I know this is not the entry most of you expected, but it remains a huge part of expat life in Shanghai and a good topic to get out of the way early. This is by no means my entire experience, but simply a fact of life in Shanghai. My address says China. The TV is in Chinese, as are the signs, menus and banter on the streets. However, if I really wanted, I wouldn't have to spend a single moment "in China." In any given day, I could eat breakfast at Steak & Eggs, watch the MLB playoffs, drink gin & tonics, eat burgers and speak nothing but English. I could limit my Chinese interactions to grunting street names to taxi drivers and being served $10 martinis by fluent English-speaking bartenders at nightclubs with cover
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