Contact

An interesting difference I noticed between the United States and Taiwan was the radically divergent attitude towards personal space. Since I have been in Taipei, I have met many people from my age or older who seem to not have any qualms about getting in close to have a conversation. For example, at the end of a guided tour of Taipei's National History Museum, our tour guide gave all of us a hug. In another case, a student a couple of years older than I kept patting my arm as we spoke to one another. In yet another instance, I met a Taiwanese man who lived in my hometown during my high school years. As soon as a friend pointed out that he lived in my hometown, this man immediately walked up to me and stood significantly closer than I would have expected to shake hands and have a conversation. Even in cases where I found myself subconsciously pulling back, the other person would only draw closer. While I was unfamiliar with such close contact with near strangers, I would not necessarily label it as an invasion of personal space, as it is something I have since grown accustomed to.

Pictured above: Photobombing
and infringement of personal space.

In my hometown and at UMD, such skin-to-skin contact with acquaintances would most likely be rebuffed. It is not common for near strangers to touch one another, even if it is with benign intentions. I have two thoughts as to why rings of personal space are tighter here than in the United States. First, I think that given the size of the country and the compact nature of cities, people are simply used to having less space, meaning people will stand close to one another in order to avoid becoming an obstacle.

In many night markets and shopping districts, walking space is competitive. People cannot afford to stand idly by lest they become a nuisance to other shoppers. In many smaller streets, it is very common to be forced off to the side in order to let a scooter or van pass through. I have noticed the latter problem in situations when we travel in large groups. Aside from night markets, any indoor shop or restaurant is usually quite small in comparison to the imposing shopping malls in the United States. In short, any visitor should be prepared to squeeze their ring of personal space into something more manageable for the bustling crowds of Taipei.

Compared to the famous "I ♥ NY" shirt,
this shirt mentions not a city, but a country.

My second explanation for why people here enjoy a less restrictive sense of individually assigned personal space is that, unlike the United States, the Taiwanese people can more readily identify as one people. The United States is a truly multicultural country whereas an overwhelming majority of Taiwan's population can trace its lineage back to Han Chinese roots. In fact, many of my Taiwanese acquaintances say they identify as Taiwanese over Chinese. In other words, people here feel more comfortable in close proximity due to a shared, collective identity.

In my next blog, I will discuss convenience store culture in Taipei. While we have traveled to other places in Taiwan, we have spent the majority of our time here in the capital. Though I have not done much research on the subject, I believe that Taipei has the highest amount of convenience stores per capita of any city I have ever visited. It is extraordinarily rare to walk a block in Taipei without seeing a 7-Eleven, Hi-Life, FamilyMart or some other convenience store.