New York, New York

I think one of the crucial things to mention about New Yorkers is that they can speak for like, 30 seconds before you realise they haven't said anything at all. Their accent is distinct, and so very different from Bostonian! They use a lot of filler words, especially young people our age, so you'll have a conversation where they're like "Yo, and I was like yo, homie we from the east side, crazy whack man, we come over from my hood, like east side represent man, like yo, what choo talkin bout girl, like yo, that is whack..."
And repeat.

Breakfasting

I love their accent and the code of the street for many young and hip New Yorkers was awesome to observe. Oh, and our hostel was far better than our last atrocity of an experience in Washington DC *happy face*. Annie refers to me as Hurricane Katrina when I get into bed at night though, apparently I'm terribly awkward and loud and rustle a lot in my sleep. Again, I saw no one offer to sleep on the top bunk or complain when I generously let them have the bottom bunks, even after they were so mean and made me take off the Mighty Liberty.

The neighbourhood our hostel was in

NYC baby

Those cabs!

We woke up, the air was crisp and we headed downtown to some funky New York delis for breakfast. The street scene in NYC is so cool. It's all about eating, friends, morning coffee and dog walking down 5th Ave. We had delicious eats and we couldn't help feeling invincible as we strutted down the street, all dressed to perfection (NYC is dress to impress, hands down), morning coffee in one hand, and doing our best to impersonate Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte in the meantime. Just on dog walking actually - this clip (another childhood favourite, yay) depicts the dog walkers in NYC perfectly! There were a) so many dogs and their owners about and b) like-dog-like-owner prophecy of NYC holds true folks. We spent a great time of time giggling uncontrollably about the couples we saw.

like-dog-like-owner

Russian

We saw Charlie Pickering whilst we were strutting, he noticed that we were Australian. Bridge seemed to know who he was and made a big deal about it. And I obviously just nodded along and pretended to care. (Seriously, no idea who he is).According to Wikipedia;

"Charlie Pickering, an Australian television presenter and comedian. He is best known for his appearances as one of a panel of four hosts on the comedic current-affairs or infotainment program The Project, previously known as The 7PM Project."

The Rockefella - ahh bliss! The view was fantastic, NYC baby. It's unbelievable to think about how long I've waited for this. Even though the photos will be forever marked as Annie looking like a Russian communist and me a private school girl, it sure was memorable. I did have a strange longing to go home and watch that fantastic episode of Dr Who in Hooverville though. And this fantastic world-known photo will always mark the experience for me.

Sigh

Favourite

Statue of Lib in the background

The girls

My favourite!

Russian and the schoolgirl

Captures this perfectly

America Girl. Never have I been so depressed in my life. These little American girls prance in with their parents and make identical dolls to themselves, choosing all the custom features and making creepy copies of themselves. After my feminist and pop culture courses I find it hard to engage in pop culture stuff without getting seriously depressed at what society is coming to. It's all about having perfect little blonde bobbing dolls that are of perfect size and nature, and mimic your real self. The shop was a nightmare. If you cannot point out at least 20 things wrong with this whole conception of making little American doll clones then you shouldn't be reading this blog. Nor should you ever contact me again.

People say Times Square is overrated. I 100% disagree! It was everything I had dreamed it would be - full of energy, bustling excitement and people, people everywhere. The cabs lined the streets, aggressively honking their horns at the horrendous traffic and the lights lit up my world. An amazing sight. Something you've simply got to see, kiddos.

America is great at making sure you never forget what country you're in

Amen

The city has so much energy

Love it

M&M factory Times Square

Favourite photo

We headed to the 9/11 memorial to be reminded of the power of human tragedy that is still very much alive in the hearts of all Americans. The security around there is hectic, the queues were a 2-hr wait to see it, and the memorials and museums portray a national disaster that has not been forgotten and fueled a new era for the United States. New US legislation, reallocation of police and FBI resources and whole new departments specializing in national security. I didn't know that the planes headed for the World Trade Center departed from Boston Logan Airport actually, and the terrorists entered the US on student visas. 

Classic America

We had a breakfast at Tiffany's moment, recreated from the film

We paid our respects and headed to where the magic happens - Wall Street. Outside the stock exchange we overheard a tour guide saying that he took a tour of Australians around once and they famously said that "When Wall Street sneezes, Australia catches a cold". Thank you America for continually reinforcing the fact that the rest of the world relies on your wisdom. 

So much fun

Are you sick of my face yet?

Me and 'Darlin

We did a lot of deli snacking and NY coffee-drinking throughout the day, soaking up the NY foodie scene. We met up with other Xchangers that joined us in the big city and headed up the Brooklyn Bridge. And if you were on the Brooklyn Bridge that crisp Saturday evening, you would have heard a group of Australians and Spaniards break out into choruses of 'I can see clearly now' by Johnny Nash, harmonizing and everything. For some reason, someone started humming and then the whole thing evolved into a dramatic vocal performance...I think we were singing simply for the joy of being alive.

Australians and the Spaniards

NYC buskers are fantastic. That is all.

We had bought tickets to see international DJ sensation Madeon in Pacha, an exclusive NY club. On the way, we saw heaps of people lining up for a movie premiere - people were shouting and had signs and there was paparazzi everywhere...and we saw Joan Rivers. Fantastic, another famous person I didn't know. According to (yet again) Wikipedia she is;

"Joan Alexandra Molinsky, better known by her stage name Joan Rivers, is an American television personality, comedienne, writer, film director, and actress. She is known for her ribald, deprecative style."

Cool. Word on the street says (I asked fanatical teens that were jumping up and down) that everyone wa actually waiting for Orlando Bloom (cool)but he was supposed to arrive at an unconfirmed time in the near future and we weren't going to wait that long so we chipped on. But the point is; I COULD have stayed to see Orlando Bloom.But instead I find myself wondering about why I lack so much knowledge about the celebrities of our world.

The club....was interesting. It was huge, and Madeon was fantastic. Like...super good. The scene was something similar to what Carrie Bradshaw would attend with Standford, and I'm glad we had the experience, but we finally arrived home at 3am in the morning, exhausted after our huge day to collapse onto bed. I think we came up with 2 conclusions;

1. Whilst the city we find ourselves exploring never sleeps, WE certainly needed to and
2. I am too old for this clubbing business. I won't find myself back in that minefield of spilt drinks, and sweaty people who need to go home and have a shower ANYTIME soon.

Just on sleep actually, if I already wasn't lacking enough body-rejuvenation-time, to make matters worse the city of NYC is so busy and utterly BRILLIANT that I found it hard to actually GO TO SLEEP for I was in bed just gazing and absorbing the nightlife from out my window. It seems as just if there was too much going on; shops, street vendors, people, lights, buskers...all up and about at 3am...we had the whole day in NYC and I still didn't want to miss a thing.