Are you a little tired at being called Laowai? Don't like to be lumped in that category? It seems to be a tad too negative for my liking. Kind of like lumping foreigners in a 'can't be like us Chinese category'.
But what else can we be called? WaiGuoRen (foreign person) is ok although still implies outsider (not like us). YangGuiZi (foreign ghost or devil) is a bit much.
[More about those terms here]
Or should we really be thinking about what to call ourselves? I think it's about time we had an endonym to call ourselves, the foreigners living in Taiwan. Enough of these antiquated and loaded names (exonyms) that locals have for us. Anyone have any ideas?
Foreign friend? Foreign guest? Foreign slave? Something else?
Alternatively we could just start calling each other LaoWai and make the word our own much like some Taiwanese have twisted the term TaiKe.
When I see you on the street and you hear me say, "What's up LaoWai?" you could reply "Laowai, long time no see". It might worth the trouble to say how locals react.
On a final note, a friend of mine once drunkenly blurted out, "Caucasian is just Asian with a 'Cauc' ". He was a 'Cauc' alright for saying that. But at least he took a shot at claiming a stake to the name.
Take your best shot whether it be serious or idiotic. What name should we, the foreigners of Taiwan, lay claim to?
9 comments:
my vote is to be called "he" or "she." i've had it with being a goddamed think and not a person.
I like Waigwo-pengyou. (Foreign Friend)
"Foreign friend? Foreign guest? Foreign slave? Something else?"
How about calling you by your name? Why won't that suffice? People tell me I'm a laowai, and I respond I'm American. I tell them I'm proud of my nationality. Why on earth would I want to be lumped in with those from over 200 other countries?
I was in a bank a few months ago. The teller called me the "laowai over there". When I asked that she not call me that, she was simply amazed:
"How should I refer to you then?"
"How do you refer to the rest of the people coming in here?" I asked back. "How about 'mister' - I am a man after all - or simply 'the customer'". Seriously, what a dumbass.
Wai Ke.
Plus, you forgot "a-doh-gau" = big nose.
I always liked calling them Xiaonei as a comeback to being called Laowai. Totally confuses them.
Here's a thought experiment.
Imagine a Taiwanese guy walking into a rural small town bank in the states where it's rare to see Asian people. What would the bank teller describe the Taiwanese to his/her colleagues in order to separate him from the rest of the customers? Most likely a generic term referring to Asian/oriental people would be used privately.
"Laowai" really doesn't have much of a negative connotation, in contrast to the "foreign ghost" term. "Ah-doh-gau" (more like ah-doh-gah, actually) doesn't mean big nose but "tall nose" referring to the higher nose bone that Caucasians have, which is seen as a thing of envy in Chinese society, by the way.
It's probably not worth getting all worked up about being called "laowai".
But it's an interesting blog you have here, from the perspective of someone who spends her childhood in Taiwan and adult life in the states.
I don't think people have negative meaning to you when they call you "Lao Wai"
Actually ,I think you've totally misnuderstood the meaning of "Lao Wai"
Firstly, the word Lao (老)
which could mean something old .
But if this word is placed before a person's lastname
It is a way to surname somebody (the format is "老Lao"+ last name).
and we do this to
1.show he is someone very familiar(老陳,老張),
2.show our respect(老子,老佛爺).
3.pretend that you've known for each other a long time.In chinese we say(裝熟)
And usually we add "Lao (老)" to someone's last name if he(usually man) is older or in our same age.
(use "小(xiao)" if someone is younger)
for example
Mary:Hey Jack,I just saw president Ma, Yin-jiu yesterday .
Jack:Oh ,you mean "LaoMa"(老馬),I 've met him several times.
(Actually,maybe Jack does not know Ma, Yin-jiu,he is bluffing)
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About the word Wai"外"
Since we use ("老Lao"+ last name) to surname somebody
And the last name sometimes could replaced by a collective noun,usually anything has the same characteristics.
for example
The elder children :"Lao Da(老大)"
The people from the same hometown: "Lao shian(老鄉)"
Since they do not know a forienger's name and don't know forien language
But we still want to pretend that we are familiar with each other like old friends.
And the obvious same characteristic is you are from foreign countries(which is the meaning of Wai"外" )
Hence the words "Lao Wai" is generally used.
So I don't think people have negative feeling or meaning to you when they call say "Lao Wai"
Further to that, a husband would refer to his dear wife as "Lao Por", while she will refer to her husband as "Lao Gong". This again is a sign of endearment and familiarity between the two persons. My husband and I sometimes refer to each other using these terms. We have been married for more than 20 years and have a very happy marriage.
There is a new term for foreign expat in Taiwan.
新住民 xin zhu min = new resident
I learned it from the variety shows.
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