V Australia rocks! Great looking, clean plane, really nice cabin crew, good food. Walking through first class to get to my seat was torture. It looked great, heaps of room, and there was stand up bar. Kyle Sandilands was talking on his phone in first class, and Napolean Perdis with his family in tow were also there (wife, 4 kids and the hired help - ouch!) I also recognized Isabel Lucas walk past me to find her seat in economy.
A fabulous seat on the flight to LA - better than an emergency exit, no one in front, BUT... a couple with their 14 month old baby next to me. Uh oh! Took a sleeping tab and I slept better than her, great flight.
So nervous going through US customs. Had a very nice man though, who did however ask me many, many questions about what I was doing in NY. "It sounds like work to me," he said, "Are you sure it's not paid?" "Do you have an invitation letter from the university?" Arghh! The one damn piece of paper that I hadn't printed off as evidence of my elective was the confirmation letter from the hospital. Oh well, he let me through after I emptied my passport wallet full of letters detailing my NY state education department eligibility, embassy correspondence and accommodation confirmation. Phew! Now for the 7 hour overlay til my connecting flight to NY comes...
Talk about small world. Not only did a young man whose girlfriend is an intern in Adelaide strike up a convo with me in Sydney, but a lovely American lady also did so, and this six degrees of separation was uncanny! She first told me that it was snowing in NY, and said “You better have more to put on than what you’re wearing now!” looking at me in my short sleeve shirt and scarf. I said, “Ah ha, I have a jumper in my bag.” “What’s a jumper?” she asked. “Ohhh, a sweater, I mean.” “You’re gonna need more than that too,” she laughed. We went back and forth for a while about the weather before she asked me what I was doing in NY. I told her that I was doing a sub-internship at Beth Israel Medical Centre, and she piped up saying that her husband, who was slouched, reading in the chair next to her, was a doctor. We chatted politely for a while, before she dug more about what areas of medicine I was interested in. Got to talking about specialties, and it came up that her husband was a radiologist. Wow!
He was much more interested in his book than in the conversation I was having with his wife, but then it came up that I used to work for a teleradiology company in Sydney. He knew all about NRS, and in fact, used to use them. Apparently he founded a radiology group in NY, but as much as I wanted to I didn’t pry any further, including about why they no longer uses NRS. The wife was as amazed about this coincidence as I was, and ended up giving me her card, saying that if I had a spare day to call her and she would show me around. Further, when I picked up my bags at the carousel in NY, the husband walked past me and told me that I could give him a call if I needed anything or any help with the internship whilst I’m here. Such nice people! And their address is Upper East Side. I think I will take them up on the offer ;)
Flight to NY was less than enjoyable. American Airlines seats are not made for big people. I have no idea how the 'average' American even fits in. Here's to another sleeping tablet! I was in NY in no time ;)
Arrived at 6.20am, and had told the landlord of my apartment that I would be there around 9.30-10am. I flew through customs and picked my bags up promptly. Hopped on the shuttle into the city and was at Grand Central by 8am. Oh gosh, what to do? Bagel! The epitome of NY - I sat down and enjoyed a coffee and a cream cheese bagel. Mmmmm, I had arrived!
Walked around looking for a phone shop to see if I could get a sim card for my iPhone, but when the sales assistant tried to put it in, it appeared that my phone was locked - a common problem with iPhones apparently. He said it wasn't advisable to unlock it, so I ended up buying a cheap pre-paid phone, for $30, plus $100 credit. To me this was totally justified ;) Dave and I soo need a US phone!
By this time it was 9am, so I jumped in a cab and went to the apartment. Called the landlord and he hobbled down to meet me and show me in - he must live in the building. Pleasantly surprised with the studio. Quite large, clean!, great comfy bed (had to have an hour's nap after I unpacked), well heated, 2 wardrobes, lots of left over goodies from the previous tennants (including REAL coffee!), and a futon that isn't quite double (sorry Mum and Trish, and Andy and Michelle!)
OK, time to brave the outdoors. OMG, I don't know that I remembered how cold this place could be. Rugged up and with butterflies a-fluttering to stoke the furnace, I wandered down to Union Square, a familiar and comfortable area. Went into Wholefoods for some soup, the first of many meals alone :( Then back to Trader Joe's for some groceries. Home now - it’s time for a coffee and to blabber about the past couple of days. Will write again tomorrow, before the onslaught of the real reason why I’m here. I can’t wait!
