Happy... then sad... then happy again...@_@

I'm posting from my holiday hotel room in Orlando, Florida right now - trying to get myself into a new time zone by staying awake for another hour. So excuse the slight rambling due to tiredness/emotional state. A lot has happened since my last post. People have kept asking me 'Are you excited? You must be excited about going to Japan.' And of course I am, but, the excitement has been buried under a lot of sad farewells. A lot of lasts. On Tuesday it was my last karate class, and movie chillout with the Walters. On Wednesday it was my last day at the Walters, which was very emotional for me, and work, which was just really strange. It didn't feel like my last day ever. Everyone was lovely; I got cake, and a little wad of cash to take away with me (plus some English money for the duty free which I was really touched by ^_^) After a swift few drinks in the pub, my cousin Gordon came to whisk me away to Manchester Airport. And then this morning when I got on the Virgin flight to sunny Orlando, I realised that's kind of it: all my time in the Midlands has just flown past. Flying itself is like a suspended animation. You're hurtling forward at thousands of miles an hour. But unless you stop and think about it, it can just feel like you're going nowhere (and getting served really bad food). So I'm always the kind of person who looks out of the window at the clouds once in a while, just to remind myself - eep! I'm flying! And so the excitement of the journey returns. And that's kind of where I am right now. Happy, sad.. and every so often, super-excited! For example. I'm just a few hours into my Florida holiday, and I've already had two emails from ECC. One to say they're sending out my certificate of eligibility (which I need for the visa) and a second to say they are placing me in Kobe City. (Home of the beef? Oh man!) Well, they describe it as a beautiful little port city (OMG I'm going to be just like Kiki! I need a sassy black cat and a broomstick forthwith!) My housing will be about 5-10 minutes walk from a mountain and 20 minute train ride from Osaka. Wow! Actually, as a lot of people have asked questions about where/how I'll be living I'll just give you a little rundown. As I have requested, it will be in shared accommodation, I'll be with two other people according to the email.  I have been placed a western shared housing, which ECC say is: "generally modern and nice just like back home with full amenities and of course a bit more expensive. These places are usually shared between three tenants and each has their own private bedroom. Shared quarters would be a spacious living room, bathroom, and kitchen (full amenities). These places are approx. 65,000yen/month plus utilities which are paid for and divided evenly amongst the tenants." 

I'm looking forward to being in a shared house again, as I think it will be a nice way to move to a new area, and two other people sounds like a good number – I wonder if they'll be new teachers too? And, um, I hope they don't have a rota pinned up the moment I walk in the door. OK. That's enough rambles for now. I'm off to relax and enjoy my American holiday (another last... US trip with parents). Still on antibiotics for the nasty wisdom tooth problems, bah, but the last tablet is Monday. That's one last I will be very happy about! TTFN.