Visa, Guidebook, Map

The lovely USPS and Thai Consulate in LA rushed my passport through, and I now have my visa for Thailand! It's gold and shiny and fills a whole page of my passport. If I end up visiting Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and who knows where else this summer, I may need extra pages in my passport to hold all the visas!

I also received a Thai guidebook and map of Bangkok, courtesy of my "in" at B&N (thanks Mom!). If I'm reading the map correctly, my apartment in Bangkok lies just north of a huge park, which will hopefully be a nice cool escape from the weather. Most of the buildings in my neighborhood are consulates. I'm not sure yet where the shopping, night life, and other mainstays of a typical city are located, since the map only lists major buildings and attractions.

I haven't yet cracked open the guidebook, as I'm afraid it will distract me from my studies. I don't mind, since this way I can spend a good part of my 16-hour flight studying up on the country. I also don't have plans for my first two days in Thailand, so I may spend it jetlagged, exhausted, and reading about places to go for the following 8 weekends.