Our trip started off on a great note with our flight to Detroit being delayed because of frost on the plane’s wings. Unfortunately, this meant that we would miss our connecting flight from Detroit to Shanghai on Delta Airlines. Instead, we were booked on China Eastern Airlines departing from JFK the next day. When I heard that we were flying China Eastern Airlines, I was a bit hesitant because I had never heard of such an airline.
Although this was a rather odd start to the trip, it ended up a blessing because we essentially got to visit NYC for a whole day. While the rest of the group went on to engage in tourist activities like going to Times Square and the Empire State Building, Nicole and I visited our families who live in the city. I went straight to my grandparents’ apartment to spend time with my family who live near Central Park (all of my family from my mom’s side lives in Manhattan- 7 cousins, 4 aunts, 4 uncles, and my grandparents). For dinner I went to Gari, which is one of my go-to sushi places in the city. After sleeping for around 9 hours that night (the most I had gotten in a week), I went to brunch the next morning and said goodbye to my family.
In a way, our detour to NYC was an added bonus with regards to observing global cities. I am very familiar with NYC (since I visit multiple times a year) but getting the chance to visit right before traveling to Shanghai, another global city, was a unique experience. I think that comparing NYC and Shanghai is interesting and we definitely got to make our own comparison firsthand.