strange :-s

I feel like an alien (though the sidewalks are at least as hazardous as they used to be in Taipei). I feel like an alien when I fumble in my wallet for coins that I don't recognize and then prefer to just hand over a banknote because that's easier. I feel like an alien when I stare at the red currants and the big range of yoghurt to choose from in the supermarket. I feel like an alien when I happen to catch the "Landarzt" on tv, a series that used to be on before I left for Asia 4 years ago, and that still features incredibly stupid dialogues, and the only thing different is the giant haunch the formerly slim and not unattractive main character has gained. Or when I watch anything else on tv (which I try to avoid) because it's either another bad series, a foreign movie hideously dubbed into German or a political magazine on the sensational level of any Taiwanese news feature (ok, no reason to feel like an alien here :-S). I feel like an alien when I check the movie listings in the paper and look for the note whether or not they have subtitles and then realize that they don't because everything is in German, anyway. I feel like an alien when I get a phone call at home, and a hyper-excited voice says: "Congratulations Ms. Oberle, you've been chosen as a candidate for the new tv show with Wiegald Boning" - who the heck is Wiegald Boning? At least, in Taipei, people would politely say good-bye if you told them you weren't interested in whatever they tried to sell you on the phone. That guy kept going on and on, so I just hung up. I feel like an alien when I look at the girls who are so pretty in a very different way from the Taiwanese girls and the guys who who look much more attractive than most of the Western expats in Taipei and all the cute little blond kids. I feel like an alien when I realize that I smile at every Asian crossing my way. I feel like an alien when I automatically address people in Chinese or English, and they answer in a language I don't expect (German) or when I realize that everybody around me understands what I'm talking about with H. I feel like an alien when I tell a shop assistant about the power cable with the Taiwanese plug, and he asks if I bought it on Ebay, and I look at him and say: "No, in Taiwan of course." I feel like an alien when H says something, and a "In Taipei, we do things this way" crosses my mind. Or when I start off with "last week in Taipei..."

And I feel much more stared at than in Taipei. Quote H: "Well, there are much less people to look at on the street, so naturally, more people look at you."