Paisei Seems to be the Hardest Word

I finally had a student at the buxiban of the type that motivated the naming of this blog.

After being 10 minutes late for his first appointment last week, and 40 minutes late yesterday, this dumbshit managed to be a full hour late today. Both today and yesterday were 11am appointments, so after yesterday you'd think he'd figure out to leave home earlier. Apparently not. Instead, he demonstrated that most frustrating, quintessentially Taiwanese of traits: paisei.

For the uninitiated, paisei is basically Taiwanese for "sorry," but in Taiwan it's become a state of mind. To be paisei, basically all you have to do is make a completely unmeant apology by saying paisei a couple of times, bow a little, and smile relentlessly. Don't actually apologize though, and never mean it. Basically, it's like groveling and retardation mixed into one delightful ball of shit.

So this guy comes in an hour late, sits down, and utterly refuses to comprehend why I told him that being an hour late for a 40-minute appointment was unsatisfactory and to make a new appointment. He ended up making an appointment for 1pm tomorrow. Let's see if he's learned his lesson.