In my wildest dreams, no one could have prepared me for this experience. While I’m really happy to be here and to be fortunate enough to be able to experience this new life, I often have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real. I do still fully expect to wake up one morning in my apartment in Arundel Gardens (with a view of Table Mountain), feed my cat, Leroy Brown, jump in my little funky Fiesta and drive to Wembley Square to join my best friends and colleagues in trying to make the world a better place through perception management of various degrees and types…

Then I pinch myself and realize that I left that life behind for love. And love is worth it, trust me. But love does not make this experience any easier. (Even the toilets here flush the wrong way around. Not to even mention the cars on the right (wrong) side of the road and the fact that people laugh at me when I use words like ‘telephonic’ and ‘herewith’.) The strangest of this whole experience for me thus far has been the lack of social network and social life. Those of you who know me well know that Susan = social and all of a sudden I find myself at home on a Friday night, listening to music, paging through yet another book or surfing Facebook for the 15th time today. And all of a sudden I realize that I’ve never had to spend so much time with myself – nor with any other one person – before. It’s a bit scary, but probably will only benefit me in the long run.

While this city is one big stimuli, I feel strangely understimulated… My biggest thrill in Cape Town was setting about to conquer the social scene / party of the moment – networking, getting to know people, connecting others and myself. Being here without those connections I sometimes feel like I’m missing my best friend (and I won’t even go into the physical ache that belongs to missing my friends! – that’s an entry for another moan-session). So I’ve had to turned my energy to other things. Reading, exploring shops where I can’t yet afford to shop, cooking (my skills are improving – ask John, the ever-willing tester), obsessing about Afrikaans music (no, there’s no Jurie Els in my collection…yet!), missing my friends, crying every Sunday night onto John’s shoulder because this place is just so big and so…different. And all the networking skills in the world still feels too meager to conquer the challenge that is the Big Apple.

Yet, somehow, I’m still here. My cellphone now sometimes ring during the day – with a call from someone other than John or a telesales person – and I’ve made some really great friends. But, if anyone ever tries to convince you that moving continents for love is easy – don’t believe it for a second. It’s one of the toughest things I’ve ever done…but really, really worth it.

The political rally leading up to the presidential elections here in America is quite different from anything I’ve ever experienced. I remember growing up the DTA (main opposition to winning party in Namibia, SWAPO) would recruit us from school to wear DTA T-shirts and go pick up garbage around the voting stations where people were queuing for hours in the deadly sun, waiting to draw an X next to their political party of choice. Looking back, that was probably my first encounter with PR and perception management… Ha ha!

That said – I’ve never really found politics that interesting nor easy to understand. Enter my time in the States and the picture is rapidly changing! Politics here is a whole different ballgame (one that I’m still in the process of figuring out, by the way!). We watched a debate with all the Democratic candidates and I was riveted. Not only could the public post their questions on YouTube – and these were aired to the candidates for answers – but we also watched the debate via CNN’s website, online. This world has gone completely technological and the political landscape is embracing that change.

What makes this race so interesting is that for the first time ever there is a black candidate (Barack Obama) and a woman (Hilary Clinton) running for president. I feel as though I’m torn between two lovers. On the one hand I really am rooting for Hilary – power to the girls – but on the other hand I really found Obama’s responses to the debate questions to be the most real. He has been in politics for the shortest amount of time of all the candidates, but I feel that he’s operating less from the ‘political handbook’ and more from his heart.

And I like for heart to win. Even in politics.

With the bursting of an underground steampipe two streets up from our home this past week, I had a tiny glimpse into what it must have been that day the World Trade Centre got attacked. This island is small and VERY populated and when things like this happen, a panic-frenzy takes hold of Manhattan and it’s quite easy to get pulled into it.

