Jumping on the band-wagon of blogging...

Alright, I told myself, as well as everyone else in my life, I'd never have a blog. But, seeing as how I am taking off in almost two weeks for Ao Luk, Thailand, and my parents are becoming increasingly nervous about my well being, this seemed like the most resourceful way to stay in touch with family and friends. Read it, criticize it, don't read it, use it as a screen saver--I don't mind as long as you're checking it daily to make sure I have not caught Japanese Encephalitis or been trafficked into the Thai drug cartel...(just kidding Mom..sorta!) My send off date is September 30th, 2009 from LAX and won't return until December 22nd, 2009.

A few things to know about my travels:
-The program is called Global Vision International (gvithailand.blogspot.com--check out their blog to see weekly updates on what exactly we're doing!)
-I'll be with approximately ten other volunteers of all ages and nationalities
-Dorm style living (ew?) eight to a room with bunk beds and no privacy...should be interesting
-The town is named Ao Luk which is in the Southern province known as Krabi (Krabi is more touristy but Ao Luk is extremely rural and has more of a jungle type atmosphere compared to the beach scene in Krabi)
-The program lasts ten weeks
-The first four weeks I will be completing an intensive training process which will end with me earning the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate
-The next two weeks are for touristy travels such as kayaking, hiking, visiting temples/ancient ruins, and beach bummin' it (obvi) as well as adding various Thai cuisines to my list of meals I can actually cook (so far that list consist of pasta, pizza, chicken Marsala--or really anything with mushrooms--and some bbq'd items here and there...needless to say there's room for improvement)
-The last four weeks I will have my own class of Thai students where, hopefully, my students will pass their English exams to promote themselves to the next level of learning English as well as give myself a sense of relief that I came to Thailand and did exactly what I had set out to do!
-I will definitely be meeting up with some friends from La Jolla who are traveling in and out of Thailand while I am there--if you know of anyone else (assuming people are actually reading this blog...) give them my email, I'm always down to meet up with anyone!
-Last thing, here are the addresses where I can receive mail and packages:
Mail:
Hannah Bayer
PO Box #7
Ao Luk, Krabi 81110 Thailand
Packages (hint hint):
Hannah Bayer
253 M. 2
Ao Luk, Krabi 81110 Thailand

Alright next time I "blog" (can't believe I am using that term) it'll probably be in Thailand!