Noo Yawk

So after over 4 months in NY, what am I now good at? Well, I can catch subways like a local, and sometimes even do it late at night; I am becoming all about convenience, and get very annoyed when my glass of icewater does not arrive within 3 minutes of my sitting to eat; I now expect severe delays at airports when the skies are just heavily clouded, let alone raining (I have to say nowhere else I have ever lived is so bad for delays, cancellations and baggage losses as the US); I can do a proper fake American accent now; I can automatically convert time zones from Eastern time without first going through GMT; my apartment feels like home, and the doormen actually smile and say hello to me now (guess they think I will be here until Christmas - huh!); I no longer cringe when the Dulcolax stool softening ads come on TV; I am seriously considering signing up for some Proactiv (that Jessica Simpson could sell ice to eskimos); I know where my local Junior's cheesecake outlet is; I know what a Philly cheesesteak is (ugh); I can catch a bus to Woodbury Common blindfolded; I know the exact layout of Saks and my local Duane Reid, Sephora, Banana Republic, Filenes, Loehmans, TK Maxx and Wholefoods; I have a favourite newspaper and local news channel (more for hilarity purposes than for news - there is no international news service in the US outside of BBC world service); I can get to work in a round trip of 14 minutes on the subway, door to door, and I know which exits and carriage doors I need, and where to stand on the platforms; I have 3 standard lunches that I eat, which I alternate as necessary to keep myself engaged; I am so used to re-runs of various American soaps that I have seen re-runs of the re-runs at 3am in the morning; I have two favourite jazz bars; I know the fastest public transport routes to Newark and JFK; I not longer have to carry my NFT guide with me everywhere; I push NYers out of the way on "sidewalks" as opposed to getting shoved myself; I can mutter about lousy tourists and their slow pace of meandering; I still hate Macy's but love Saks; I consider various options to get out of the city on weekends; and I hobnob with celebrities, as shown by...
my lovely meeting with a decidedly underwhelmed John Travolta which capped off last week! Could he look any more unimpressed? The venue was Ciprianis on 42nd, and the occasion the American Australian Association's annual black tie dinner. Lovely way to spend a Thursday night I have to say. Although running across the floor as John returned to his seat squealing "Mr Travolta! Mr Travolta! Sorry to be so annoying, but would you please allow us to have a photograph taken with you?" was hardly in keeping with the general ambience of the evening. But an opportunity too good to pass up!