I’m switching up the format of the blog a little because the day by day layout that I was using previously could get boring. It would involve a lot of “so today I had work...blahblahblah”. Not that I think work is boring AT ALL. In fact, it’s the opposite and is the topic of this post! Being American and working in a restaurant in New Zealand is a very interesting endeavor for a number of reasons. There isn’t a language barrier (per say; if you read my tartar sauce situation from the previous post you’d understand. Also, apparently ‘tea’ means dinner over here...what) but there are some differences that can make for great entertainment. The girls and guys that I work with are just brilliant and they very quickly made me feel at home. Plus, there’s a lot of banter that gets thrown around, mostly from Eliza. It’s quite fun. Recently we’ve started writing each other little notes. Sometimes they’re cute but most of the time they’re punny and have to do with customer situations. For instance, Eliza wrote one for Kelly, our manager, that said “Are you a customer? Because you have me running around with a fake smile on my face all day.” I wrote one for Ruby after this lady came back to the coffee station with her almost finished hot chocolate and said very rudely “Aren’t hot chocolates meant to be hot?” (this being 17 minutes after she’d ordered it, so she’d had the coffee for going on 10 minutes at least and - this might come as a shock - drinks will start to get cold if they aren’t touched for a while). We remade it for her, but we weren’t happy about it. So I wrote her a note that said “You’re as hot as a hot chocolate that’s been sitting out for 10 minutes. But I’d still half drink you.” At least then we could laugh about it and not be mad any more! This leads me to rude people. People can just be so rude, honestly. It’s shocking. And I don’t mean to say that for everyone to think that I’m meaning specifically in New Zealand, because I definitely don’t. Just in general, people can be so rude. Here are a couple of examples. I was working at the cafe in the surf club recently, and I was making the coffees (I’ll talk about that later, it’s rather exciting!). Towards the end of the day, I made this man a long black which, for those people like me that don’t actually drink coffee, is essentially a double shot of coffee plus hot water. When he took the lid off, he immediately started griping about how it was “coffee flavoured water” and that the “standard used to be higher here” and all this other stuff. Now remember, this is the end of the day, so I’d made a ton of other long blacks that day in the exact same way with no complaints. Anyways, I very politely said something along the lines of “I’m sorry, I put in the standard amount of water, but I’m more than happy to make it for you again and put in less water.” I remade it for him, and then when I brought it back he was all happy and said “Cheers, mate; thanks so much for that.” I think he must have realized how rude he’d been and was trying to make up for it… It’s really hard to adhere to the “the customer is always right” when people are rude to you, or especially when they’re just wrong. Like the time I was marginalized for my citizenship. Okay, I might be a bit dramatic when I say that, but it’s pretty much true. This man came up to the counter to tell Ruby, who was making coffees, that their table number had been removed from their table outside by a member of staff and he was concerned about their food being delivered correctly. He wasn’t very nice about it. We looked for his number in the pile of numbers on the counter and couldn’t find it. So Ruby asked the man if he knew which waitress had taken it so she could see if she had left it somewhere, and he replied “yes, the American one.” Ruby looked over at me, because I was the only American on staff that day (also I’m the only American on staff anyways, besides Sam), and I had to very awkwardly say “I’m so sorry, I haven’t cleared any tables in the last half hour because I’ve been delivering coffees, but I can go back in the kitchen and make sure they know where you’re sitting so you can get your food.” He went off in a huff after saying “that’d be great” in a nasty attitude. But that’s not even the best part. About 40 minutes later, when they had finished eating and left, I went to clear their table….and found their table number on the ground under their table. So basically, no one cleared their number and I was blamed as the American. Such a weird day. But that’s not everyone that comes in! Most people are very nice, and I have a few customers that I deliver coffees to every single morning. I’ve memorized who gets what so they don’t have to direct me any more. It’s a pretty cool feeling, to have your own personal regulars. And I can tell they appreciate it. Also, I have the “Where are you from?” conversation about three times a day, and it’s nice that people actually seem that interested in my life. It’s cute and a nice way to talk about home all the time. In even more exciting news, I’m learning how to make coffees! Which is ironic because I don’t even like coffee. Bex and Ruby are training me on the big fancy machine, where you have to make the shots by pressing the ground coffee and then running water through it. Then you steam heat the milk and ‘stretch’ it to make it foamy, and add the hot milk to the coffee with the right about of milk to foam ratio for each type of coffee. It sounds confusing when I write it like that, and it definitely is a little bit, but it’s pretty fun. Now I know how to make most coffees, and what the differences are. Two months ago I definitely wouldn’t have been able to tell you! What’s really great is that the other day I was told that the flat white I had made was “lovely,” so there’s progress! I definitely need to work on my art designs though, I’m not super creative yet. Ruby and Bex make such pretty coffees, hopefully I’ll learn before they leave me in February. Sad face. It’s such a nice feeling to work at a place where I’m genuinely working with my friends. We all work hard, but have a ton of fun doing it and we all work really well together. And we hang out outside of work as well; last friday I went over to Megan’s with Rachel to get facials from nutrimetics, which was really cool (see Megan, I included you!). As Eliza put it the other night, we’re all “real friends” not just “work friends.” It’s really great to be working with people that care about you, and I wouldn’t have it or them any other way. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of other work stories for you by the end of my time here, but the next post will be all about the adventures I’ve gone on in my time off! No hints other than that though. Catch ya later!
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Meet AnyaHi, Hola, Bonjour, Ciao!
I’m Anya Phillips, a data analyst and travel enthusiast who is always on the lookout for the next adventure! Categories
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