When I first moved to Taiwan four years ago, I was struck by how gosh darn cute everything was. It’s something that still baffles me, so I thought it’d be fun to make a list of the most endearing things I can think of about this place.
Here’s that list, for your enjoyment: The Top 7 Cutest Things About Taiwan (according to me, a random foreigner).
#7: The unabashed obsession with cartoon characters and kids’ movies.
As a fully grown woman who is ready to give an impassioned speech about the intricacies of Finding Nemo at a moment’s notice, I can appreciate when another adult human isn’t ashamed of their love for animated characters. And boy, in that respect the grown-ups of Taiwan are people after my own heart.
For the woman who originally hired me, it was Snoopy—I can’t remember seeing her without a Snoopy T-shirt or Snoopy socks. I got her some Snoopy stickers for Christmas that year and I think she almost cried.
By now I’m used to seeing cars pass with a little stuffed Woody or Buzz hanging off their tailgate in a nod to that last epic scene in Toy Story. One of our neighbors has wrapped his little white Toyota sedan with the biggest, floweriest Lilo & Stitch decal I’ve ever seen. Once, when I went to the airport, my check-in counter was instantly recognizable as the local airline because it was bright pink and covered in Hello Kitty. And the minions… My God, the minions. They’re everywhere.
In Taiwan, nobody’s afraid to admit their love for all that is soft and cuddly and definitely made for children. Nothing to be self conscious of, apparently, as the consensus seems to be: “If it’s good enough for a five-year-old, it’s good enough for me.” Hell yeah.
#6: Everybody’s an “auntie” or a “grandma” or a “little brother”—even total strangers.
Depending on your age (or at least, your perceived age), you may suddenly find yourself being referred to as a family member by someone you don’t actually know all that well.
Young(ish) women are flatteringly called “little sister,” while older people are respectfully referred to as “grandma” and “grandpa”. I’ve been introduced as “Auntie Rosie” to many of my friends’ kids, and one has even started calling me “Auntie Rainbow”, which you know I can’t help but love.
I don’t know why, but it all seems very endearing to me—like anyone could be your uncle or your grandma or your little sister, and strangers should all care for each other as though they’re really family.
#5: The Taiwan Twins.
Okay, I know that this is a little too much for lots of my fellow wai guo ren (foreigners), and I can totally understand why it might make you cringe… but I still think it’s kinda cute.
Here in Taiwan, it’s not uncommon to see couples (usually young couples, teenage or early 20s) walking around together, holding hands and wearing totally matching outfits. Like, the way your parents make you match clothes with your siblings while you’re still too young to do anything about it.
But this is totally voluntary, and actually (as far as I can tell), quite fashionable. More than once, I’ve wandered into little clothing boutiques and found entire sections dedicated to couples who want to walk around wearing the exact same thing.
Weird? Yes. Kinda cute in a way that only really works in Taiwan? That’s for you to decide.
#4: Old people.
Don’t get me wrong: there’s definitely an element of cuteness surrounding old people in general, but the elders in Taiwan take it to an entirely new level.
For one thing, they are super active (at least, by the standards I’ve seen back at home). Most of the people you see working out and going for a run are 65+ years old, and I can guarantee you that they’d all be able to kick my ass in a fight. Which they don’t seem to have any interest in doing, thank God. But still.
When I imagine my 86-year-old grandma riding a Vespa… well, actually I can’t imagine my 86-year-old grandma riding a Vespa. Or getting anywhere near a scooter, for that matter. But here it’s no biggie—everyone and their mother rides a scooter, and their mother’s mother, and their mother’s mother’s mother, too.
It’s not uncommon to see an electric wheelchair whizzing by you in the scooter lane on a busy street, maneuvered by a spry retiree. Nor is it that surprising when the driver whom you first mistook for a young street-racing hooligan is actually a 97-year-old woman, who apparently feels that all usual laws of traffic are beneath her. (A far cry from the old people back home who meander down the highway—though both, at least, disregard the rules with equal determination.)
Questionable driving habits aside, Taiwan’s elderly population is among my favorite group of people I’ve yet encountered on this planet. It’s not uncommon to see grandparents out with their grandkids in the afternoons (kids here get a lot of half-days in school), feeding the ducks or shopping at the market or riding matching pink Hello Kitty push-scooters through the park.
