own objects, but also because purchasing objects is cheaper than eating dinner together.

We will see if I still think the same in a few weeks!