A few things I've been noting to myself this past week...
First of all, I realized I feel more at home, in many respects, in Taiwan than in Norway. It is more familiar, somehow. Ok, so the fact that I lived here 6.5 years in a row, and have just been in Norway for 1 year (after 16 years away) may have something to do with it.
I mean, in Norway I still feel out of place when I am out and about. It is odd because it is a kind of under-cover out of place, since when people see me or interact with me they don't automatically think I am a foreigner. While here, I am a foreigner, and can't function fully as smoothly as in Norway in some respects due to language difficulties (ie., finding my way through the automatic phone-menues when I called my bank our second day back), and I cannot actually blend in so I get looked at a lot more in Taiwan. But still all that is familiar, while in Norway I still feel like a foreigner - not fully familiar with the culture anymore.
That's not to say I haven't acclimatized to some things in Norway already, like that it is Ok to throw toilet paper into the toilet (not done in Taiwan - and forgotten the first few times by me this time back), or being able to use debit cards everywhere - in Taiwan everything is on a cash-basis for the most part, and sometimes visa.
Another obvious difference (I think traffic and crowdedness and general purchasing convenience do not need to be mentioned even) is the architecture, which is often super ugly, bedraggled, dirty-looking, falling apart, in many places in Taiwan. Even newly built buildings that are supposed to be classy and nice are often not-beautiful-looking to me and Judge after living in Norway this past year. In Norway, on the other hand, homes espesially are really comfortable and homey looking.
Of course there are nice buildings in Taiwan too, especially interesting public or 'tourist' buildings, and then the rich-people's apartment comlexes and houses, etc., and I LOVE the temples, so this is more in terms of regular houses and apartment buildings, and B&Bs.
Then there's the general cleanliness aspect - public bathrooms, streets, many restaurants, etc., are often pretty dirty here (and there aren't always family or toddler friendly restrooms) except in big shopping malls and some other such places.
Things I find a bit more difficult to feel comfortable about or get used to here is the expectation that kids should be fine interacting with everyone from the first second. It is in stark contrast to what I am used to in Norway - with our sheltered, non-social living :P
For example, my good, long-time friend in Norway (who has the educational background for working with kids and who works at a kindergarten) who came for a visit when we first got back to Norway, and after saying hi to Leona just sat down on the floor and looked out of the window for a while, allowing Leona to take her in and get used to her being there, without any pressure. Strangers keep their distance in Norway, and family and friends are more slow and 'gentle' in a way.
Also kid-related is how it is very much directed play here, rather than letting Leona just be busy with her own stuff and bringing us into her play when she wants to. And performance-expectations...though I believe the lack of directed play and performance requests aren't necessarily standard everywhere in all families in Norway, but has been in our limited interactions with the outside world there. That's not to say we don't instigate interactions with her ourselves, but it is just quite different.
It doesn't really stop with little kids though, so I guess it is very much 'directed living' in Taiwan, which is to be expected really in terms of filial piety and all that. For example, I wanted to walk home from the restaurant to our B&B with Leona after I was done eating as Leona was super over-tired, under sleeped and jet-lagged, and really needed to hit the hay, and I wanted to just be outside with her a bit on a calm walk, enjoying the fresh and nice evening air and sounds (this was the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner - we went on a big family 4-day 3-night vacation ... will write a bit about that later). It was going to just be a 10 min walk, but one I had not taken before, and that wasn't well signed - kind of along a deserted road and then into some field-roads.
When I mentioned I would just walk home, there was instant and loud objections from everyone (except the cousins who are all younger than me) / Judge was to drive me home. So Judge walked me out to the car, but didn't suggest he actually drive me back, as he knows me well enough to know I need to be able to make decisions for myself about certain things especially. He just asked whether I was sure I knew the way back, as I know he was a bit worried.
So I got my manduca carrier out of the car, strapped Leona in, and headed back on foot, while Judge waited outside for 5 min, moved the car a bit, and then walked inside again - his way of making everyone happy (poor guy, stuck between a rock - me - and a hard place - my in-laws).
[Me and Leona - who fell asleep 1 min into the walk back -
after arriving safely at the B&B]
And that's another thing - it is better to tell white lies here, as it is more respectful than stirring the pot.
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