I read a few articles about your bizarre campaign to get everyone in Taiwan to say "I love Taiwan" and photograph themselves doing so, for no reason other than the sake of it. So I was wondering what you suggest about my no win situation in Taiwan. See here:
http://www.happierabroad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15807
Also, check out my article of the pros and cons of Taiwan, which lists things that other sites don't list, that are taboo, yet obvious, but other people don't have the guts to talk about. Let me know what you think.
http://www.happierabroad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14561
Anyhow, I have a question for you: Why should I raise up my hands and say "I love Taiwan" given the following:
What's the point of living in Taiwan if you don't get any attention from cute girls? I get attention from girls in most other foreign countries - e.g. Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Mexico, Philippines (see here for hard proof: http://www.happierabroad.com/ebook/Collage.htm) - but not in Taiwan. So how can Taiwan be so wonderful like you and everyone says?
Girls treat me like shit here, which undermines my ego and self-esteem. They are super cliquish and uptight about not talking to strangers (especially males) unless introduced by a mutual friend. Why should I love or enjoy that, just because it's taboo to say anything negative about Taiwan's social scene?
The biggest reason why Taiwan sucks is that to meet girls or try to get dates, I have to try to walk UPSTREAM against a raging river. If I go downstream and "go with the flow" I get nothing - no love, romance or sex. Everything in Taiwan goes against my love/sexual satisfaction. In Taiwan, I'm in a constant state of DEPRIVATION. It feels like everything is against me. I'm not allowed to flirt, talk to female strangers I like, approach girls without feeling like a creep/criminal, and they don't give me attention and won't offer to meet me if I chat with them on the internet, etc. That just plain SUCKS for sure.
So why should I raise my hands and say "I love Taiwan" in spite of that, just because Shaun Bettinson says so? Get real. How can Taiwan be so wonderful, if I can't even get girls I like to meet up with me, and none of the experts I know in Taiwan can help me? On dating sites and on Facebook, about 1 in 100 Taiwan girls I like respond to me, and among those that do, none of them ever want to meet up! WTF?! All they do is make excuses excuses excuses about being busy all the time... blah blah blah. So how can Taiwan be so wonderful?! WTF?
In contrast, in other foreign countries (besides USA, Canada and Taiwan), girls are happy to meet me and they will OFFER to when I am in their area. So why not Taiwan? What is the problem with Taiwan? Why are Taiwan girls so damn difficult and uptight about meeting up? It's crazy! And it totally sucks!
Having hot girls everywhere who ignore you and expect you to mind your own business while they mind theirs is a depressing society. What kind of guy likes that? What kind of life is it to be constantly deprived and unsatisfied in the areas of love, sex and romance? That SUCKS.
It's no different than living in the US. So what's the point of living in Taiwan? There's no advantage other than lower cost of living. Socially, it's no different to me than the US. At least in America, the air is fresher, cleaner and more healthy, drivers are more polite, and there is always a place to park your car.
Thus I have every right to say that Taiwan sucks, even though it contracts the popular cliche on every Taiwan website/blog that says "Taiwan is so wonderful and friendly!" Why should I conform to that? Is conforming more important than telling the truth? Should I conform or be honest?
Also, everything feels so repressed, stiff and miserable in Taiwan. It's like there is a wall or barrier around everything that blocks me from being who I am and doing what I want to do. That sucks. I can't be myself in Taiwan and I'm not allowed to tell the truth either. What could be more invalidating than that?
In fact, Taiwan is actually one of the less interesting countries in the world. Workaholic cultures tend to be less interesting, because they lack passion and soul. The environment is very sterile. There's no romance, passion, love, special moments, special memories, camaraderie with others, or intellectualism. Instead, there's extreme repression and misery. Interactions are cold, fake and financially based. Women are very cold, difficult and picky. And young people are not interesting to talk to, but are eggheads and not very bright. All people care about is work and food. In addition, the architecture is ugly and consists of ugly slabs of concrete, and the natural scenery is bland and nothing spectacular. How is that any better than America?
There also seems to be this dark negative energy vortex in Taiwan. Everywhere I go the vibe feels so negative and miserable 24/7. Why is that? I don't think it's all in my imagination since Taiwan does have a high suicide rate, and people do look extremely repressed and miserable on their faces, which is consistent with the vibe I feel. It's like there are hungry ghosts sucking the life out of you in Taiwan.
In any case, why should I rave about Taiwan being "so wonderful and friendly" just because everyone else does? Why should I put up my hands and say "I love Taiwan" just because Shaun Bettinson says so? Why can't I be honest, rather than appease you and your campaign?
Am I obligated to lie and conform? Or is it better to tell the truth?
Thanks for reading, if you got this far that is.
Sincerely,
Winston
Shaun Bettinson responded to me by email. You can read his response and mine here:
http://www.happierabroad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15832
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