Big Apple falls for Scotland; SHELL LEADS TARTAN ARMY.

Byline: By GRAEME LENNOX

THE streets of New York will be flooded by pipers, rock bands, models, business tycoons and celebrities as the Big Apple celebrates Tartan Week on Friday... and one famous ex-pat can't wait for the excitement to begin.

Big Brother star Shell Jubin has been living the American Dream for the past three years.

Despite swapping the madness of the BB house for an even more frantic pace of life in Manhattan, she has loved every minute.

Shell will represent her country at the Dressed To Kilt fashion show alongside fellow Scots celebrities Sir Sean Connery, Brian Cox, Billy Boyd and Sandi Thom.

She said: "I'm really excited. My ears prick up every time I hear a Scottish accent so it will be great to hear lots of them in the one place."

Shell, who has a first class honours degree in history of art from Glasgow University, first moved to New York when she beat thousands of hopefuls to land a three-month internship at the world-famous Guggenheim Museum. She impressed her bosses so much they offered her a full-time job.

She said: "I work in their education department teaching graduates who visit the museum. It is among the best museums in the world so it has been a great experience."

Shell embraced life in her adopted homeland, adjusting well to the nonstop 24-hour culture. But though she's just 25, the frantic pace of Manhattan can sometimes prove too much. She said: "I wander around with my iPod and it's like something from Fritz Lang's movie Metropolis with this mass of people moving around you.

"New Yorkers are really funny. They can come across as rude because they will push you out the way as soon as look at you but they are really polite and lovely once you actually start talking to them.

"At times, Manhattan is just too much but it is really nice to dip in and out. I live in Brooklyn because it reminds me of the west end of Glasgow and has much more of a community feel to it."

Shell, who launched a successful modelling career after leaving the BB house, is set to return to the catwalk as part of Tartan Week.

She said: "I'm really excited because they have some very talented designers coming over. I adore Jonathan Saunders and would love to try out some of his clothes.

"This will be my first Tartan Week. I was in Austin, Texas, for the South By Southwest Festival last week when I heard bagpipes. I got so excited. I really miss Scotland a lot."

Last year more than 344,000 Americans visited Scotland, making them the largest international market for Scottish tourism.

Tartan Week aims to promote Scotland as a holiday destination and improve business links between the two countries.

Shell plans to return home later this year. She said: "It has been a really wonderful place to carry on my degree but I'm on a work visa and I can't stay here permanently.

"It would be nice to come home eventually. My family is back home and I have a lot of really good friends.

"My home is Scotland but I will always come back and visit New York."

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Cab Apple: Shell takes taxi