As we all geared up for the flight to Detroit enroute to Shanghai, our plans screeched to a halt when we heard that our flight had been delayed due to ice. This would force us to miss our connection to Shanghai. Instead, we decided to fly to New York City to catch a connection the next day to Shanghai. At first I was bummed we’d be losing a day in Shanghai, but I was then overjoyed at the prospect of spending time with my family. As much as I would have loved to galavant around Times Square with the group (sarcasm), I was thankful to be able to see my parents in Queens for the first time since winter break and enjoy some good, homecooked oxtail soup (my dad learned to cook in the Chinese army and his food is the best I’ve ever tasted — I may or may not be biased). I didn’t do much besides sleep all day in my comfortable bed.
Elmhurst, Queens is urban without skyscrapers. There are some high-rise apartment buildings, but most of metro Queens is composed of small businesses, mom-and-pop shops started by immigrants, seven-story faded brick apartment buildings, the rattly, snaking 7 train tracks, and a bustling population of minorities. No lawns or mailboxes here (I remember being shocked to see a lawn and mailbox for the first time when I visited Staten Island). Being in NYC again refreshed my memories of its urban landscape and how different it is across boroughs, crucially informing the comparative perspective I would apply to the cities in China I would visit.