Wednesday night.

At the Greek place. It’s pretty poppin’ tonight. The owner here recognizes me now that I have been here four times, including once with a friend. Also, I’m a beautiful lady. I can tell this man appreciates beautiful ladies. I’ve also heard his very personal yacht rock closing playlist, so yeah.

Usually when I am here, it’s empty or dead. Not so tonight. Happy to see it! The food here is really good.

How did my job interview go? I’m pretty optimistic. I did a lot of prep for it. I guess I was sort of put-off because I’m used to dealing with the “friendly fake Midwest nice” of South Dakota, not the directness of Hong Kongers. I found it quite refreshing, actually. Hong Kongers are very straight-to-the-point. It’s one of my favourite things about being here.

The first thing they did was give me a writing test. It was just a simple prompt with a 20-minute timer. Easy. What was the prompt? “Write about a time you faced a challenge and how you overcame it.” Easy! Moving to Hong Kong, obviously. I said that I took a huge gamble and risked everything to move here (true) to live my dream. This year has thrown a lot of crazy challenges my way, but the most difficult was loneliness (also true). I talked about pushing myself out of my comfort zone to go out and meet people and how it’s made a real difference in my time here. There’s no way I would have made it this far if not for the expat communities here in Hong Kong and back in Bangkok. These people literally saved my life.

I thought it was pretty good. I mean, it’s the truth. I’ve been out here for almost a year now and here I am, still swimming with the sharks, even though I thought I was going to drown multiple times. That’s badass and I should be proud, especially considering the fact that Hong Kong is a notoriously difficult place to survive without a job.

Onto the actual interview. We didn’t waste much time on my old job, thankfully. I talked about my writing projects, my travels, and my previous experience teaching. They asked me how I like living in Hong Kong. I mean, what’s not to love, right? I definitely hyped up my neighborhood since the office is so close by.

I also asked them about the company culture and highlighted it’s important to me to work with a diverse, international team. The company is very diverse. Some Americans, like I said. A good mix of other nationalities, all generally friendly towards Americans. I instantly felt better when she was describing the job and the company.

Overall, I think it went well. I hope it went well. They said they would let me know soon. My friend thinks I should keep playing the field and continue sending out applications just in case. I think she is right. Of course she is right. She has lived in Hong Kong way longer than I have. She knows how to play the job market.

I am actually weirdly motivated for the first time in many moons to be productive in this manner. Plus, I’m on a short deadline in terms of my visa, so it can’t hurt. I’m so ready to go back to work. I need structure and a paycheck and something to do besides sit around my apartment navel-gazing all day.

Seriously, though, if I spend any more time thinking about The Russian, my head will explode. How many times can we beat this dead horse until it finally dies? Ugh! It’s no different than it was with the Hot Beef Stew. The only real difference here is that the Hot Beef Stew sustained me through five months of wintertime starvation. Talk about Ye Olde Irish Magic! I love it!

Well, it could be worse. I could be the blonde woman sitting behind me stuck at dinner with some old Indian businessman. They’re definitely in a transactional relationship right now, if you know what I’m saying. Needless to say, he is taking the opportunity to explain life, the universe, and everything to this young fawn he’s taken under his wing. Snoozefest!

How do I know it’s transactional? Because he’s tracking the time on his phone. Now he’s buttering her up for a better career track by saying things like, “Look at you! You’re so great with people!” Yeah, I’m sure she is, lol.

Oh lord. I’ve seen things in Hong Kong I can never unsee. Some days it’s like… this isn’t even real. This is a movie, lol.

We gotta get this chick’s number and give it to The Russian next time he’s in town. She’s clearly a professional, and therefore perfect for him. She takes money for her time/services and he wants to spend his limited free time using those services. I should do him a solid and set him up with someone he can rely on for the services he needs. Then he won’t have to worry about making dumb promises involving giant bathtubs and room service to bored, cynical writers who will hold him accountable to his every word. He can just hand her a wad of cash and she’ll leave, no questions asked. And they all lived happily ever after. The End!

Maybe once I start working again, I won’t have time to think about him anymore. I am definitely ready to go full Hong Kong workaholic mode! Anything to forget about The Island of Lost Guys, lol.

Ugh, I am definitely ready to go home now. No late night for me tonight. I’m in the mood to stay at home and behave myself. Avoid men, and by extension trouble. Catch up on some sleep. Watch a movie on Netflix. Behave myself, like I said. Be a real, serious professional who is worthy of a new job and a visa extension. I can totally do this!

And if I can’t do this, I can always fail my way back into Thailand, lol.

But I can totally do this. I am such a Hong Konger! I showed up to the interview wearing a discount dress I bought from the boutique around the corner from the office and carrying an umbrella just in case. I am confident AF! Plus I had a notebook and my own pen. I nailed it! Confidence level boosted. Now it’s time to hunker down and hustle.

Off now. Time to go home and get some rest. Wake up tomorrow, finish my To Do List for the week, and re-approach my job hunt with newfound confidence. I can do this. Totally!