Welcome to the gang, Chaos!
There used to be a ton of chat rooms around...many on AOL. But, most of them have been shut down because of constant flaming and underage activity. I believe ICQ still has a couple. Also, if you check out yahoo groups, every group comes with chat capability. It's just a matter of finding one that has it enabled. Overall, though, if you want a great environment with little conflict, this is the place to be.
Ann