Having received his M.A. from the Free University of West-Berlin, the author won a scholarship from the Volkswagen Foundation for two intensive Chinese language courses which strengthen his already growing interest in China. Finally realizing he'd never learn Chinese in a German environment, he decided to study on Taiwan. After traveling through the Soviet Union and Japan, he arrived in Taipei, ready and willing to accept the challenge of living in a totally different culture. His various experiences as a student and teacher slowly enlarged his awareness of the differing beliefs and values separating East and West and through this, becoming painfully conscience of his biases