How I got a job, or an essay titled 'I thought I was lucky'.

I spent about two weeks looking for a job. Well, you understand that New York is a place where finding work is tough, especially if you don't speak the language perfectly, and where even is your socialsecuritynumber?? I was lucky that I wasn't asked that question often, as it was still in the long process of being issued. Actually, the jobs that Russian students can usually get don't require that piece of paper, or maybe I was just lucky and only one place I wanted to work at asked to see it.

How did I look for work? Well, through simple methods:

1. The Internet

2. Long walks through the streets, stopping at every cafe or restaurant to fill out yet another thousandth—no, wait, hundredth—application. By the way, I got to know the city that way too.

3. Plus, every new acquaintance wanted to help and would drag me off to see their friends or just make empty promises)))

I went into so many places! There were cute little cafes with small rooms, as well as chic restaurants with expensive menus... But time was passing, and not a single place called me back(( and I was so tired of lying to everyone that I had amazing work experience!! That they were missing out on such a great candidate))

And then, one fine day, when I started my usual morning by logging into my 'favorite' site, craigslist.com, I received an email inviting me for an interview at a country club for the position of caterwaitress. Well, this was my chance to finally get a job, and I rushed into battle!

The email had an address and a link to the club's website, and I immediately followed the link. Seeing photos of the place, I was shocked; it was a gorgeously furnished venue with luxurious halls! I thought that most likely they wouldn't hire me—it was too fancy!!

Googlemaps, although it described the location in detail, took me a long time to find... just like it took a long time to get there! Because I had to take the subway first, then transfer to a bus, and travel for another 40 minutes!! I also had to figure out which bus to take, and I always had trouble knowing which direction to go... it often happened that I would ride for 25 minutes only to realize I was going in the completely wrong direction!!!!

After studying the area thoroughly, I finally found the 'ElCarib' club. To be honest, it was in the middle of nowhere... far away, in short)))

Yeah, that was the place where I would have wanted to celebrate my wedding! Very beautiful, very sophisticated, candles burning everywhere, a grand piano in the lobby, everyone in uniform (I later nicknamed it the 'penguin suit')...

George talked to me, or rather, he talked and I nodded! Because he chatted a lot and asked from time to time if I understood the essence of the duties and all that. I stubbornly answered every time that I understood! Then he asked when I could start and said I needed to bring black shoes and socks to work. That was basically it! I was hired!!! The salary, of course, didn't please me—almost the minimum that must be observed in New York(( the salary was 7.50, and the minimum was 7.15... plus it was on a paycheck, which means minus 30 percent in taxes; in short, a sad salary. I decided it was time to work anyway and stop lying around doing nothing!!

On my first day of work, I was very nervous, afraid that I wouldn't understand something and would be fired immediately, but the team turned out to be quite friendly, and if I didn't understand something they said, they told me to watch how someone else did it and do the same)) like a monkey, repeating after them, in short)))

I wasn't the only newcomer that day) when I heard the boy's name was Vlad, I was so happy!! I thought, 'Well, I'm lucky, at least someone here speaks Russian!!' But that wasn't the case!! It turned out he was born in America, his parents were Russian, but he couldn't master the language!! He understood almost everything I said, but could only answer me in English. In my case, that was good too))))

They showed us the halls, the kitchens, where all the supplies were kept, where to take dirty dishes, and everything else a waiter needs to know.

Do you know what was the funniest thing on the first day?? How they picked out my uniform!! First, George gave me a giant size S white shirt and size 4 pants (also giants). He was sure I was a size 4!! Then he finally found a size 2, but I had to wear that shirt; even in size 2, I looked like a girl in a sack!! How strange! I was the skinniest waitress! Then they gave me a bow tie and a jacket, and also white gloves. That's when I concluded that I looked like a penguin!! Well, you have to agree... and everything sat so baggily on me))