I’m excited about this job, and I’m excited about living in Anchorage. I really am. And by next post, I’ll get back to talking about that.

But right this second I’m beginning to get a little jittery, I guess, about living so far away from everyone I know. I grew up, went to college, and took my first post-grad-school job in the general vicinity of Virginia and the District of Columbia. Both times I went to graduate school were in Pittsburgh. Other than a summer in China, with a bunch of Americans, including my at-the-time best friend, I’ve never really lived outside of that 5-hour travel bubble. So, as much as I like to think of myself as an independent spirit, I admit, I’m nervous about that first dark winter spent a continent away from my loved ones. Christmas isn’t a super important holiday for me, in general, but this will be my first one spent alone. (I don’t actually think I’ll be alone. People at the library are nice, and probably somebody will take me under their wing. It won’t be entirely the same as the noisy Christmases with my family, but it won’t be this bleak, depressing thing, either.)

I’ll miss my friends. I’ll miss my family–and I do think of Dale’s family as my family, every bit as much as the people I share a blood relation with. I’ll miss Dale, until he gets up there. I’ll even miss Ella the Chinchilla, more than it seems sane to admit.

On the bright side, it’s an adventure, and I do a better job of getting out and exploring when I’m forced to–that is, when I’m on my own–than I do when I have someone else with me. I also do a better job of working longer hours, which I’ll want to do until I really have a grip on all of the things I’ll be working on up there. Dale’s and my inertia add, it turns out. :) Also, I’ll have the birds, and as ornery as they are, they make for good company.

It’s going to be awesome, and I wouldn’t have agreed to move up there if I weren’t in love with the city and the library–and if I didn’t think I could make good friendships with my coworkers. But I would feel dishonest if I didn’t admit to my misgivings.