I started out in Russian Studies, then went on to Chinese. After graduation from Princeton I sailed away to Taiwan on a freighter. There I studied the language and culture and taught English, too. I stayed there eight years altogether. Then there was a year teaching at a private school--French and German. In the years that followed I drifted into consulting and took on the job of simultaneous interpreter and trouble-shooter for the State Department's program hosting Chinese visitors and showi...