An Appetite for Adventure

I popped into the local Starbucks today (yes, they are everywhere even here) and came face-to-face with this:

From Random

Well, hello there, commercialized Christmas! What’s more, wafting through the latte-scented air were the melodious tones of Dean Martin crooning “Silver Bells.”

Now, I’m used to the Christmas decor and present fodder rolling out around Turkey Day in the US, but in China? Seriously. More than the global financial crisis unraveling my and my children’s futures, a mid-November Christmas at Beijing’s Starbucks epitomizes the profound reach of globalization’s creepily touchy hands.