New home, for now

I'm sitting in the room I'll live in for the next three months.
I'm tired, both emotionally and physically. I'm lonely and already missing my parents who left less than 30 minutes ago. And I'm excited for the future and the possibilities.
My room is small to say the least. It's one of many dorms in "The Village" on the hundreds of acres of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill. It smells like an up-north cottage, old and musty from sitting unused for the winter. It's one single room, with a community bathroom across the hall and a shared kitchen on the other side of the building.
I won't lie, it was a scary sight at first. The furniture, straight out of the 1970s or earlier decades, was covered with dust and and the bed sheets, which maids supposedly clean weekly, felt dingy with dirt you might find in a sleazy hotel. But after several hours of cleaning, rearranging and moving in my familiar "school" stuff with my mom, it feels a little more like home. But I still feel like I'm back in my freshman year of college.
The plus side to living on site is the possibility of making new friends. However, that seems more difficult by the second. Many of the others in the dorms are international students or visitors. I introduced myself to a couple of my neighbors in the kitchen today and started to ask them questions about the place. A girl concentrating on making lunch smiled slightly without a response and ducked her head back in the fridge. From the other side of the kitchen, a Japanese guy tried his hardest to answer my questions with really broken English. It's going to be a challenge.
I'm pretty close to Chicago, about 40 minutes west. I've got a pretty long weekend ahead of me and I'd love to make a visit to the windy city, but I don't want to go by myself. I guess my biggest fear during this internship is being alone. It's not like this is the first time I've been away from home. Quite the opposite, actually. But whether it's a fellow State Newser, a whole class of interns or other students, there's always been someone there with me. Not this time.
Who do I go to the movies with? Do I go to the museums by myself? You get the idea.
Now I'll reel myself back in. It is only my first night here, and I'm sure I'll meet someone to hang out with. I hope there are people at work who are close to my age. And maybe we'll speak the same language.