#dayfiftyone

Still some problems with the VPN today.

I managed to stream a little Netflix in the morning and watch this cool show called 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'. It's set in Australia in the 1920s has an old-timey, Agatha Christie vibe to it, I love it so far. And I love Agatha Christie too.

AS invited me to join her and CI at a local bookstore in our city that has a decent English selection. I grapped all night with whether I should go or not since I've been feeling pretty tired during Golden Week. But I woke up and finally decided to just go since it would also give me an opportunity to tell CI that I'm leaving our school away from work.

As it turned out, the incessant rumour mill at work had already reached CI's ears and he mentioned my leaving when he, AS and myself had gotten into a taxi. I confirmed it and CI took it better than I expected. I thought he would be more upset since he was quite upset after finding out about C's dismissal. But I guess having an inkling about my leaving prepared him better for it. CI's a really nice guy, but doesn't like change, which I can understand. I told him my reasons for leaving and assured him that I'll do everything I can to help him before I leave the school.

I also plan on giving CI my current cubicle. He's seated nearer to the office door and it'll be horrible to sit there during winter when teachers and students come in and out; he'll get a blast of cold air from the wintry hallways. His current cubicle was my old cubicle when I first started at the school. My old colleague, JO, left four months after I started and I got her old cubicle, which is now my cubicle. She helped me a lot before I left and answered so many of my questions. She even left some of her old stationery and desk organisers for me, so I'm going to leave them for CI too. JO also gave me a lot of her old utensils and gym equipment when she left China and I got my own apartment, urging me to 'pay it forward' with any new friends I make. Even though it's sad to leave, it'll be good for me to finally honour JO's words in some way and help CI out before I go. He can even get my work computer which works way better than his, lol.

After that conversation in the taxi, myself, AS and CI actually had a nice time in the bookstore. There was only one section for English books, but it had a decent selection of new bestsellers and classics too. I ended up buying an Agatha Christie novel I hadn't read before and 'Big Little Lies' by Liane Moriarty. P raved about the TV show a year ago and I still haven't watched it, so I thought reading the book beforehand would be nice. I haven't bought books in years, so it was a good experience to wander around a quiet bookstore and enjoy some tranquilty.

AS, CI and I found a Starbucks in the mall where the bookstore was and got some coffee and food. I also brought a chocolate muffin and a slice of cheesecake because I kept trying to order those things last week and Starbucks kept running out. So I spent way more money than I should've, lol. Still, it was nice and relaxing reclining at Starbucks and talking to CI and AS about work, travelling and even our families. We talked for hours and it's the most at ease I've felt in a long time.

We finally got a taxi home at 15:00 and I got home close to 16:00. I made an early dinner of fried chicken and vegetables and watched the first Kingsman movie on my hard drive since the VPN was out again. I had a cocktail after dinner, which made gave me a nice buzz while working on Katie's portrait. But I only did it for a short time when I started feeling funny. I thought it was just the alcohol or X's proberbial ghost haunting me again, but it was actually my nasal passages getting blocked and making my head feel dull. So I got ready for bed and used my nasal spray. It helped after a long while and I started reading 'Big Little Lies'. It's a good read so far, but I had to put it down when I started getting sleepy.

I started fleshing out ideas for a short and silly rom-com, but I only did a little because I couldn't Google anything because the communist country where I live sucks (no names in case they read this, haha). Maybe I can do more on it tomorrow if the VPN behaves.

Golden Week is nearly over again and I'm bummed out. It means I'll have to go back to work and start my job hunt again. My speaking assessments start next week which should be oodles of fun (not). I'm not gonna stress about it though and just try to prepare my students as best as possible.

X is still in my head and heart, just like always. I'm beginning to accept it, even if I don't like it much. She's going to live there until I eventually evict her and she takes up residence elsewhere. So I guess she's an emotional squatter for now. I guess she's always been that in more ways than one, and not just in our relationship.

Wow, food for thought...

I have to return a package to a vendor tomorrow and after that, the whole day is mine.