I had taken a stroll down to 14th street to go buy groceries at my new favourite store Trader Joe’s and (as is always the case at TJ’s) ended up buying more food than I could carry. Hey – it’s all organic and so cheap!! So as I heaved myself and 6 overloaded shopping bags onto the pavement in search of a yellow cab to catch, I immediately noticed that something was up. People everywhere were on their mobile phones, the pavements were more crowded than usual and, this was the dead give-away, I couldn’t flag down a cab! I ended up standing on the pavement with my hand in the air, arms wailing about while a roaming eye tried to keep track of my shopping bags discarded on the pavement and the heavy traffic – desperate for a yellow cab with it’s rooflight on. No luck.

The next big give-away was this man who walked up to me – eyes darting about wildly, shirt untucked – and said, ‘I saw the hole! It’s fucking crazy, man… I saw the hole!’ before darting off, away from me. My heart skipped a beat and I asked a passer-by what had happened. ‘An explosion at the station.’ Then my heart stopped beating for a full 5 seconds. John was on his way into Penn station from a business trip to Boston. He didn’t answer his mobile when I tried to call him…three times. For the first time in months I started praying. Trying to stay calm, I managed to catch a cab just as someone else was leaving. Keep calling…he will answer….I managed to find out that the explosion happened near Grand Central and knew that it was highly unlikely that John would’ve been near that area, but then I started worrying about our apartment block – only 2 streets down from where the burst had happened.

After being stuck in traffic for 40 minutes, I managed to get home, dragging my shopping bags down the street through the humid, moist air. When John finally walked through the door after their bus breaking down and then getting stuck in the crazy traffic that had ensued due to the whole train system being shut down due to the blast, it felt like a weight had disappeared. We were all okay.

That night we were watching the news and spotted this crater – big enough for a huge pickup trup to have dropped into the middle of the road – and I realized that most of Manhattan is double-storey. The bits you see above street level is only the beginning. There’s a whole world underground and I’m having to stop myself thinking…are we sitting on a ticking time bomb?

John and I met on a hike in Cape Point, South Africa in 2006. The only reason I mention this is to set the introductory tone for this entry. The hike was to be a two-day affair and I got invited by my lovely friend George. Never having been on a very serious hike before, I was a bit unsure about what to expect, but very keen to explore the unknown.

George picked me up early on the Saturday morning and we drove out to the meeting point, about an hour outside of Cape Town. Arriving at the meeting point, I realized that I had grossly underestimated the un-glamourous-ness of the event. Dressed (as you do) in my pink yoga pants, white built-in-bra racerback top, pink peak cap and Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, I certainly did not fit in with the profile of the other 7 girls – all of whom were dressed in cargo/combat pants, sleeved t-shirts (to prevent sunburn), Oakley sunglasses and hiking boots – the real kind that offers ankle support. In addition to getting the outfit right (depends on whose point your looking from), I also decided that rather than borrow someone else’s sleeping bag (yuck!), I’d make use of the transporting-of-goods-up-to-the-hut facilities and packed my double-bed feather/down duvet, pillow and fitted sheet. Admittedly I got a few funny looks for that one, but I’m pretty sure I slept the warmest and most comfortable out of all the hikers that night. (It was also a great tool the next morning as I got to invite John – my new found lust-object – to huddle with me under the big duvet to stare out at the valley while sipping warm coffee – Touché!)

The last thing I got right/wrong, was to pack my mascara. Now I’m not a big wearer of make-up – usually favouring the natural look over that of catwalk tramp, but one thing I’m adamant about is never to leave home without wearing mascara. It’s just one of my cardinal rules – and yes, it also applies when hiking in nature, according to me! Upon waking up on Sunday morning, I headed to the shared bathroom and applied my mascara (after applying sunblock) – much to the amazement of the other girls. I mean, it’s not that weird, is it?

Imagine my joy when I discovered the best mascara ever from Tarte Cosmetics. It doesn’t clump, does not end up on your cheeks and it gives me long, sultry lashes – even on hikes (see entry below).
The goddess who introduced me to this product, and whom I will forever be grateful to, is Candace – a New York stylista who would not let me use drugstore make-up. How do you thank someone for introducing you to the new love of your life? (P.S. John, I really still love you too!!) Check out the other cool Tarte products at www.tartecosmetics.com. This is part of being a New Yorker, I believe. And…this may well be love.

