Fili’s world
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Allegedly, someone that by the name of Andrew Harris was visiting Taipei during 1969 and having a good enough time with the local s-ex scene to write[...]
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Taipei After Dark - Andrew Harris 1969 Sexpose Travelogue The Taiwanese "The World Is So Big" TV show visits Israel Expat English language Blogs in Taiwan continued Touring Taichung : Big Laughing Buddha, Art Street and Jing MingChina
The Chinese Israel bashing in response to China bashing on Israeli media Rare stamp : China’s “The entire nation is red” but Taiwan is white Israel at the Beijing Olympics : What do the Chinese think of Jews? Our medallists : Taiwan’s Chen Wei-ling and Israel’s Shahar Zubari
It’s been brought to my attention the other night that I’m up on “The Real Taiwan” after John, his family and I went for a visit at Anping’s Fort “Old Street” (老街). I usually don’t enjoy seeing my photo on other blogs, but I honestly adore this next one (John - watermarks work! 
):
Aliyah, hope I’m spelling this right, is one of the most adorable babies I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so far. In a weird way, she reminds me a lot of my niece - Ayah (even the name is a bit similar). Being cute and beautiful alone makes her an attraction in Tainan, getting endless “oh! Hao keai!” (好可愛) from bypassing girls and women, but I believe it is the fact that her dad is a western foreigner that makes her even more special and the center of attention. In the few moments that I was carrying her around, I’ve (or rather - she’s) received far more attention that I would alone, and that is alot by itself, with what I interpret as wondering looks and quick searches to see who in the area might be my Taiwanese wife. I don’t know whether it’s ever possible to get used to something like that. I also wonder what goes on in the average Taiwanese mind when he sees a picture like that, with a western foreigner holding what seems like a Taiwanese baby. I love the idea of mixed-blood couples, and my initial feeling is that the locals are very warm, accepting and curious towards that, but I couldn’t be sure whether it’s true or not and why. Maybe I’ll learn a bit more next time I get the chance to hold a baby here… 
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Naruwan
| November 6th, 2007 at 7:08 pm #
I can tell you from experience that you get nothing but good vibes from people who see a mixed couple with a cute baby. My youngest son is 2 and a half and is constantly being besieged by gaggles of school girls with phonecams and cries of “hau ke ai”. He acts all shy but I think he likes the attention and will pull faces to get a reaction. However, I do worry that if we return to the western world one day he might actually find it a rude shock not to be the centre of attention while he’s out and about!
fiLi
| November 6th, 2007 at 8:17 pm #
Hmm… I don’t know. Maybe he won’t in the US and London, but I think that in Israel as well as most parts of Europe this is still somewhat unique. Thing is, which worries me, that Taiwanese will probably consider him a foreigner and westerners will probably consider him Asian. It would be interesting to hear some experiences from mixed blood kids and how they feel towards how the environment responds to them.
John
| November 6th, 2007 at 9:35 pm #
She gets her share of attention everywhere she goes. Even at the playground kids flock to her to hug, hold, and high five her. I think it will definitely affect what she expects and how she expects to be treated. It must be tough going from superstar to nobody…
BTW, it is spelled Aliya. No worries though
Fili’s Taiwan Tours - showing Israelis around Tainan | Fili’s world
| November 15th, 2007 at 3:16 pm #
[...] I thought walking around carrying an Asian baby gets attention. You want real attention? try walking around Tainan with a religious Israeli couple, that should [...]
Viktor
| November 21st, 2007 at 6:37 pm #
Dear Fili,
thank you for this post. I find that mixed-race couples need to suffer some hostility (e.g. the Chinese outrage at Zhang Ziyi’s Western boyfriend, or the suspicion in Europe that Asian girls must be “mail-order brides”). Do you think that would affect such a “multicultural” family like the one you mention in your post?
Best wishes,
Viktor
fiLi
| November 22nd, 2007 at 9:06 pm #
Depends where. Some places they might, other might be okay. In Taiwan the attitude seems to be quite open and accepting, especially if you have a baby…
But, I might be wrong. I find it difficult to really figure out how folks here in Taiwan think…