They seem endlessly patient, as much with clueless foreigners as they are with their grandkids. Once, when I accidentally walked into an old man’s living room while exploring the city (it’s easier than you’d think), he insisted that I take a loaf of bread and a bag of fresh fruit with me as I left.
Cute, cute, cute.
#3: Kids are “little friends.”
When I started taking Chinese lessons, one of the first words I remember asking about is the word for “kids.” As an elementary teacher, it’s a fairly important one to know. And when I got the answer, I couldn’t help melting a little at the cuteness.
Technically, the word for “children” is “xiao hai”; but more commonly, I learned, kids are referred to as “xiao peng you”—literally translated as “little friends.”
Picture it: Teachers calling out to their students to come inside for class, shouting, “Come in, little friends! Little friends, come inside!” I mean, could you just die of cuteness?
Oh, and the word for “adults?” “Da ren,” or “big people.” So we’ve got Big People and Little Friends. God, I love this place.
#2: Dogs.
Okay, yes. Dogs are cute everywhere. I’m not gonna tell you that dogs are cuter in Taiwan than elsewhere in the world—that’s just insanity. But I am gonna tell you that there’s a lot of cuteness here surrounding the way you might encounter a dog.
Let me explain.
A lot of this has to do with the container the dog is in, or the dog’s means of transportation. Dogs in strollers. Dogs in bicycle baskets. Dogs in backpacks and fruit boxes and shopping carts.
And, of course, dogs on scooters. Living across the street from a park that’s often full of dogs, I am constantly amazed at the way they all seem to feel totally comfortable riding on a scooter, in that tiny floor space where your feet are supposed to be. Dogs of all shapes and sizes do this, and I find it incredible that they never try to hop off (except once, but in that case the dog realized his owner was about to crash and was like “screw this, I’m out.” And he was right).
My favorite scooter dog, though, belonged to a man from my old neighborhood. He had a bit of a beer belly (the man, not the dog) and the dog would rest his hind legs on the guy’s stomach and put his front paws up on the handlebars. They rode around like this all the time.
Once I stumbled upon a little indoor pool for dogs, where—I shit you not—they were having doggie swim lessons. The dogs wore little orange vests and the humans led them around the pool like a little kid at the rec center.
Those swimming lessons must pay off, too, because recently Oscar and I watched a wild beach dog jump into the ocean and swim happily out to sea, way further than you’d expect a dog to go, just so he could go and greet the bemused humans on their stand-up paddle boards.
I’m telling you guys, these dogs… Even the strays will melt your heart.
And the number one cutest thing about Taiwan?
#1: The garbage trucks.
Yes, it’s true. If you know, you know. If you don’t, I’m about to tell you.
Here in Taiwan, garbage is a community event. Several times a week, everyone in the neighborhood convenes at one corner with their bags of garbage and recycling (meticulously sorted) and waits for the garbage truck to come by.
When I first got here, I dubbed this the “Garbage Party” because it really does feel like a party in some neighborhoods—it’s a time when all the neighbors socialize with each other, catching up on each other’s lives and gossiping about everyone else’s. Like a regularly scheduled block party that only lasts a few minutes before everyone goes back to their lives.
And as if this weren’t cute enough, here’s the kicker: we all know that the Garbage Party is reaching its pinnacle when a faint tinkling of music can be heard from down the street, not unlike the sound of the ice cream truck coming around the corner—but it’s the garbage truck instead.
Yep: the garbage trucks here all loudly play classical music (“A Maiden’s Prayer” here in Tainan, though I’ve heard it’s “Fur Elise” in other parts of the island) to announce their arrival.
Without fail, this prompts a few last-minute stragglers (or perhaps Garbage Party Avoiders?) to emerge with their bags of trash, and I think this is the point: though the garbage trucks do have a specific schedule, you know it’s trash time when you hear that lovely tune approaching.
When the truck pulls up, everyone crowds around to heave their garbage bags into the back of the truck (and boy, this is as fun to do as it is to watch) and then—quickly!—to run away. See, you don’t want to get caught behind the truck when the compressor comes down, or you’ll get a nice shower of garbage juice… And while the garbage trucks here may sound like they’re full of ice cream, I can assure you they are not.
At this point, everyone says their goodbyes and heads back to their respective homes. Garbage Party is over, at least until Thursday.
So, there you have it: my top 7 cutest things I’ve discovered (so far) about living in Taiwan.
What did I miss?
Comments