“澳 ”雪凌霜 留言版開放中

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最近一邊讀書﹐一邊上網混時間﹐一邊尋找台灣工作。

在TEALIT中看到一篇英文老師的留言~或許大家來看看~再考慮我們台灣人是不是真的有文化衝擊﹑﹑﹑

the taiwanese way

I have been here since June and have not been adapting well. Before coming here, I worked in IT and was treated with respect and appreciation by all of my bosses, but I grew tired of sitting in front of a computer, so I went to west Africa for a year to teach and study African history. During this time, I travelled around to over a dozen countries, had a wonderful relationship with my bosses and co-workers, and made many friends, so I came here considering myself to a be a relatively "adaptable" person open to new cultures and new ways of doing/looking-at things.

Since coming I have worked at three Taiwanese-run schools (although one primarily) and had a number of problems of a variety of nature and magnitude. I love the children and the work itself, but a plethera of things that happen regularly with my bosses make me angry, annoyed, frustrated, and sad.

-It seems like, if a Taiwanese boss has some bad news to give you (about anything from money to the quality of your work), instead of sitting down with you privately and discussing the problem they will either send a minion to talk with you on their behalf while ignoring you or will address you in a public place as if you were a naughty 5 year old and they a benevolent, righteous parent.
-And I have frequently seen and experienced similar situations where if a foreigner has a disagreement with a Taiwanese boss/co-worker instead of telling the foreigner directly "I am upset that you said/did _____." the Taiwanese boss/co-worker will simply walk away and then do something that would be considered incredibly passive-aggressive in the West later. For example, a foreigner I work with had a disagreement with a Taiwanese co-worker the other day about where to park his scooter and instead of telling him "I think you handled that situation poorly. Parking is limited and we all need to work together..." she simply ignored his three consequitive requests to have the temperature changed in his room (even though students were complaining).
-And it seems we frequently get treated like we should be -infinitely- greatful to them for hiring us, although they are rarely greatful or even acknowledge if we are doing a good job.
-And who you know and/or are sleeping with is 10x as important as the quality of your work. If your girlfriend/boyfriend is a one of the Taiwanese staff, you will be the first up for a big promotion.
-And although it is rare that a Taiwanese boss or co-worker will yell at you (for fear of losing face), disagreements provoke all sorts of subtle passive agressive looks/comments that are difficult to respond to and make resolving the disagreements at hand very complicated.

All this having been said, I look around me and see lots of well-adapted or at the very least "dealing" foreigners... Some of them are pushovers and are willing to put up with anything to avoid the trouble of finding a new job. Some are seemingly oblivious to everything. Some are mouthy and constantly speaking their minds about everything to little/no avail but don't seem to realize or mind much as long as there voice is being heard. Some are passive aggressive back ("Oh was that work meeting today? Darn it... so sorry... I musta forgot..."). Some take the whole "It's ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!" attitude and do as little work as they possibly can get away with and still get paid. And some, the fortunate few, workhard at great schools where they have good relationships with everyone and are happy.

So how do all of you deal with the "Taiwanese way"?
How much adapting our culture(s) can/should we justly expect from them for the purpose of doing business with us (if any)?
Is it possible to stay here and not become cynical and/or thicked skinned?
And how do you tell the good schools apart from the others in the midst of all the friendly faces when it's contract signing time?

讀完這篇留言﹐感覺自己有時候對雄也是會很過份~~台灣工作是否都會這樣呢﹖而﹐為了回去台灣的事情﹐我越來越頭痛了﹑﹑﹑