Moonies in the boonies

And I don't mean that in a derogatory way. I trained out to the country to visit a family-owned papermill (four generations strong) and was feeling fine about it in the morning - it was still early, the hour-long ride went quickly, and my nap was delicious. The papermaker who I've been in touch with (the eldest son of the intangible heritage keeper, the father at the mill) was really generous w/his time and expertise but sadly most of it went to waste b/c he uses tons of vocab that I don't know. As a Canadian diplomat said tonight, "that is the worst kind of fluent to speak," when I explained that I speak well enough for people to think that they can talk to me like a college professor.

So the deal is that if I can find a place to stay near the mill, I can stay and work w/them (and hopefully LEARN or at least get my hands wet, if not frozen, in the process). I just need to tell them when and for how long. This is where all the revolt begins. I don't want to go. I know I have to go. But all this urban living has wussified me and I don't want to go buy work clothes for wet and cold places, I don't want to watch the steam off my pee in the outhouse, I don't want to not have instant internet access 24/7, I don't want to be somewhere where I can't quite communicate to my heart's content, I don't want to work my ass off doing hard manual labor, and so on.

But I will. I just need to figure out if I'm going to try and get a subletter, or if I'm going to try and get reimbursement. And if I will end up spending my holidays out there, right next to an enormous tract of land owned by the Unification Church. I had considered commuting, but after going to a farewell party for three American friends and running that idea past people, I realize it's not really an option (it would be at least 4 hours in transit daily, rising at 5am or earlier). The frustrating thing is that other leads are starting to come in ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Suddenly, I'm not enough person to go around. I just have to hope the rest can wait and I can just make the rounds. I had had this fantasy of being done w/my hardcore research by February, but this is obviously going to remain an unfulfilled fantasy.