Making It

Hi. Remember me? No? That’s cool; I can’t blame you. It’s been a while. Ninety-two days in fact. NINETY-TWO days! That’s like three months! Where on earth did all that time go?!

In my last post, I wrote about being cold – which really says a lot about how long it’s been. It’s now well and truly spring, and the temperatures are a lot more bearable. 28 degrees, in fact. And I’m talking Celsius. People are rocking shorts and tees, and you can tell that summer is just around the corner – I can’t wait!

Even the ice-cream truck man is getting excited. He’s continually doing laps around the neighbourhood (like, a LOT of laps). And who can blame him? This is his time to shine – and cash in. I just wish he had more than the one song on his playlist. But no, it’s the same irritating plinking, plonking tune Every. Single. Time. Don’t get me wrong, I like ice-cream as much as the next guy, but that bloody song! Please, someone, make it stooooop!

Ninety-two days ago I was also unemployed and beginning to get stressed about my prospects. They say if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, but I was starting to seriously doubt myself. What if I couldn’t make it? Finding a job in New York, I learned, is far from a walk in Central Park. Getting noticed here is damn HARD. All my experience, it seemed, counted for nothing. I was starting from scratch. After some 250 job applications* (*figure may be slightly exaggerated), and zero replies, I was feeling frustrated and a tad stressed. My meagre savings weren’t going to last forever – especially with the poor exchange rate (damn you, economy!). I needed to earn me some green buckaroos.

But job hunting is a lot like online dating. You think you’ve found a great match, so you contact them, confident that this might be the one. But then you get rejected. Or worse still, you don’t get rejected. You get no response at all. So you find yourself sitting by the phone, waiting for it to ring. And waiting. And waiting…

Fortunately, however, this chapter of my New York story ends well. A couple months ago, the phone DID ring and I somehow managed to score a regular freelance copy editing gig at a big media company. *Insert sigh of relief here* I’ve since picked up additional freelance work at another company, and while I wouldn’t say I’ve “made it” just yet, I’m at least “making it”. As my Mum likes to say, I’ve landed on my feet. Then again, they don’t call me Kat for nothing… Boom, boom, ching!

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I said, “Brrrr…”

Friends/NBC

This is me, right now. Could I BE wearing any more clothes?! Um, the answer is no. Seriously, it’s so freakin’ cold today!  I’m wearing like a bajillion layers and I’m still shivering and my teeth are chattering. When I breathe, I look like Puff, the Magic Dragon. It’s all a bit much for this little Aussie. Don’t get me wrong, I was loving the cold (because, you know, SNOW!), but then -5 degrees came along. Not only is it freeeeezing right now, but there’s no snow (except the old dirty stuff on the street). I mean, what’s the point?! If this is global warming in action, I can’t imagine what winter in New York would have been like a hundred years ago. When they didn’t have heating. Or thermal underwear. Or, um, Starbucks. Yeah, OK. I’ll stop complaining now…

Finding My Way

If living in New York has taught me anything so far, it’s that I have a poor sense of direction. Actually, scrap that. It’s not poor, it’s nonexistent. In theory, navigating the city should be simple. I mean, Manhattan is laid out pretty logically, with numbered streets to help even the most geographically challenged among us (*cough* me *cough*). The “streets” are generally one way, with the odd-numbered ones running east to west, and the even-numbered running west to east. Perpendicular to the “streets” are the “avenues”, which are arranged alphabetically (Avenue A, Avenue B, etc) and numerically (5th Avenue, 6th Avenue, and so on). So, technically, finding your way should be easy, right? WRONG! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve emerged from the subway only to walk in the wrong direction. Actually, I can tell you. Every. Single. Time.

First of all, I can never remember which direction the streets run (I had to look it up in order to write this post). Secondly, I don’t know how you’re supposed to tell if a street is running east to west or vice versa without whipping out a compass. Do I look like Bear Grylls? Even Google Maps are useless. They just instill a false sense of security. You think you know which way to go, so off you walk confidently only to realise half a block later that the stupid map is upside down and you’re headed in the wrong direction. Thanks for your help Google, thanks a lot. Maybe it’s time ditch technology for an old school map…

Fortunately, at the moment, I have plenty of time to get lost. These “mistakes” are enabling me to get to know my new city a little better – and who knows what kind of exciting things I’ll stumble upon along the way.

New Arrival

Well, I made it. After months, and months, and months of talking about it (and a painfully long flight), I finally made it to the Big Apple. Yup, that’s right – it really happened. I had to pinch myself hard as I stood at baggage claim at JFK airport. (Not because I thought I was dreaming, but because it was all I could do to keep myself awake. Note to self: if your doctor asks if you’d like sleeping pills for the flight, say yes. Always say yes.)

I collected my luggage; threw on six jumpers, a jacket, beanie, scarf and mittens, then headed out into the icy night air to hail a good ol’ NYC yellow cab. (I’m such a Noo Yawker already!) As we drove bumper-to-bumper into the city, I stared out the window until, eventually, the dazzling Manhattan skyline appeared, welcoming me just like Taylor Swift said it would. I couldn’t help but smile: this is my new home.

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New Year, New York

What I learnt in 2014…

Lesson 1,763: when it comes to commitment, I kinda suck. I started this blog with the noble – somewhat overly ambitious – intention of writing an entry every couple of weeks. Pah! I thought. Piece of cake! But, given I posted my last (and only) entry  in March, that puts me some 18 posts behind schedule. Oops. Even my automatic WordPress post-reminder service has lost faith in me. After a few months, it just stopped emailing me (real mature). Suffice to say, if there were an award for worst blogger, I’d be preparing my acceptance speech right now.

But today is a new day – and a new year – and as I’m New York bound in just a few short weeks (yikes!), I thought I should give this blogging relationship another go. In the meantime, there’s lots to do – who knew moving countries was so hard?!

Happy New Year!

Luck be a Lady (Liberty)

I’m not exactly what you would call lucky. I mean, sure, I was born and raised in the so-called “lucky country”, and am fortunate enough to have amazing family and friends, a great job, and a roof over my head, but I’m not “lucky”. At least not in the arbitrary “I-just-found-$50-while-walking-down-the-street” sense.

I don’t win raffles, or meat trays at the pub. I rarely pocket more than $2 from a scratchie ticket, and I haven’t won a game of bingo since 1989 (I haven’t actually played bingo since then, but that’s beside the point). Heck, I’m even unlucky in love – really, really unlucky, actually, but that’s a whole other blog post (or 1000). Yet, somehow, last week, my luck changed. I officially won one of the most exciting lotteries out there – the US Green Card lottery.

I know what you’re thinking: Is that even real? Well, I’m here to tell you that it is. And not only is it real, but real people actually win it. People like me. Crazy, I know. Did I mention I’m a winner?!

So what does a girl from Oz do with a US visa, you ask? She packs her life into a picnic basket, grabs her best ruby slippers and heads to the Emerald City (aka New York), of course!

Stayed tuned and follow me on this adventure as I prepare to trade in Sydney for New York.

Departure date countdown: Approx 9.5 months