When you go on the Work and Travel program, you get a J-1 Visa. It is a work visa for a few months, usually valid until September. My restaurant is called White Dolphin; they aren't very creative with names here—there are cafes, restaurants, and hotels on every corner, and almost every name includes the word 'dolphin'. It's a typical American restaurant with famous burgers, french fries, and delicious cheesesteaks.

I work as a waitress at the restaurant, although I started my exciting career as a busser. Everyone knows what a waitress is, but what is a busser? In America, a customer is usually served by three people, whereas back home, one waiter handles everything. The waiter takes the order, the runner brings the food, and the busser clears the table and resets it—which is exactly what I was until recently. It was exhausting work, with a wage of $5 an hour plus tips (18% of tips from each waiter). One of my goals for this trip was to improve my language skills. That's why I really wanted to work as a waitress, and I've been doing it for two weeks now. A waitress gets paid about $3 an hour, and the main income comes from tips. At first, I was incredibly scared—what if I didn't understand something or mixed up orders? There were some hiccups at the start, but you know that you can't get anywhere without practice. Most people are very friendly and welcoming; they often hear from my accent that I'm not a local, and if I don't understand something, I can always ask them to point to the food they want on the menu. They often ask where I'm from. Well, they haven't even heard of Belarus here, so I have to explain that it turns out to be the center of Europe, but when I get tired of that, I just say I'm from Russia (no more questions arise).

I wanted to work at the restaurant all day, but my employer can't give me more than 40 hours a week, so I had to look for a second job. An acquaintance of mine offered me a job as a housekeeper at a hotel. By the second day, I wanted to quit for various reasons. But I have a wonderful boss and a fairly good salary—$11 an hour plus tips (on busy days). So I gave this job a second chance and didn't regret it.

Currently, I work from 9 AM until about 1:00 or 2:00 PM at the hotel, and from 3:00 or 5:00 PM at the restaurant. If I have the energy and time between jobs, the first thing I do is run to the ocean. I have a couple of days off during the week; usually, we go to the beach, go shopping, have dinner at some new place in the evening, or ride bikes.