Read the blog post above. As a former server, tipping poorly/not at all is a deal breaker for me.

In the US, tipping is part of the cost of eating out, among other activities. It really shouldn’t be optional, and it should be calculated into the budget when you’re traveling or going out. It’s like having to pay sales tax. If the service is awful, say something and then tip accordingly, but service is still a luxury, and you need to pay for it. That’s why in some countries, there’s a 10% service charge added. It really would be easier if it was just automatically added to the bill, but here you have a choice, where the culture doesn’t dictate that service should be beyond satisfactory and tipping is not required. (Re: Tipping in Taiwan)

P.S. If you’re not so good at the math-stuffs, in Nashville, just double the tax. That’s at least 15%.

Do I look my age now?

Then I went to Ryan’s to get lunch, this sandwich shop in Neihu with pretty good wraps, and I ordered a BBQ chicken in English (cause I didn’t know how to say it in Chinese). The girl at the register took my order, and then asked me if I was an ABC. She then went on to ask if I taught English and that I looked really young to be teaching. After our short polite chat, I was just waiting for my wrap when she then started the conversation with me again and asked me if I minded helping her with some English phrases. Sure, free English lessons are what I commonly do while waiting for food, no problem. So she whipped out this notebook with a few lines in Chinese and asked me to translate to English. The gist of it was some English-speaking guy/girl was mad at her and not speaking to her, and the girl wanted to make up but didn’t know to communicate her intentions.

This is what I do as an “ABC” here, although technically I’m a TBART (Taiwanese Born American Raised Taiwanese). I approach fellow ABC’s in awkward situations and give free English lessons to strangers all over Taipei.