We arrived at the airport in Houston early in the morning, around 5:30am. As we got ready to board our flight to Detroit, from which we would transfer to our flight to Shanghai within an hour, we get news that our flight to Detroit has been delayed. Most of us were not too worried, as we expected to take off soon enough. Unfortunately, the flight kept getting delayed because Houston did not possess the proper de-icing machines the plane needed. Luckily, we were able to fly out to New York City and spend one night there to catch a plane on China Eastern Airlines.

New York has to be one of my favorite places in America. The city that never sleeps has always been an exciting place for me to visit, so I didn’t mind having a layover there. After landing, we waited close to three hours for transportation to our hotel, which wasn’t the optimal situation, considering that we were starving as well. Finally, we made our way to our hotel and freshened up for a night out in Manhattan! Manhattan was absolutely freezing, and as a Native Houstonian, I was not well-adjusted to the cold weather. Fortunately, I had prepared well for cold temperatures in China, so I was able to get by.

In order to get from our hotel to Manhattan, we called two Uber XLs, which were pretty expensive. We were dropped off right in front of the Empire State building, but we did not go inside. Instead, we began walking towards Times Square, something I had been looking forward to. Everything was beautiful in Times Square! All of the lights, people, and excitement made me all the more happy to be there. We ended up wandering into the massive Toys R Us Store in Times Square and exploring its 4-5 stories. Some of the people in our group decided to ride the Disney themed ferris wheel inside the store itself which was fun to watch. Afterwards, we were all hungry, so Emma, a girl in our group, recommended a hole in the wall Ramen place to eat at. I have many dietary restrictions, which include being vegetarian, no eggs, and lots more, so eating at Asian restaurants isn’t always optimal for me. Nonetheless, I was able to get a fried rice dish with no eggs and doused it with soy sauce, and it was pretty good! After eating, we all walked to Central Park. I had never seen snow before, so this was something I was really looking forward to. We had a great time in Central Park, and then we walked around some more, visited the Apple store, and got an Uber ride back to our hotel.

All in all, our layover in NYC was great. In relation to my project, I didn’t learn much in my layover. My project is looking at unconventional avenues to political activism in Shanghai specifically, so our layover wasn’t particularly relevant. Nonetheless, it was nice to experience another global city like Shanghai. However, I was inching to get to China as quickly as possible. I wanted to dive right into research and explore a country I had never visited. I wanted to experience what it felt like to have language barriers for the first time and attempt to conversate with locals. We woke up early the next morning and left for Shanghai in China Eastern Airlines.

There’s nothing like sitting at your gate in the airport and watching your boarding time slowing tick by, your flight never being called. After less than four hours of sleep, you continue to wait, and at this point you’ve missed your connecting flight. China seems farther than before. It’s a bit embarrassing that the largest airport, that used to be the Continental hub, in the third largest city in the United States, cannot figure out how to defrost a plane. Thankfully, Shelby somehow convinced Delta to send us somewhere that would eventually connect us to Shanghai. Spending one night in New York, is not the worst thing that could happen – even though I’d be back in a week’s time #CMANYC15.

Jeh and Nicole left us as we got to New York, while the rest of us waited as Shelby dealt with Delta. We did have a little scare when Matthew’s bag hadn’t come out onto the carousel, even 20 minutes after everyone else’s bags arrived. February has always been a bad month for me (did I mention my suitcase broke?), but at this point I started feeling as though I’d infected the whole group with my bad luck – this was a great start to our trip. Thankfully, as Matthew went to talk to a Delta representative, his bag finally came; and soon after Shelby arrived with our NY hotel information and a bus to take us there. Maybe this trip could be salvaged after all.
In New York, we took an Uber to the Empire State Building – a ticket heckler outside the tired to convince us that it’s the tallest building in the world, but we knew better. We then ended up in the Toys R’US store in Times Square, because we’re all basically overgrown children. I rode the indoor Ferris Wheel because I’m the biggest child there is. For dinner we headed to a ramen place that Emma recommended – and I find out that ramen is actually a Japanese dish (who knew? not me obviously). To finish off the night we headed to Central Park and Rockefeller Center because we’re basic NYC tourists.
The next morning, we were on our way to China on China Eastern Airlines – who get really mad about cellphone use on planes (airplane mode, come on!). The long 15-hour flight gave me some time to watch some movies, and to think about my project a bit more. Sadly nothing in New York has anything to do with my topic – marriage trends in China, but I has time to read up some more articles about the Marriage Market while in New York.