Yikes! We experienced our first non-urban hike yesterday. Fresh air, greenery, no sirens (in fact, complete silence!) and just an overall great nature-experience for these weary city-slickers. Charisse invited us to join her hiking club and, after over-sleeping and arriving at Grand Central about 7 minutes before our train’s departure, we were on our merry way to the little town of Cold Springs, New York. Incredible to see the amount of wildlife and nature that’s on our doorstep – about an hour’s train journey away. So much nature, in fact, that we spotted (and poor Charisse almost stepped on) two local snakes. Big, black and quite scary looking, these creatures are called Black Snakes and are not poisonous – needless to say we didn’t stick around long enough to find out if they were.
John’s best part of this hike was definitely the fresh berries that grow wild on the bushes – stopping often to pick and eat!Lots of cool streams and an amazing view, once we reached the top of Taurus Mountain. The days are looooooong and lazy (once you leave Manhattan) and the periods between heatwaves are fantastic. We’ll definitely be exploring more of rural New York. Watch this space…

We have started watching the news on TV in the mornings in an effort to keep on top of world affairs – as you do. Fox 5 is the leading news network in New York and automatically we tune to that for the latest on police shootings, bank robberies and the weather – my favourite. Amongst the local segments, they also dedicate a segment to ‘world news’ – stuff that’s making news on an international level. Now this is where we’d expect to find topical news on Africa, the UK, Europe and perhaps even further afield.

Imagine my surprise yesterday morning when the total international news segment focused on:
• The fact that Parisians have embarked on a program to make the city more friendly towards tourists
• The polar bear at the Berlin zoo will no longer be participating in his daily entertainment performance with the zookeepers as he has, at 140pounds, outgrown his human friends

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but this may be at the core of 65% of Americans not being able to pinpoint where France or the UK are on the world map. You think they’d care more about WHERE the country that’s intending to be friendlier to them is located? Nah…too much detail.

After being in our apartment for about 3 months, we’ve finally reached a point where we think of it (fondly!) as ‘home’. Getting here has involved many trips to ikea, moving, re-moving and re-moving furniture to get it just right, getting international decor advice and trying as best we can to incorporate the South Africa/Swedish/American decor trends to furnish our house to both John and my liking. I have promised to post pictures here quite a few times and am happy to finally be able to share these with you!

First, the view in our living room


And this is the view from the bathroom, with the frontdoor on the left, kitchen straight ahead and lounge towards the right

How do you, with all the very many outstanding restaurants that New York has to offer, defend the decision to go to the same restaurant twice in one week? You write a lengthy ode to the best-tasting soup-filled steamed dumplings you have ever had in your life – that’s how!

John and I followed Caroline (his brother Martin’s girlfriend)’s advice to try a Chinatown local restaurant on Tuesday night. Enter Joe’s Shanghai Restaurant – world famous for their Dim Sum (and lack of table manners). We just had to try it.

The trek down to dirty Chinatown and the 15 minute wait to be seated (in last week’s stifling heat) was trying, but this famous dish more-than made up for that. I’m still coming to terms that we had to share our dining experience with two other parties – one of which consisted of a very loud American who’d clearly brought his banker buddies out to show them something other than burger and fries – and the fact that you are surrounded by small aquariums filled to the brim with various live sealife, all looking desperately unhappy to be that far out of their natural habitat.

All that aside, though, this is undoubtedly the best Dim Sum I have ever laid lips on. Oh my… They only come in two flavours – pork and crab – and the rice bags/pouches contains a little meatball and is filled with a delicious soup, which you noisily slurp after biting off the tip of the ‘bag’. Oooooh, my mouth is watering. I literally spent the rest of last week dreaming about these delicious pouches and didn’t need any convincing last night when John suggested we go back for more. Done. We ordered twice the amount (24 pieces) and actually had to leave 2 pieces because we were too stuffed to finish the meal. But I could go back for more tonight. Please?