Blacksburg Bound.
It’s the first time in eight years that leaving doesn’t mean going to live/return in/to another country. This time, I’m moving within the United States, to a small town in Virginia called Blacksburg to study a master’s degree in architecture.
I’ve moved many times before, but it didn’t make me any less nervous; there was more trepidation than I remember feeling when I left for Korea. I think part of the reason is that in the past; I was in a cycle of going home briefly and then leaving. This time, however, the cycle was broken by nine months at home. It’s safe to say that I got used to living there. Another factor is, that when I taught English in Korea or Spain, they gave me the town/city of where I’d be working. I had no choice, so it was easy to accept where I had ended up and deal with whatever came with it. This time, going to Virginia Tech and moving to Blacksburg was my choice and with that choice come its consequences. In its most basic form, if I didn’t like it, it was my doing. I think that was the root of my nervousness.
The Drive Down
I was anxious about the drive down. I was, and still am, recovering from shoulder surgery. When I left, I was just about 3.5 months removed. A full recovery takes six months to a year, and I hadn’t driven more than an hour. The drive to Blacksburg takes about nine, without traffic, and I was driving a loaded van whose steering is not very fluid. Luckily, Jaclyn was driving with me so she could share the burden if my shoulders started hurting. In the end, she only drove one hour, but it was a key hour, and she was really meant to be working remotely. I was just happy to have some company! I wouldn’t have wanted to do the drive alone.
There were four parts to the drive:
- A stop in Delaware at the University of Delaware to see my friend Alex, have lunch, and see the campus
- A stop in Arlington to see my friend Ian
- An overnight stop in Falls Church to have dinner with and see my cousin (it was his birthday) and his just married wife
- The drive to Blacksburg the following day
From Long island to Delaware, we hit no traffic. I think it was the fastest we’ve ever made it there. Delaware to D.C we hit very minimal traffic as well. In total it was around 5.5 hours of driving. From D.C to Blacksburg we again hit zero traffic, so driving-wise it took us about 4 hours, however we had an hour plus detour at “the world’s largest antique mall.” My sister loves antique/thrift/flea markets.
Already on the drive, I purposefully refrained from pointing out one as we passed it. She was working, so she didn’t see it. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep my mouth shut for the second time. I said, “Oh look the largest antique mall” and she said, “we have to stop!” I obliged, setting a 30 minute time limit. I had to be in Blacksburg before 5 to pick up my keys, and we were still two hours away. As soon as we stepped in, I knew we were going to be there longer than 30 minutes. The first 20 minutes she spent looking at old cameras and that was only a tiny corner in a small section of the store. It was massive, the biggest I’ve ever seen. It was so big the aisles had street signs. My parents were only about 20 minutes behind us, so they also stopped. We could have left her and they could have picked her up on the way back. She still wouldn’t have made her way through the entire store. It ended up being fine. They had a café with freshly made egg salad and a delicious lemon blueberry cake. It was better than anything a typical rest stop could have provided, and it was a memorable experience.
On Wednesday, August 12th we made it to Blacksburg. My home for the next three years.