This is a pithy, almost scripted, beginning to our trip. What better way to start a trip on cities in China than with a detour to America’s most famous city? It’s the perfect chance to end our last trip in America, by walking around in New York City, in preparation of spending time in China’s closest equivalent, Shanghai.

Our flight got canceled because of a snow-removal breakdown at Houston. This being Houston, freezing temperatures that create ice on windows and runways and such are usually not a thing. This makes things difficult on the rare days when it becomes a thing, such as on the day we left. Delta eventually got us another flight to New York, where we eventually spent the night.

We spent several hours waiting in LaGuardia for transportation to our hotel, then spent about half an hour resting before going out into the city. This, by the way, involved an Uber ride that cost $80. The Political Science department is paying for that, but it’s still kind of awe-inspiring seeing that on my phone.

We walked around Manhattan for a bit and saw the famous buildings. We didn’t go up them, because that shit is expensive. We did go in the M&M’s center in Time Square (that place is definitely super-touristy) and rode on a giant ferris wheel–OK, some of us did. The rest all sucked, obviously, because they didn’t get on the big indoor ferris wheel.

We ate dinner at a ramen place, where I had curry and ramen. Because when you’re in New York, you eat ramen (just kidding: first of all, all the food in New York is good, and second of all, the ramen was good, so it’s all good. I just used the word “good” way too much. That’s not good).

If you want photos of the beautiful New York skyline, you’ll have to look on Wikipedia. I brought my phone. You see, just taking photos of cool stuff is less my style–stock photos will do a better job than an amateur like myself ever will. Photos are really only worth something when there are people in them. And that’s taken care of because the editor of the YEARBOOK is on this trip. I suspect Anya will be completely capable of taking photos on the behalf of every single person on this trip.

That said, here’s a picture of me in Central Park.

See? This is why Anya and Matt, with their professional real cameras, are going to take care of the photos, while I, with my cell phone, will limit myself to novelty photos and gratuitous selfies.

I’m rather embarrassed to admit that I’ve actually been to all three of the cities we’re going to visit. However, I think context is important, too. I’ve only visited with parents before, and that is enough for me to want to visit without parents. Also, last time I visited New York was in the summer for a college touring trip (that is, back in high school).

Here’s my admission. I can’t get behind New York. It’s just not my city. I can’t get behind the feel of the buildings. I just don’t really like the whole Gilded Age feel of the early skyscrapers or the art-deco of the Empire State building or the 50’s modernism. This was how I felt last time I was here, and I still felt like that this time around.

The Apple Store was pretty awesome, though.

No minced words can hide this fact: New York was a detour from our main trip. We were not prepared to really “learn” anything per se from New York, because we honestly thought we were going to be in Shanghai by now (so we didn’t study it). It was still kind of cool walking around New York, though, even if it was frickin’ cold.

Our journey to Shanghai  began somewhat inauspiciously, thanks in part to the vicissitudes of Texas weather. The plane that would have taken us on the first step of our journey to Shanghai was grounded by freezing temperatures over the night, and we were forced to adapt our plans. After a short wait we took a plane to one of the United State’s great economic and flight hubs, New York City. Our flight originally would have laid over in Detroit, so the group was not too chagrined by the change in venue; now we would get to see one of the largest American cities immediately before we visited one of China’s.

We spent an entertaining night in NYC, enjoying the regular tourist draws and trekking through several blocks in search of an elusive ramen restaurant. However, the food was delicious, and we all enjoyed the chance to see Times Square and the Empire State building, once the tallest skyscraper in the world before yielding the title to ambitious projects in the Middle East, and China, of course. A few days later we would get the chance to see the second largest building in the world, stretching tall above the Pudong District of Shanghai.

The next day was travel intensive, as we flew over the top of the world en route to the Shanghai. We had plenty of opportunity to catch up on shows and movies during what was nearly a 15 hour flight between the two great cities. As we flew over the icy North, I considered what I hoped to accomplish in the country that would be my home for the next 10 days. China was growing economically, but at what cost? What prices did the Chinese pay in the currency of pollution and socio-economic capital in their drive to become an industrial power? I hoped I would find out in the next week and a half.