The New York Times just launched a first-person series about making a home in a foreign country. The first piece ran today — Emily Prager on moving to Shanghai — and it’s terrific. Prager writes:

…there is a grace about living here that I love. People do things here that machines do in America. Instead of a parking meter, there is a person who takes your money and helps you park. When you buy a plant at the nursery, a man comes and plants it for you. When you buy a computer, a person comes to set it up and another person arrives to install the programs. Designers use patterns for clothing and shoes from the 1930s. It is not unusual to see a female office worker in a 1930s day dress and high-heeled sandals holding a parasol to keep off the sun.

Read the entire essay here.