so this is the new year

well, almost. 28 minutes yet to go.

in four days I leave for LA to visit timmy and deb. four days after that I leave the west coast for thailand. I'll be there until may.. "adventure" is an understatement.

so this is my blog, the tool with which I'll be updating all of you, my beloved fans, on the twists and turns of my very exciting life. I may still send out a few mass emails just to make sure you're really keeping up with me. but whenever you're curious, just come on over and read about my life in "amazing" southeast asia.

what I know about my semester's itinerary thus far:
- first four weeks: learning thai. (pray for me.)
- the next month and a half: taking a course at chiang mai university on thai history and culture (I think?) and living with a host family.
- the three weeks after that: an internship. where? not sure. doing what? don't know. but it'll be great!
- the last month in thailand: living in the foothills of the himalayan mountains working with the karen tribe, a group of thai people who have not assimilated to modern thai culture. it's all very anthropological.

also, my address in thailand is as follows:

Kaitlin Wheeler
Spring Semester in Thailand
c/o Faculty of Humanities
Chiang Mai University
Chiang Mai, 50200
Thailand

and I read in my good friend erin's blog that it costs a mere 90 cents to send me a letter from the US, and she's usually pretty well-informed, so I'd trust those numbers.

and now the hour is fast approaching. only 13 minutes until it is officially 2008. which is, of course, the year in which all of this adventure is scheduled to happen, so here we go! happy new year everyone. I wish us all a truly amazing year.