Oh, Great Student! How many roads you have traveled and how many sneakers you have worn out! This blog is just for you, because you are a separate category of the population of this one big country called Planet Earth!
I always felt that this would be a turning point in my life, because everything that happens in it teaches and changes us! My path led me to Salisbury, Maryland, to a position as a waitress at the God-forsaken South End Grill restaurant.
Everything went smoothly from the very beginning, when I was still writing huge letters to my boss with various questions about work, to which answers came in Turkish, and people of the corresponding nationality kept calling my phone trying to explain that everything is gonna be fine guys))) This sweet Turkish family picked me up at the Baltimore airport and took me to my new home!
Everything was so new and interesting that by morning I had already jumped out to work to the joyful shouts of still-sleepy American drivers, who had seen few pedestrians in their entire lives, and I walked with local squirrels and rabbits for a Ukrainian Snickers as a token of gratitude. The work was not hard: smile, take orders, do small kitchen chores, set the table, and handle the bill. But there are as many opinions as there are people on how to do it all right!
Being the daughter of an epidemiologist with a Soviet upbringing, it is unusual to see fried sausages dancing through the air to the floor with croutons, which are immediately served by waitresses with a smile and full confidence that it is safe to eat. There were also minor conflicts with American colleagues. The thing is, there were many of us, unlike the customers. It was the "slow" season: the entire infrastructure of the city relies on Salisbury University, whose corridors are empty in the summer. Restaurant customers were served in turns, which were not always followed - regular customers "want" only certain American waitresses. The schedule was made by the oldest of them, who naturally took her compatriots "under her wing" and gave them the busiest hours early in the morning. It was easy to understand why: for them, this is a permanent job, unlike for "summer" students. I was surprised by the lack of desire to strive for something more than a waitress job in a restaurant, which, although it could buy a Jeep in a couple of months and pay huge money for rent. Most of the city moved to Ocean City, which is a very famous American resort that I visited more than once. There was no more work in the city; it was empty and frozen in anticipation of autumn. I decided to expand the boundaries of my worldview and go on a bus trip to Ocean City.
The city with 5,000 indigenous residents and 320,000 tourists in the "high season" and another 5,000 students from CIS countries struck me with its modernity and the ubiquitous Russian language, familiar faces of compatriots. People were just walking the streets, and someone even whittled a log and swam with a stick in a quiet bay. After all, there is no limit to originality and individuality... For the first time, I saw the ocean with big waves that cover you over your head, just like your emotions. I saw a lot and inquired about work, of which there was little left. For those who went with job offers, life turned out more or less okay; for those who looked on their own, everything was much more brutal and difficult. I realized that I need to stick to what I already have, but then how can there be progress?
