Thanksgiving in Shanghai

Thursday was Thanksgiving Day. I had the pleasure of attending a dinner at the apartment of one of my colleagues. It was a great night and wonderful chance to meet a few 'locals'.

The culinary experience was certainly along the lines of the many great contrasts in this city. Sumptuous roast turkey, stuffing and mash potatoes with gravy and cranberry sauce - it was all delightful. And I even got to use a knife and fork. (I really never thought that I would say that).

Thanksgiving is a wonderful event. the food is much like a Christmas feast but without the presents and all of the decorations. You eat, drink, talk, eat, drink, talk, eat, drink, talk. I like it.


And of part of the joy of thanksgiving dinner in SH is talking about the challenges of getting things like a 20lb turkey (and finding a place to get it cooked, because apartment ovens are small), getting apple and pumpkin pies made and so on. It makes for a lot of laughs. This year, walnuts were the hardest thing to find.

Now talking of talking. There conversation was as good as the food. I learnt more about Shanghai that night than I did in a week. The friends of my colleague are wonderful and as diverse as Shanghai itself. Some of the them had the most interesting reasons to be in SH and some great roles here; The head of GM Chevrolet in China, A professor of Literature that has been here teaching for over 20 years, a corporate lawyer, a German building developer that has been here a long time, restauranters and the list goes on. It was a wonderful mix of people and I was very lucky to be there, especially as the only Australian among a group (most of) 'international Americans'.

Sometimes, drinking bourbon, riding a Harley, knowing the difference between a 'Line Backer' and a 'Tight End' can be helpful skills, especially at Thanksgiving!

The contrasts of Shanghai continue to amaze me.