One question of many: Why Taiwan?

Last night Shirley and I met up with some college/high school friends while visiting her parents in FL. This was the first time we have been around such a group and exposed the "Taiwan situation". Several of them have travelled and lived abroad for work so they had keen interest in this situation and the most basic and justified yet, somehow, most difficult to succinctly answer is, "Why do you want to go to Taiwan?"

Sometimes, answering a tough question is easiest with a cliche:

"To broaden my horizons."

• I'd like to live in a foreign country. Like, a real foreign country. I've spent some time in the Netherlands and the Dutch would kill me for saying this but, it doesn't count. The Dutch certainly have their own idiosyncrasies but the change of culture is not that much of a stretch for Americans. The language barier is almost nil, the food is comparable and they have an H&M in every mall.
• I'd like to make an attempt at becoming somewhat conversational in a foreign language and I can't do that via a book or CD
• The last time I arrived in Taiwan, I felt like I was at the center of the world, much like the way I remember New York City in the late 70s and 80s. I want to be a part of an emerging market. You could certainly argue that I'm showing up late to the party in Taiwan and I really should be in Bangalore, Dubai, or somewhere else that I probably haven't heard of, but Taiwan is doable with reasonable inconvenience.
• The opportunity that I have within my company could be good, really good. The job description was basically written just for me and has a combination of stuff I've done, stuff I'm looking to do, and stuff that I never even thought about being involved with. I want to look forward to going to work in the morning and just feel stuck in a rut here in the States. Once my project winds down in 2010 it could be a year or so before I move on to something of equal challenge.
• Being based in the Far East will allow us to travel to places that would have never made the top of our list.
• I would like to get an MBA in something almost useful. I've scoped out some "Global Enterprise" focused programs and that might pair perfectly with working in Taiwan for a few years. If I don't make any friends over there I'll at least have plenty of time to study and bang out an MBA

I heard back from the HR rep about my question on the pension situation and the answer, while meeting the standards of proper grammar, does not really answer the question. I realize this will become common place. For now, I'll wait until they roll up all the #'s and I'll probably be able to answer my own question. I did gather that I can't join the Taiwan pension program while holding a U.S. passport. Therefore, the company does [something else] and that's the part that I can't quite understand.