24

There may be no better passage marker for my life than a list of what I've done to celebrate my birthday each year. Always eager to celebrate myself, when I was a child I loathed family vacations which overlapped with my beloved birthday, yet as I grew, and became more and more accustomed to traveling on my birthday it became a rarity to be home.

Since I turned 12 (or as far back as I can remember) I've celebrated birthdays in a wide variety of styles, states and countries. I've seen Saltzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany on my birthday, seven years apart. I've seen the Declaration of Independence and screamed my way down the largest roller coaster in the world, at the time at least. I went for a singular drink with my parents on the eve of my 21st birthday at midnight, and I've had a massive bonfire party on the shores of Lake Yellowstone. I've earned drivers permits and lost championship baseball games - yes, my birthday is my ultimate time marker...

And now I've celebrated it in Shanghai. Saturday night my girlfriend threw a party for me, attended by all of my friends and co-teachers came. We played a few games, watched some of the last events of the Olympics and generally just had a fun time. It seemed more than fitting, given my experiences here in Shanghai, that my party be mostly westerners playing western games watching basketball on the TV. It may have been in Shanghai, but it also felt like it could have been anywhere.

The next day I went out for dinner and rich chocolate cake before walking down the main shopping street here, yet even that felt so western you might not have known you were in China had you done it. I realize this year is a golden chance to explore a new culture, but unlike most of my life, unlike most of the places I've spent my birthday, I'm not in awe of the world around me. I've created a happy existence with my friends and social circles, but when I was given the chance to celebrate however I wanted, I managed to mix almost none of the local culture into my celebration.

Yet I'll always remember this birthday as the one I spent in Shanghai. A representation of my year spent eating noodles and living among sky scrapers, fighting my way on to subways and throwing small Chinese people out of my way at the top of escalators. China is by far the most unique place I've ever lived, so it may be no wonder I've carved out a living environment which mimics back home. Even though I don't eat Chinese food 7 days a week, I know when I leave I'll notice all the little things that make life... different here. And every year when I think back on where I've spent my birthdays, this would seem to be the most outrageous... so far.