Another bonus is the unavoidable but welcoming enforced use of Cantonese. For nearly one year I didn’t have to use it and it was getting to the stage where I had trouble forming sentences. Verbal diarrhoea is bad but verbal constipation is really freakin’ annoying! Cantonese is such a colourful, expressive language despite the horrid noisy tonal sounds and the ever evolving colloquialisms are really quite a lot of fun.

The ultimate aim though on this adventure is to pick up Mandarin and now French. Along with Japanese, if I can hold a decent conversation in all five languages I’d be stoked and ready to become an international man of mystery! One can hope.

Landing back in HK early April it was as if I hadn’t left. I had been in constant contact with a few agents even when I was back home and they called the day after I arrived. Meeting the guy on day two was an awakening. First thing he asked was how I would rate my own interview skills and then over the next hour proceeded to shoot me down over and over again. It was shameful but incredibly helpful at the same time. Apparently the opportunity he had for me before had already passed but he assured me that it wouldn’t be long until they needed someone again.

It was a dark two weeks as I once again reworked the CV and the introduction spiel. A different recruiter called me less than an hour after receiving the new CV and arranged a meeting the next day. From then on it was all stations to Central. W+1 he had lined up an interview at a client to meet with HR and line managers. W+2 I went in to see the director, W+3 they background checked me and W+4 I got a formal offer!

An amateur clown, blindfolded, rides his unicycle across a tightrope stretched over a chasm while juggling chainsaws. Nearly three months on and every day is a new challenge. Yes it’s difficult, yes it’s demanding. It’s exactly what I was looking for.

Things I do miss, work lunches. They were the highlight of the day. All those cafes, bakeries, fancy restaurants. We’d ventured as far as Mascot for a pork roll or Waterloo for fluffy gnocci. Working out where we were heading for lunch was the morning priority. And then there’s the coffee breaks, breakfast meetings, morning and afternoon teas too. Sickening isn’t it?

So in the spirit of performance tweaking,  I’m diving in depth first so to speak. No longer “not opposed” to staying, I’ve booked flights to jet off once more. A one way flight this time without obligation to return. Let’s just see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

Been keeping busy catching up with those little things that you always mean to do ‘when you have time’ but never get around doing. Hopefully the variety will bring fresh motivation to write and update more. Stay tuned, I’ve placeholdered several Categories and aim to start fleshing them out once I’ve ironed out the kinks in the new layout.