Dear Friends and Family,

It felt akin to departing from a city via a nighttime flight; however, I bid good-bye to the city of Shanghai from the 100th floor of the world's tallest completed building (the world's tallest structure is currently the Burj Dubai - an unfinished structure in Dubai).

The view was like a sparkly 1970s velvet painting. I tucked myself into a corner of the building and let the excited chatter, variety of languages, time and thoughts whip by. Below me, way below me, flashes, perhaps camera flashes snapped from the sides of buildings and from the riverside walk, while the river itself was a parade of boats strewn with lights like Christmas ships on Lake Union. The view was a little frightening... and a reminder the true beauty of the electric light bulb.

Laura