Something else I should have mentioned... Most of you live in Taipei; you see 1000's of different people every day. There's lots of opportunities to make new friends, and if you want to meet a tall person, it's easy: just look in front of you on the MRT! Whereas, I live and work in Taoyuan County. I see the same 300 people every day. Most of them are students at my university; and I can't make friends with those students from my university. (that's just part of being a Professor). I only know of one woman who is over 175cm that I see in everyday life. And that is after 2 years living here... I travel to Taipei sometimes, but it's not much fun. If I go to visit friends, then there aren't so many opportunities to make new friends (it would be impolite towards my existing friends, as though I am saying that they aren't good enough). If I go by myself... can you imagine travelling to Taipei by yourself, day after day, trying to meet intelligent people? It's not much fun. Most smart people are working hard at their university, or reading books at home, for example. So really, it's just a continual reminder of being alone. Bars? No thanks, I don't want to make friends with drunk women. Bookstores? Forget it. It would be OK if there were some books to look at while you look around and see who else is there. But everything is in Chinese, and sometimes the English books are sealed to stop you looking at them! Libraries? You can't even talk... Have you ever tried making friends in a library here? It would be easier to make friends in a graveyard! Coffee shops? So expensive, and I don't drink coffee anyway. Besides, nobody actually talks to strangers in coffee shops here. Most people sit and use their laptop, by themselves. Nightmarkets/malls... probably fun if you are a girl and like to look at clothes anyway as you walk around. If you're a guy, and you have all the clothes you want, and you don't want to get fat, then nightmarkets are pretty boring. Just the same items, over and over. Dating/friendship sites? Most of the 'interesting' girls on this sites don't actually want to date or make friends. They just want to see how many guys they get messages from, to boost their ego. Or, so it seems. And there seems to be a lot of crazy people on these sites too. ???? I've tried saying hi to some people in the street or on the train; often they don't speak English, or they are too scared to speak English. If I try my really bad Chinese, they start talking too quickly and I don't understand them. I think it's probably quite different for anyone studying at university. You can become friends easily with anyone you; and dating is super easy. As soon as you get past 25... that stops. One other difficulty is that people here already have all the friends they want by the age of 22. After that, they don't really want to make new friends. So in my age group (25-30), it's pretty tough to join new social groups. All my friends (Taiwanese, Western) have tried to help me by thinking of any tall intelligent people that they know, around my age. Unfortunately... no luck. Thinking about it... even if I met a girl of 190cm, I would still be looking downwards towards her! And how many 190cm girls do you know in Taiwan? I don't think I've even seen one. I think I've only seen 1 or 2 girls of 180cm. 180cm guys think they have a problem from being tall... ...but you guys are so lucky!!!! I'd love to be as short as you. I get the feeling that I am not alone in feeling this way, about how difficult it is to try and find your ideal partner here. Most of my female Taiwanese friends in my age group, are still single. They go to work every day and are too tired to socialise at night. So, they don't have opportunities to meet a boyfriend. ... before they know it, they are 30... heading towards 35... ... still single. I think Taiwan has a big problem in this way. Everyone feels too busy or too 'ashamed' to look for help, or look around to find their ideal partner. BBSs seem like my last hope. Question: Does anyone here have the same difficulty in this way, as I seem to be having in Taiwan? I recently met one nice girl who was very smart. But, her parents 'didn't approve' of her knowing me - even as a friend, it seems! All they knew was that I was a westerner. So, there's a big racism problem too. "America is cool", but whose parents would like their children to hang out with a westerner? Even one who became a university professor at age 26... Still, I guess I am a little bit lucky; darker skinned people; or people from poorer Asian countries, have an even more difficult life! Mu --

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