Hello from Virginia...

Hello everyone. I'll spare you the goriest details of my trip down--to paraphrase Albus Dumbledore, it is a thrilling tale and I want to do it justice--and I only have a few minutes left on the library computer--but I am HERE and I am SAFE and SOUND.

The train ride down was brilliant--yes, I still love trains. Waking up to a windowful of the Appalachian Mountains was wonderful and being able to walk around and enjoy the ride was so much better than flying. There was a little confusion Saturday night about what building I was supposed to be in, but I got it all sorted out. The Lightfoot House is a big, two-story house and it happens to be in my front yard. I'm actually living in one of the reconstructed outbuildings, the Laundry, so I have a little house all to myself. A TINY little house, but I can listen to my music, sing, practise my chanter all without annoying my roommates. Also--my little room has a TV with cable, so I can even keep up with "CSI: Miami" and "The Daily Show!"

Williamsburg is not what I pictured and more than I hoped for. The historical area is HUGE...and my commute takes me right through the center of it. Instead of an hourlong train ride, I have a fifteen minute walk over cobblestones and gravel. Everyone here has been incredibly friendly and helpful, and CW is definitely a "family" business, in that people start working here and stay for years. The man who finally explained where my house was has been here for as long as I've been alive! And spring is in the air, huzzah, the daffodils are out, the camellias are blooming and there's no snow on the ground. I can't get enough of the sunshine--what a treat.

Then today was my first day on the job. More paperwork, more running around, but even this stress of getting everything sorted out is less stressful than what I felt in Chicago. Basically, what I'll be doing is notes on costumes that were dropped off for laundry or mending. It will be challenging--today I replaced a collar on a shirt and it took me two hours--but I think most of my fears of being unable to perform the job are unfounded. So that's a huge relief. And no one seems to think it's weird that I am dying to get into a costume of my own, so I'm going to apply for a part-time evening position as an interpreter. Next week though. I think this week has been exciting enough.

I'm lonely, naturally, many's the time I've been walking down the street wishing someone was here to witness the witless grin spreading across my face as I catch sight of a Man in Breeches (MIB), but, oddly enough, I'm not nearly as stressed out or as frantic as I was when I moved to London or Chicago. I know what to expect now with moving to a new place, and I'm hoping to meet some new people soon. I like Williamsburg 100% more than Chicago--not that I'm hating on Chicago, but I'm happy to be here. If everything continues as well as it has been, I think I could learn to love it here.