Thanksgiving

So while my family was enjoying a Thanksgiving feast in lovely Harrisburg, PA, I was lost in Pudong. Pudong, AKA "pu jersey" is located on the other side of Huangpu River. Mat and I live on the Puxi side, which is a densely packed urban grid, similar to Manhattan. Pudong used to be swampland, isolated from the rest of Shanghai. In the past 20 years, it has gained popularity, mainly for it's wide open spaces and boulevards. It is now home to a booming financial district and sprawling housing developments (some that are scarily modelled after Essex, England and Livingston, NJ!)

The 2010 World Expo will be in Pudong, and, in preparation, the Chinese government is erecting funky glass buildings, sprawling parks and subway lines in record time. (The BIG DIG should have hired these guys for Boston!). The scale of it is so overwhelming, no wonder I got lost! Mat was still at work and joining me later, so, I was on my own. After aimlessly wandering around for 40 minutes guided by a map that was obviously NOT to scale, I swallowed my pride, and walked into the Sofitel with hopes that the concierge would have mercy on me. This is my new trick for navigating in China: when lost, wander to the nearest hotel and find the concierge. They are usually very helpful and respond well to a dame in stress.

After a short cab ride later, I finally made it to the Thanksgiving party, which to my surprise included a Butterball turkey and homemade pumpkin pie. It was hosted by several American families, most of whom had children. It was encouraging to see how much they loved living in Shanghai, felt their children were getting a good education and that they too were initially shocked at paying $12 USD for a box of Frosted Flakes . It was great to meet people from back home.

On a sad note, Mat and I spent much of Thanksgiving day glued to CNN and the Internet watching coverage of the Bombay attacks. We were relieved to hear our friends and family were okay but shocked at the devastation of it all. For the first time it really hit us. We are far, far away from home. The Chinese perspective of the horrific events--the media coverage, government response and public reaction were not clear to us and made us wonder about what we would do if (god-forbid) something similar were to happen in Shanghai. I think I may pay a visit to the U.S. Consulate today to officially register as an American living in China.....