Space Chimp

I have just come back from a three day 'last hurrah' farewell tour of Edinburgh (and more specifically The Cumberland) courtesy of an extended overdraft and a raped credit card. Perhaps not such a wise move. Now in stasis between the empty pint glass that is the summer, and the fresh Asahi waiting eight time zones away in Japan. I am supposed to be sorting out all my crap since I have three days, two hours and twenty minutes before I disappear for ten months to Yokohama. My desk is littered with evidence of the summer. My brother has amusingly left a chlamydia advice leaflet on my desk in an attempt to make our cleaner think that I might be hiding something (not a very subtle place to leave it if I had). Hendo's thoughtful birthday present, 'Shane Ritchie reads Rags to Ritchie...the story so far', is under a pile of fourteen thousand ugandan shillings, roughly four pounds sixty. Travelex receipts, ticket stubs, twenty first birthday invitations and half arsed attempts to practice some Japanese before I go are surrounded by a pirate's cave worth of loose change of varying value and currency.
People from last year's Japanese course are already settled in to a life of Tokyo, tempura and tutorials... posting status updates on Facebook about how they can't believe how much Japanese they have spoken today. Its all getting a bit real. I feel like Ham the astro chimp, doing a few final checks before launch.