Well the thing is, New Agers believe in answered prayers and supernatural healings too. So do Muslims. Why is your religion right and theirs wrong? I agree there is evidence of supernatural healings. Even the Catholics have them, like at the pool in Lourdes, France. Does that prove that the Catholic faith is the only true one? Just because miracles or healings happen doesn't mean that one particular religion is right and the rest wrong. Why is your religion the only true one and others wrong?MrMan wrote:We've discussed how I've experienced very specific prayers being answered. I've seen people who have gotten healed supernaturally. I've seen specific prophecies that hit the nail on the head. I see God interacting in my life and in the life of others. if things don't turn out my way, I know I still need to surrender to God, and I have been able to feel peace in that situation. I went for years not really knowing how I was going to scrape up enough money for rent while I was in grad school, with a wife and kids, worked some really long hours--the worst maybe was the 23 and a half hour day-- trying to scrape up the cash with my wife during some days when we were working not getting enough sleep. I've been overseas with a net worth in the hundreds with about that much on a credit card, needing a job, having to trust God to line stuff up for me. God has come through for me on so many occassions.Do you ever consider that I may be right? Ever? Even for a while? Why are you 100 percent sure that your Christian paradigm is the absolute truth? Do you even realize you're under mind control?
As far as some of your social issues are concerned maybe there are some things you can do. A Chinese expat I studied with in grad school said I probably knew what it was like. You don't fit in over there and you don't fit in here. He'd lived so many years in the US, running hotels with his partners, he did not fit in culturally in China. But he did not fit in with his environment. I thought about it. I was different after having lived in Indonesia, and I was not like anyone else. I do have a family, though, which gives me people to spend time with every day. My wife is from Indonesia and has lived in the US, but has no problem making friends and leaving a positive impact on people's lives. It's impressive really. But I can still relate to not fitting in.
I've also been an expat overseas when I was single.
When I was in Jakarta, I got to be a part of a group of young adult expats like myself. We were a part of a church cell group. There were Indonesians that were a part of the group, but also expats from various countries. There were white missionary kids who grew up in Africa and South America, but who also bounced back and forth to their home country. There was an African in our group, and lots of other nationalities represented. One was Hong Kong-American ethnic Chinese. Some in the group were raised all over the place. This was a group of friends I could hang out with. Mainly we spent time in that call group and eating out, and a lot of it was social. I wasn't as tight with all the group members as some of the others there were. My wife got to be friends with members of this group, too. I had another group I hung out with, too.
International churches may be a place for groups like this to form, especially among singles who have that extra time married couples with kids do not, and who do not exactly fit in who can form friendships with other people who are partly a part of one culture and partly a part of another culture. I have also seen English teachers in South Korea hang out with each other, too. Their culture is a bit more monolithic, usually US and Canadians hanging out, and they may get a US educated Korean friend who they can talk to who can relate, who was changed by the expat experience in the US or Canada who bonds with the group because of that.
Is there a group of expats there in Taiwan, maybe English teachers or teachers at an international school who are single, and have time? I'd imagine there might be expats working in the tech industry involved in getting all those computer components to their home countries, but some of them may be the 60 hour a week executives (totally guessing since I have never been there). What about Taiwanese people who spent so much time abroad, they don't feel Taiwanese anymore? Is there some group you could join?
Btw, I can post a little on these forums. I cannot watch the hundreds of hours of video posted on the forum. Sometimes I read posts in bed after getting up or before sleeping. If I don't have headphones, I'm not going to wake my wife up with a video, either.
There are meetup groups but they are all in Taipei, which is far away from me. Even if I went to them, like I said, everyone you meet is superficial, like an acquaintance. It's a waste of time to travel far away just to meet an acquaintance. Some expats may be cool and similar to me, but I have plenty of expat friends in the Philippines. No need to waste my time trying to meet people in Taiwan. I prefer to just leave. Problem solved. If it weren't for my parents, I'd never be here at all.
