Gday USA Event- Letting the USA Know That the Aussies Have Arrived!

Weekend number one of my time in New York has come and gone, but lets just say we Aussies are certainly making our names known here in the USA. Having spent another intimate 3 hours with my new best friend, the mega bus, I yet again arrived in NYC on Friday afternoon for some more adventures!

Being new to the city and hardly knowing anyone, when my good friend from Australia who is now living here suggested we go to a black tie event on Friday night, my immediate response was, why on earth not?! (this would come as no surprise to those that know me).

The event was run by an organisation called “G’day USA’ which from what I have been told, is an organisation that sets out to help connect and pay respect to Australians who are making their names known here in the USA.

The subway ride to the event was nothing short of highly memorable, with a fully blown screaming and swearing attack by one young girl at another woman for taking up her space on a seat. Screaming for at least 15 to 20 minutes, scaring some other children and leaving the whole carriage nothing short of gob smacked, I sat there and said to my friend “wow, my grandparents would not be impressed that I am here on a Friday night rather than sitting around their table” – but we won’t repeat that now will we!?

Back on track to the event, we arrived to the event at a gorgeous venue called cipriani, the night straight away moved in a positive direction when I bumped into an old friend from back home and his cousin who were also in town for the night.

The food was nothing short of wonderful, with the head chef Pete Evans from the series “My Kitchen Rules” plating up an Australian themed menu, consisting of a prawn and avocado dish, a gourmet braised lamb pie, and a black forrest chocolate mud cake. Lets just say I was fed well that night, and the dietitian did give the menu her thumbs up 🙂

The host, Jamie Durie kept mocking himself for being short and Guy Sebastian and another boy (who I clearly should know the name of, but I don’t!) who won Australia’s got talent were great entertainment singing a variety of songs on stage.

Being the trooper I am, I kicked on afterwards to some rooftop bar which I am told is where the Kardashians used to live, although that means about nothing to me! I have noticed that here particularly people are very in awe of the stars, as in, name dropping someone you know or had seen that day is seen as a good thing. I unfortunately don’t think I am ever going to get my head around the craze with celebrities..but I am learning, keep your mouth shut sometimes and just smile and nod!

Saturday was delightful catching up with a fellow dietitian girl friend from Australia who has been living here with her fiancé for the last year or so. We went to a gorgeous eatery called “Eataly” which I promise to post up some photos in my next post which will be more tailored to my foodie and nutrition friends!

Saturday night was also an enlightening experience, attending my first American house (apartment) party. The typical big red cups were being passed around, along with Bud Light beer. I found the beer pong being played by the boys on the side of the room the sealer of all things typical taking place. You had the person who stood up on a table and made a speech, someone pull out a guitar and attempt to sing (although really should have just stepped down from the microphone as some would say!).

All aside, the people were actually lovely and some of the girls from different areas (Philadelphia and NYC) have kindly offered the travelling dietitian some more couches to crash on over the coming weekends..what can I say, the Americans must love an Aussie accent!

Until next time,

TD x