new home

Well, I've been in this house about two days now... today had my first day of job training in the English Dept.'s copy center. It's all a little different. Instead of carpeted stairs I'm used to taking two at a time, these wooden ones squeak and squawl like living animals. My room is a decent size, but the adjoining half-bathroom features a leaky toilet and a non-working "cold" spigot. This is, after all, one of the 10th or 11th oldest houses in Lincoln!

I'm getting used to the idea of making most of the meals I consume - although when attempting to make scrambled eggs on the gas stove this morning, I set off the fire alarm :( Mom, I was just trying to be like Julia Child and put butter in the skillet first! I didn't have it turned up very high and still the pan filled up with smoke. Thus they tasted of butter and burnt egg. Good thing the toast with strawberry jam came out just fine! (And that they had free sandwiches in the Eng. dept... speaking of that...)

The 'monster' copier was broken when I walked in. Something about the toner being surly. But that was worked out. Things were ok. The job seems a little tedious, other than the possibility of annoyed professors showing up complaining about your copying or scanning ability. I'll go in for training again tomorrow and then again times after that if I feel I need it.

Everything is a little nerve-wracking, to be honest... But I feel like this will be a good arrangement. I've already gone to one little social thing last night, visiting a house that some guys from the Christian group live in with two of my roommates. I feel like living here, I have a better chance of being plugged into a world larger than my own, i.e. filled with people. Right now I'm typing in the living room listening to my friend and her significant other trying to work out when and how they'll spend time together. He's studying community planning and spent upwards of five minutes trying to explain to me what he thinks sustainability means.

So far, so good. I hope things go as well for Julie, who I believe is moving in towards the end of this week or weekend. Pictures at some point.