New girl in New York: Enormous Buddha's, tiny apartments...it's all about size in New York

Well I admit to being absent for a lot long than usual from my blog. Apologies all round. I've been a bit sick (for some reason it keeps coming back) and thus have been down and homesick, so I have learnt not to write in this state as it is more negative than anything else. I am on my way to feeling better and joined a gym yesterday so I'm getting more positive about my new life here in NY.

Not much has happened in terms of excitement over the last couple weeks. I went to a fantastic restaurant called Tao with my friends for a going away affair. It had this enormous buddha situated in the back of the restaurant. We managed to get the best table right in front of the buddha which was cool. The food was great as was the company. Throughout the week following I worked on more concept art and storyboards for Sean's short film and started writing a storyline for the music video. I also finally managed to finish my hand-out folio and make it look the way I want it to without costing me a lot. So tomorrow after a production meeting I'm going to start handing them out (and no, it wont be to random people on the street). Last Saturday was Sean's birthday so a few of us went out to dinner and then onto karaoke. We all got sloshed (my grandparents read this, so I'm keeping my language in order) and sang the night away.

This week I have helped prime walls at the set in Brooklyn. As well as meet my superintendent who naturally has some foreign accent and makes weird sarcastic jokes. Tracey and I moved the couches out onto the street so now we have a wonderful futon in the living room. I'll post photos of the apartment up once everything is in order...it's still a huge mess.

Anyway I thought since my daily activity has been fairly mundane, I'd talk about something not many people would think about. Moving to another country. The little things. Australia and United States are first world countries...very similar in terms of way of life, ideals and politics. Most people I know would never consider visiting the US simply because they believe it is the same as home. Yet moving to this country makes me realise there are so many differences. Nothing huge. There's no culture shock like one would get when moving to India or Norway, people here speak the same language (mostly...so many people don't understand me at all) and the people are pretty similar. It is those little things though that make you realise you are no where near your comfort zone. It is the grocery shopping. It takes so long because I don't know the brands or where everything is. Getting new furniture (actually new is easy, most places deliver it is second hand that's difficult) without the use of a car is next to impossible unless you have friends who have a car and aren't in the midst of producing short films. For the record I'm going to be walking down 6th avenue with pieces of my new desk on Saturday.

Just a couple things, but they are things that really make a difference. But it is all getting easier and the weather is suddenly cooler. I've never lived anywhere that you can actually tell the difference in seasons. It's perfect just now...and it's only going to get colder!

Oh for loads more photos, I have been adding them to my facebook page. Just search my name. Very few photos for the blog this week since I haven't been out to take many... promise I'll try harder.