A Turkish man Wu Feng loves Taiwan / Oh my god, why do you insist on speaking English to me?

Text and photos by Wu Feng | Excerpted from “A Country Bumpkin’s Love for Taiwan: 28 Surprising Moments with Wu Feng”

About Wu Feng:
His Chinese name is Wu Chengfeng. A “country bumpkin” (a Turk), though not so old. He speaks and writes fluent Turkish, German, English, and Chinese. Originally a tour guide in Turkey, he had an epiphany one day (what kind?) and felt life couldn’t go on like this. Already harboring an inexplicable longing for Taiwan, after graduating from university he studied hard, got into Ankara University, and immersed himself in Chinese language and Sinology. Four years later, he won a Taiwan scholarship and came to Taiwan to study at National Normal University as he had hoped.

After arriving in Taiwan, everything about this country opened the eyes of this “bumpkin.” The various customs, completely different from those in Turkey and utterly astonishing, plus the warm, hospitable nature of the Taiwanese people, all left a deep impression on Wu Feng.

Far from scaring him off, these cultural shocks only made him fall deeper in love with everything about Taiwan. Now, he has lived in Taiwan for six years and has become a true-blue “local Taiwanese bumpkin” who feels like doomsday has arrived if he goes a day without eating tofu pudding.



Some Taiwanese people are really adorable — they just love speaking English to foreigners. It often ends up with me speaking Chinese while they keep replying in English. Some of them aren’t even good at English but still try their hardest to squeeze out English words. Poor them, it must be exhausting for them.

I’ve encountered some really funny situations in Taiwan that’ll make you laugh your heads off. About two years ago, on a rainy day, I was in a hurry to ride my bike to Sanli TV but got lost. So I quickly asked a passerby for directions:

Wu Feng: “Hi, do you know where Sanli TV is?”
Passerby: “Oh, Sanli is not far from here.”

I was shocked — he spoke English to me. But I was in a rush and didn’t have time to waste on English, so I continued asking in Chinese.

Wu Feng: “Sir, I really need to know, please tell me.”
Passerby: “OK. You go left, then right… wait, no, no, first this way, then that way…”

Oh my god. This guy wasn’t even good at English, yet he insisted on explaining in English, even though I clearly asked in Chinese. I just don’t get why he was so insistent.
I was almost at my wit’s end, so I said, “Sir, just speak Chinese. I’m going to be late, please hurry!” And he calmly replied, “Oh, you speak Chinese? Good. Where are you from?” Oh my goodness. Amidst strong wind and rain, he totally ignored my panic and was curious about where I was from. In the end, I ended up chatting with him for nearly ten minutes, my underwear soaked through with rainwater, before he finally decided to speak Chinese and told me how to get to Sanli.

Another time, I went to see a doctor. As soon as I walked into the office, I asked, “Excuse me, is Dr. Huang here today?”
Staff: “No, he is not here today.”
Wu Feng: “Do you know when he’ll be back?”
Staff: “I don’t know. Maybe later. You from America?”

Seeing him insist on speaking English to me, I decided this time I absolutely wouldn’t speak English and tried my best to let him realize I could speak Chinese.

Wu Feng: “I’m Turkish, but my English isn’t very good. I can’t understand when you keep speaking English!”
Staff: “Oh, Turkey is a good place. I’ve been there once. Very good. Are you teaching English?” (What the—was he practicing English conversation?)
Wu Feng: “Bro, I don’t speak English!” (Wasn’t that clear enough?)
Staff: “You speak Chinese?” (He clearly knew I spoke Chinese, but still spoke English!)
Wu Feng: “Yeah!”
Staff: “Wow, you’re so good.” (So enthusiastic…)
Wu Feng: “Thanks, bro. Bye.” (Totally gave up)
Staff: “See you later, my friend.”

Haha, even knowing I don’t speak English, that I speak Chinese, they still insist on speaking English to me. Though a bit helpless, these Taiwanese friends are honestly too adorable. The most outrageous thing is that I’ve even had Taiwanese people speaking Hokkien to me. I can manage English, but Hokkien… this… is seriously a bit too hard. I really still don’t quite get it. Please, just let me be. But after these experiences, I often wonder: could it be that I look more and more like a Taiwanese person? What do you think?