But Taiwanese locals are never similar to me and never resonate with me. They seem colder than ice, so I don't get how you are supposed to resonate with them, especially if I am not colder than ice myself. Isn't that baffling? There's always this awkward feeling I have with them, like trying to walk upstream in a river. It's hard to explain in words. Like something is off and awkward and unnatural. You know what I mean? Even when I text them on Messenger I always feel like I am bothering them and invading their space, and they rarely answer if ever. Taiwanese are not welcoming to me at all, unless it's business related, but socially it's a sin to try to socialize without a business related reason, like crossing the line. It makes them upset. Everything I wanna do feels wrong or illegal in Taiwan. That's how God awful it is. In contrast in the Philippines I can do whatever I want and feel cool about it. The difference is greater than you can imagine.
They do not like honest people, and if you say something they don't like, they block you or ignore you. Unless they are your friend or relative maybe. Even most of my Taiwanese relatives keep their distance and don't wanna be bothered. They are very private and keep to their own bubble. They are never sweet and are very strict, if you say the wrong thing, you are a freak and they prefer to avoid you. It's very very very cold and negative, worse than you can imagine. I swear.
You don't get something. I told you before, even if I had friends or a girlfriend in Taiwan, I still would not be happy, because there's this constant dark force or vortex that keeps trying to crush my soul and make me into a zombie or clone, like nearly all Taiwanese are. It's hard to explain in words. You have to feel it to understand. I don't like that. It's like a constant psychic attack on my soul. Because you are not supposed to have a soul or personality or express yourself in Taiwan, especially in Chiayi. I know that sounds extreme but that's the best way I can put it in words. Some things cannot be conveyed in words. You know what I mean?
I heard that in Japan some are miserable too for the same reason. A Norwegian lady I talked to told me that her friend was miserable and depressed in a Japanese fishing village too and had nothing to do and no one to talk to. Even when he had a girlfriend in Japan he still felt depressed. Some cultures are like that, they try to suck out your soul and constantly require you to suppress and repress your soul and desires. Philippines is never like that of course. The difference is greater than you can imagine.
I even have a hard time going to the grocery store in Taiwan. When I see how cold and stuck up people are, it makes me sick to the stomach. I sometimes have stomach aches too. It's worse than a sci fi dystopia movie.
There are supposed to be some expat hang out places in Chiayi but I cannot find them or read Chinese and it is hard to find places or park anywhere. Small Asian cities are not laid out well. And Taiwanese rarely if ever reply to my texts so I can't just ask them either. Plus it's a waste of time anyway trying to build a social circle. Even if I had one, I still don't like the negative vibe here, which is VERY negative to the extreme and hard to explain in words. Zboy1 experienced it too and he didn't like it either. You have to feel it to know what I mean. Words can't do it justice.
I just talked to my expat friend today on the phone in Taipei who goes to the Philippines too. He said that in Taipei now it's hard to find any expats to hang out with either, they all wanna stay home and not go out. There's like this weird vibe that makes people reclusive and stay home and not wanna be bothered. It's sickening. Similar to the US but worse and more extreme. Have you ever seen that kind of vibe before where everyone wants to stay home and be reclusive as if some invisible force is making people that way? It's sickening. You aren't supposed to talk about it though. And if you bring this up with acquaintances, they get weirded out and may block you, because acquaintances expect you to be politically correct, especially if they are Taiwanese. Any deep talk weirds them out.
Like I said, everything in Taiwan sucks. I think Taiwanese know it too, that's why they get riled up if you say anything negative about their country, because it breaks their false illusion that their country is amazing and great and number 1. They hate the truth and if you break their illusions, they get upset. You definitely cannot be honest around Taiwanese folks, that's for sure. I honestly wouldn't mind if China came and just took over Taiwan. It can't get any worse than this.
You know, I have a group on the LINE chat app, which Taiwanese always use, that consists of my parents' Taiwanese relatives, both in the US and Taiwan. And you know what? No one on the group has any real conversation with each other. All they do is send forwards of stupid shit like dogs and cats doing tricks or some superficial crap like that. Or forwards in Chinese which I can't even read. No one has a real conversation in the group. If I were to ask the group "why don't any of you try to have a real conversation rather than just sending forwards all the time?" I'm sure I'd come across as a freak for saying that. It'd be awkward. That's how bad it is. You can't even be honest or speak your mind. How God awful. Why does God allow this? How could God allow things to come to this? It's terrible beyond words. You can't even be honest or express yourself around your Taiwanese relatives. How does anyone live like this? How do normal people tolerate things that I cannot? Am I too sensitive or am I the only one that's not an NPC? You gotta wonder.