Quote: Toe Save's epic rant comes to mind
I remember that rant. It made for damn enjoyable reading. As someone who thoroughly enjoys seeing Canadians arrested for drug possession in Taiwan, I think I was on the opposing side of that rant. But kudos for Toe for keeping a consistent position throughout and for standing by his friend, just as I have kept a consistent position in enjoying watching fellow countrymen get in trouble thinking the values in Taiwan are similar compared with "Left Coast" tolerance.
Now those foreigners that mention you 'reap what you sow" for drug crimes but then don't apply that same rationale for late night careless drinking and driving incidents-- I just don't understand the double standard. See, the way I see it, part of deciding to live in Taiwan (which has many pluses) is recognizing the fact that you can be put in jail for years for crimes that would get normally get you months in jail or a slap on the wrist in other locales.
Still, having people on that forum crucify someone for what would be, in the West, a minor drug sentence, and yet having many key members of that forum support a person charged with alledgedly running over someone while drunk--a serious crime anywhere (vehicular manslaughter) comes across to me as Banana Republic preferential treatments. These foreigners are "out-taike'ing" the Taiwanese. Now we have a long term member Bubba 2 Dumb getting shot by the cops. Well I guess his username says it all.
Taiwan's education services expat arena is full of poseurs, drug addicts, failed academics, mental problem people, faux communication artistes, and many expats that would live below the poverty line within their home countries (many have all of these qualities ).
So yes, when I see people commenting on other people's grammar repeatedly, I often wonder what ego-driven motivation has caused them to preach at the circus. Don't get me wrong--the circus has some truly wonderful acts and some great talent, but you also have majorities of sub-par carnies, manic depressive clowns, and washed-up bearded ladies. That some people like to preach about punctuation, control free speech, or moderate such an environment illustrates a total lapse with reality and often illusions of grandeur. It's also one of the best shows to watch exactly because of peoples' inflated sense of self worth.
My point is that serious teachers don't come to Taiwan. I have respect for certified English teachers and people that receive some sort of accreditation in their field. But that's not an accurate picture of the backpacker teachers teaching in Taiwan, which I would label as babysitters/entertainers instead of serious educational services people.
While I would like to see people respecting one's audience and using correction grammar, punctuation and capitalization, it's a pipe dream. I'd even be happy if most teachers in Taiwan had the abilities of a thirteen year old dyslexic second-language student. They don't. They have the addictions of Charlie Sheen, the tribalism of the deep jungle, and the brains of singled celled organisms that cause the sicknesses in that jungle. Need I say more