Christmas in China

China is a fascinating study in contrasts. While the current government has been in power for 60 years, the prevailing culture is about 5,000 years old. For centuries China was a closed country (witnessed by the Great Wall of China). Today it is an emerging nation and rapidly becoming the leading economy in the world. Buildings are being erected at the speed of greased lightening. The architecture of the new buildings is contemporary and often imaginative. It's apparent that China wants to present itself as new and "hip." In many ways it is borrowing concepts from the West, especially the USA.

Which brings me to my latest installment in blogger space. Today we went out for lunch. (We've actually been in our city for over 24 hours, but the first 15 don't count because we were in the jet lag induced trance. Think Indiana Jones in the second movie when he was forced to drink that concoction that placed him in a trance and you get an idea of our jet lag induced trance, although I don't think I tried to remove any one's heart--but I digress. I mention this because today I actually began to notice things.) Today we went out for lunch. We went to Grace's favorite restaurant and the food was fabulous. But here's the funny part. The servers at the restaurant all wore hats that kind of resembled Elf hats. They were a shade of red with white trim, but the red had some kind of funky design. They are adapted from the West with an Eastern flair. I guffawed (don't know what that means but think it sounds clever here) at the hat the guy wore who brought the food from the kitchen. It was a--uhhh, it was a--ummmm, it was a form of a Christmas cowboy hat made of plastic. Oh, did I mention it is a blow up hat? Really, it was a blow up hat, you know, like the blow up plastic pool you get for kids. It was red and white with the brim and all. The poor lad who had to wear it even had it on sideways. It's a good thing I didn't have any food in my mouth when he first came out or else I probably would have spewed food across the table.

China also loves American music. We've heard Christmas carols (in English) in the airports and in the stores. Today's restaurant was playing Frank Sinatra's music. If I'd still been in the jet lag induced trance I would have thought we were eating in China town in San Francisco instead of actually being in China.

Perry Como sang "Oh there's no place like home for the holidays," but he obviously had never spent a Chrismas in China. I think it's pretty special to be here with family. Of course, if you've been following this blog very long, you know I started it to keep family and friends updated on Judy's cancer. To actually be here now with her cancer surgery and radiation behind her/us is nothing short of miraculous. So, with apologies to Perry, I'll have to say (at least for 2009), "Oh there's no place like China for Christmas when you're wife has survived a cancer scare." (Okay, there's no rhyme or rhythm in the lyrics, but get over it. It's the truth.)