Will you have good internet access while there?
We lived in Northway, AK for the first few months we were married back in 86 and that was a big enough shock for me (n the summer). Biggest shocks were the cost of things at the grocery store and the primitiveness of life up there. I quickly found myself without much to do so I ordered a set of embroidery floss (all the colors) and began counted cross stitching. I also scoured the woods for berries to make jam or other things tasty. My DH was working as a mechanic on a road construction job. When school started I substitute taught in the public school in Northway. It was so different. I had subbed in the lower 48--even special ed junior high kids (read...badly behaved) but I had never had such a tough group as those kids--they were unresponsive to correction by me.
However, it was so sweet--they were as cute as could be and some of the girls just wanted to to touch my silky blouse. I think it was polyester--a silky type and pantyhose seemed to be something new for them too.
We left when my husband had an accident on the job at the end of September. It had already started getting cold. We moved south to the Big Lake/Mat valley/Anchorage area for the rest of that first year of our marriage.
I read your note to my DH...he said you might need another therapist to give you therapy by the end of your two years!
Enjoy your adventure. My DH still wishes he were there many times. (But not as far out in the bush as you are going to be, quite honestly.)
If looking at the AK state fair quilts is any judge, there are a lot of quilters up there. I used to think it would be hard to be there during the winter, but I've learned to turn on lots of lights and stay busy and now I'm quite happy being in the house. Our winters here in Poland can be bad--dark at 3:30-4 pm and light at 7:30 am. It is much better now. I saw light out the window at 6:10 this morning and it isn't getting dark til after 5 pm, so things are getting better already.
Enjoy your two years there. It's definitely a different way of life than most of us have!