Giving Thanks in Shanghai

For most Americans, this coming weekend is filled with preparation: getting the house ready for guests, shopping for food, baking pies, or preparing to travel to the homes of friends or family who are doing all of that preparation (and maybe getting off lightly by just being asked to bring the wine).

But I won’t be doing any of that. I’ll be spending it in a place that won’t be observing Thanksgiving in the slightest: Shanghai. I’ll be there visiting a dear friend (and, of course, taking in the art scene and visiting my favorite tailor, who also made this glorious piece for me), so it will definitely be a pleasant trip, just not one filled with turkey and pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving is such a uniquely American holiday, and I confess that it’s going to be a bit jarring spending it in a place not festooned with a symphony of autumnal colors and decor.

As I relayed a few years ago, even though my parents were Chinese immigrants, they went all in when it came to Thanksgiving, and our family celebrated it with all the traditional American trimmings: turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie, etc. And, since my father was one of seven offspring – most of whom spent the holiday at our house – Thanksgiving at the Wu house was quite the affair.

The presence of all that family was so comforting. Having spent my first five years in foster care, there was no guarantee I would ever experience a traditional American Thanksgiving, let alone one in a house filled with dozens of extended family members spanning three or four generations.

I may not have appreciated it fully at the time (it was far more likely that I was complaining about having to clean up the house and serve my aunts and uncles), but as I’ve grown older and had a family of my own, I know now what a privilege that was and am filled with gratitude for my good fortune.

In a way, it’s fitting that I’ll be spending Thanksgiving in China. It’s not the place of my birth, but it’s the place my ancestors – both biological and adopted – called home. So, while I’m there, I’ll be sure and offer their ancestral homeland my sincerest, deepest thanks for making me who I am today.

There won’t be any turkey around, but I’ll be giving thanks from the bottom of my heart.