Whenever these things happened, a neon sign in my mind would begin to flash: 'Only in America!'

And for every high note, there were balancing moments of sobriety. Like the time I took a ride in a sleek, black limousine -- that picked me up outside my apartment and carried me across the Hudson to New Jersey, stopping politely whenever I expressed a desire to click yet another photograph of the world's most famous skyline.

"We can no longer ignore India," said Billy, the car's owner and my designated driver, on our trip back. He went on to tell me about people who abused the system. People who spent all their time finding loopholes through which they could spin hoops. "When one person screws up, the whole community is labeled," he added. In that car with him, far from debates on television, his point of view suddenly made sense.

When Thanksgiving rolled up, I knew it was going to be big. A week in advance, the crowds gathered near Macy's. Those ubiquitous four-letter words made their presence felt at every turn: SALE.

Invited to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner by an American family in Glendale, New Jersey, I accepted with trepidation. When it was over and done with, I realized Thanksgiving simply acted as a fabulous excuse for family and friends to get together. Like Diwali. Or a cousin's birthday: Relatives pouring in, everyone helping in the kitchen, teenagers lounging before a television, men discussing football in great detail, and smiles all around. I loved every minute.

The thing about the world's big cities is, they can be lonely places to be in. They look down upon you, glass eyes and steel arms, complacent in their bright, shiny, silence. They say nothing when you walk down their bustling streets, your heart quiet in its shell in the midst of the chaos outside. That is when you are confronted, for a period of time, with no one but yourself.

Ultimately, I left America with a sense of disquiet. I had been given a peek into something that drove millions each year to bid farewell to the lands of their birth, and venture forth anchorless in the hope of a few dollars more. It made me understand my own city a lot better, famous as it is for attracting people from across India each week, hope in their eyes.

The biggest thing that peek into the life of one of the world's great cities gave me, was perspective. Walking down Times Square -- the crossroads of the world, they call it -- the faceless crowd and I looked up, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, at the wonder that man had created.

The more different we appeared to be, the more some things stayed the same.

Lindsay Pereira is Senior Associate Editor, India Abroad

Image: A bird's eye view of New York City
Photograph: Lindsay Pereira