Settling In

Well, the intial anxiety I experienced when realizing how many little details I had to figure out before school starts on Monday has subsided and I'm feeling quite relaxed and happy here in my new home. As it is, I've gotten a lot accomplished and all the urgent things have been taken care of. My room is still devoid of any furniture, and as my roommate says, looks like the room of a very small person since nothing is more than a foot and a half off the ground. A bit ironic since I have about a foot on her :) It will soon be changing however since I managed to find a great bed for a great price that I'll be picking up later this weekend thanks to craigslist and a nice couple that doesn't want to lug all their furniture to their new home in Phoenix.
It's been nice to have some time to explore the neighborhood and get some bearings. I think I spent at least half of my driving time getting lost, but as a result I've discovered the location of grocery stores, the post office, Target, parks, schools, rich neighborhoods, shady mcgrady neighborhoods, etc... and am starting to get my bearings. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't since knowing which direction I want to go and actually going there seem completely different in this land of curvy streets with names that mysteriously change on you. It seems more often than not there are 3-5 ways to get anyplace here, the trick is figuring out which way will have the least amount of traffic and no tolls! Still, the trips I've made into Philly make me realize how glad I am to be living exactly where I am- close enough to visit whenever, go downtown for dinner, etc, but able to come back to my sweet, safe, quiet home with abundant parking and kids playing outside.
Whoever said East Coasters are cold has apparently not been to this area. When I went running the other day, just about every person I came across greeted me with a smile, a wave, or a hello, and the people at school and around town have been equally friendly. It's a great feeling to realize more and more each day that I picked the right place. As far as school, I'm sort of wondering just exactly I have gotten myself into since I realized I'll be taking a semester's worth of full-time study in 6 weeks instead of 15, but I guess I'll figure than out soon enough. For now I'm trying to organize my life and enjoy my last few days of freedom.