SATURDAY
Well I wouldn't have put money on me wearing my kilt this week.
But here I am on New York's sixth avenue in clan Campbell colours.
If I'm honest, it feels good.
Hundreds of others are wearing the same sort of gear (including a pack of Scottish and West Highland terriers).
Thousands more have turned out to watch and there's a lot of goodwill from the crowd.
Glenn dressed to kilt on Tartan Day
This is Scotland's big day in the big apple.
Tiny compared to a St Patrick's day parade but growing year on year.
About as truly Scottish as a Royal Mile gift shop but does that make it wrong?
As VisitScotland's chief executive Philip Riddle says: "the past does us no harm, the icons do us no harm".
This is how many Americans of Scottish descent choose to celebrate their heritage.
The US senate has given them a national day to do it.
President Bush and his would-be successors have offered their backing.
If any of that helps Scotland win new trade and tourism from America, what is there to be embarrassed about?
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It's the day of the big parade along New York's sixth avenue.
Alex Salmond's told us he'll be wearing a kilt in Robert Burns tartan.
"You've gotta get into the swing of these things" he says.
Apparently the American footballer Lawrence Tynes who's this year's parade grand marshall will be wearing his kilt too.
I guess if a kicker with the New York giants can do it, I can too.
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Lawrence Tynes is originally from Scotland. He was born in Greenock.
Although it's 20 years since he moved to the States, he tells me: "I'll never forget where I came from."
Nowadays Lawrence is not only living the American dream, he's wearing it too.
Well kind of. His sporran is made from an American football.
It was said to have been the one he kicked to victory in last year's Superbowl.
Unfortunately, that's not true.
But he has no qualms about wearing the sporran or his Inverclyde tartan kilt.
"I think it's a great image - shows we're not afraid to put on something that looks like a skirt".
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SUNDAY
I've been eating eggs benedict for breakfast most days. Either that or bagels.
I've walked the sidewalks and taken a few yellow cabs with my luggage in the trunk.
I've started saying things like "yes, ma'am" and "thank you so much".
Next think you know I'll be spelling words like colour without a "u".
What's happening?
I've only been here a few days and I'm shedding what's most noticeably Scottish about me, my voice.
I came to report on a Scottish-American celebration.
I wore a kilt for goodness sake.
And despite that, I seem to be assimilating.
It's not just me.
I heard my producer ask for "the check" in a diner. (Diner? I'm doing it again).
Even the first minister referred to the presidential elections "come the fall" in an interview for Reporting Scotland.
I guess that's what happens in melting pot America.
Multiply the effect by generations and what traditions are passed on develop and distort.
Others are rediscovered and reinvented.
That's what makes Tartan Day in America theirs and not ours.
Scotland the cringe? Nah. I'm over it
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Originally Posted by Jock Scot
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