Part-Time Work Experience...打工經驗...バイトの経験

I have always wanted to work part-time (something not in the office as i've already got experience working in a law office as a student clerk) and i attempted before to get a part-time and i actually got one as a waiter at a Malaysian restaurant....but i did not go as i changed my mind last minute thinking it would take up too much of my time.

However, this yr i changed my mind again. I thought i should try it out as it would be a good learning experience to try something different. So i applied for a few waitering jobs and most did not reply. However, one did and i was told to go in for a trial period. I was however not used and only worked 2 shifts. I learnt some stuff there like folding the paper napkins and opening wines and beers using the cork-opener and can-opener, stuff i didn't know before.

Then i applied and got a new job at this high-class expensive Japanese restaurant as a waiter. I was overjoyed initially when i got the part-time job as a waiter as i thought it would be a good opportunity for me to use my Japanese and also since it was so classy, the work should be easy. Boy was i sOOOOOO WRONG.....the pay for trainees was really extremely low $20 for the lunch shift and $30 for the dinner shift...which means however many hours u work, u still got payed the same...and it took up alot of my time with lunch shifts being from 11am to 3 30pm and dinner shifts being from 5pm to 11-12 30am (once i only left at 12 30am! it was a friday night)....and thats not the worst part, the worst part was that i and all the waiters and other trainees had to not only set up the tables and mop the floors which would have been within our jobs but we also had to wash the plates and dishes AND trainees alone had to also wash the BBQ pits which was THE WORST cos it was so greasy and the smell was really bad for the health...and trainees mean 14 shifts before u can become a formal employee getting $8 per hour...which is still low...

So i quit the place this week....i thought it wasn't worth it cos it was taking up alot of my study time and also the pay was low and also i had to wash some dishes and most unbearably the BBQ pits.....but i definitely DO NOT regret having worked there as i learnt alot in my 5 shifts there (yes i only worked for 5 shifts) Cos we had to do everything, we also learnt everything....i learnt how to arrange the table cos it was one of those classy places where u had to arrange everything nicely and also how to arrange the tables for reservation which was different again, putting menus, ordering drinks using the touch monitor,how to prepare sauces, prepare kimchi,how to wash dishes fast and also how to wash BBQ pots fast cos if you wash slow, u will never finish! I also had some fun with the other waiters most of whom were nice and helped me alot cos i was new. We would eat the left-over food untouched by customers by taking it to the basement and eating it or when a nice waitress Sou scooped ice-cream for the customers, she would always secretly eat some of the green tea ice-cream and feed me some too! haha...we would joke about getting something from the restaurant for giving us such low wages... i would also secretly eat some of the kimchi (served for the Japanese BBQ) whilst preparing it....this was all done in the basement where the freezers were....cos the restaurant was big and they had a main kitchen, a sushi bar, a drinks bar, and a basement....as well as karaoke rooms and even a japanese style bar....with japanese girls serving drinks and talking with the japanese male clientele!!! It was the first time i had seen a japanese style bar with girls and all and i even saw the mama-san in a cheongsam twice! So cliche like in the movies....the mama-san actually eats with us before opening hours but the japanese bar section is separate from the restaurant management and so we don't go there (on the top flr) at all. Throwing rubbish at the end of the night was also like the movies as the backalley had graffitti and the neon lights coming from the other restaurants, seemed like the New York Bronx area to me...

I learnt alot from this experience and don't regret it although it was TOUGH work!