So... I wonder, is anyone actually reading this?

If you've already found a job - congrats! If not - you've got it all ahead of you! There are still so many restaurants left to spam and so many hotels left to check out.

I recently had a Skype interview with the manager of a Greek restaurant. A very sweet guy, 36 years old... He shattered all my myths about how "I won't really need to adapt much to the English language. I know it well enough to express my thoughts." Oh! What a sweet, naive little lamb I was. Let me tell you how the interview went.

I wrote my signature email (see previous posts)... he replied that he was aware of the Work and Travel USA students, as he had students working under similar conditions (visa, DS-2019, etc.) a couple of years ago. We exchanged a few emails, coordinated, and added each other on Skype. There's an 8-hour time difference between us.

Oh, I'm an emotional girl... but I haven't fidgeted in my chair like that in a long time, seeing him online and typing something to me. My palms got sweaty, my back straightened up, butterflies woke up in my stomach... basically, just like in 5th grade before a first kiss. He wrote on Skype that he had some things to take care of and would call me within an hour or two. It was already midnight for me... oh well. I waited and waited... and fell asleep.

Day two - he's online again in the evening... I'm nervous, but not as much... and then it happened! A video call. I answer... my Peter (let's call him Petya) is standing in the restaurant kitchen. Behind him, cheerful Mexicans are running around and waving at the camera, there's a hum, noise, pots clanging, plates falling... In short, perfect conditions for a conversation. We said hello, and then he started talking... He talked, and talked, and talked, and talked. Without a single break. For about two minutes, probably... Then he stopped abruptly and looked at the camera. Well, that's it... he's clearly waiting for an answer... and I didn't understand a single word... heck, I didn't even catch the topic he was talking about! It's a good thing I didn't turn on my camera so he couldn't see the look on my face. And what did I say? Of course: "Oh, Yes, Sir!" He was clearly satisfied with the answer and continued... I really hope I didn't agree to voluntary sexual slavery. Anyway, later I understood a couple more phrases and even gave a coherent answer. And then: "la-la-la-la-la... raise me." What? Raise what where?? (I thought he said "raise me"). I asked him to repeat. Same thing again... and only when I heard "e-mail" did it dawn on me, the blonde, that he was saying "resume." The only thing that saved me was that I periodically told him: "Sorry, Petya, it's so noisy there that I can't hear most of the words" (well... I can't hear them, I don't understand them, and I can't even tell them apart... but he doesn't need to know that).

In short, this execution ended quite successfully, to my surprise. He asked me to send him my resume in a different format and asked me to study the menu. He's supposed to call again this week, and we'll discuss my salary, transportation, housing, and talk a bit about the menu...

Anyway, I'm a little scared, but I'm looking forward to it! I want to do it again! But now I always check the pronunciation of words in the dictionary... and ask Lingvo to read them out to me too. Especially when I'm learning all those dishes. So I don't get caught in another "raise me" situation again.

=)