I have been complaining for some time about the shortage of "natural
beauties" in Taiwan. It seems that there are way too many girls who
rely on make-up, revealing clothes, outrageous behaviour, and so on to
make themselves attractive. But it's all fake, and I'm usually disappointed by the person "behind the mask".
This is totally unfair, and reflects the fact that I'm focusing on
the negative side of living in Taiwan. To force myself into a more
positive frame of mind, I have resolved to seek out and photograph
"Natural Beauties" and share them with the world here on this page.
This is a bit of a challenge for me, as it means I have to approach
complete strangers and persuade them to let me take their photographs.
But as the experts say "you should do one thing every day that scares the hell out of you."
And it might encourage the fake beauties to find their inner, natural beauty too!
I saw a rather annoying comment on the internet the other day which needs a response:
I find a lot of the local guys to be a bit nerdy, even friends I have here.... guys here to me, are either quite nerdy or look slightly too gay for comfort..... I would think a lot of western women would have a hard time going for a guy like that.
(This is abit unfair to the person who wrote it, because he wasn't trying to be insulting. To read the comment in its original context, click here.)
I saw this girl walking down the street, and "holding my heart in my hands" I made a U-turn across traffic to tell her how beautiful she was. I was so nervous I completely forgot to ask for a photo, and naturally she didn't offer me her phone number.
This lady is actually one of my students, which rules out any romantic
interest, but she's a shining example of all that's right with
Taiwanese womanhood.
OK, she's a bit nervous when sitting in the hot seat, and you can see
that from her body language. But look at the pic where she's standing
talking in a crowd. There's an energy there, a commitment to the task
at hand, that most people lack. You can see it again in the expression
on her face in the second picture. It's not simply intelligence, this
lady is alert and thinking - passionate! - about what she's doing. Too
many people just go through life as if they are half-asleep, and I
really appreciate the few who are engaged with what they are doing.
As for the first picture, well..... what can I say? A natural smile like that is beyond words. Just enjoy it!
I'm a little bit famous among my friends because of this story, and I use it a lot in class to illustrate the power of positive thinking and the importance of goals.
Briefly: I was in a taxi with friends one day when I saw a girl riding a motorcycle not unlike the one in this picture. I was absolutely fascinated. What kind of girl would buy such a machine? I began to imagine all sorts of things about her personality, assuming that she must be cool, adventurous, strong-willed, positive, and all those other good things. I couldn't help noticing that she was also extremely sexy.
I should start by reminding myself of some of the lovely girls I already know, or have met while in Taiwan. Here are a few pics of some of my good friends, proving that there are girls in Taiwan who don't need make-up and spicy clothes to make themselves look good. They're all lovely people as well, so really it's safe to say that I'm blessed by the gods to be surrounded by such good folks.
