Bars, Beer, and bumbling waiters.
Today was my first day of full work. I am currently working at a Bar in downtown madrid, between "el botín" and the plaza mayor. It is technically a Belgian bar, which basically means it still has mostly spanish "tapas" but only Belgian beer, go figure. But it has a LOT of beers; 50 different kinds to be exact. In the US I have never seen a bar with over 10 brands, in fact I have seen very few bars in spain with that many brands, but it is a bit more common.
It is hard to keep track of all the different kinds. The bar is visited by several belgians or dutch patrons every day, and they DO know which kind they want. However, their accent and pronounciation is sometimes hard to pick up. In many ways it is easier when they know what they want. The worst is when they ask me for a recommendation, because obviously I have barely tasted any of them, and have a hard time remembering which is which anyways. Anyway, it will take me a while to taste them all, but I am willing to sacrifice for the job... heh heh. I did taste one that was kinda nasty though, it was a cherry flavored beer... yeah, weird...
The bar itself is cute. Physically it looks like a mix between a pub from england or holland, and a spanish bar. I will try to get some pictures up sometime. The working atmosphere isn't bad either. The boss gets on people's case quite a bit, but is nice. The workers are all cool. They are almost all international, which is kind of random but cool. I had some good laugh's with some of them. Like everything in life, the job has a downside. The downside is, of course, the low minimum wage that people get in spain. I probably make 30 bucks a day which isn't worth beans, but then again, I do not have that many responsibilities or things to do, so it really doesn't matter all that much.
It is my first job as a waiter and stuff. It isn't bad, but it leaves a lot of room for messing up. For a while today I was the only waiter around, and there were about 10 full tables. Maybe this isn't much, I don't know, but for me, it was a new experience. At least I am learning new abilities, like pouring a glass of beer from the tap; and how to change a beer keg. Oh, and multi-tasking... whatever.
It is hard to keep track of all the different kinds. The bar is visited by several belgians or dutch patrons every day, and they DO know which kind they want. However, their accent and pronounciation is sometimes hard to pick up. In many ways it is easier when they know what they want. The worst is when they ask me for a recommendation, because obviously I have barely tasted any of them, and have a hard time remembering which is which anyways. Anyway, it will take me a while to taste them all, but I am willing to sacrifice for the job... heh heh. I did taste one that was kinda nasty though, it was a cherry flavored beer... yeah, weird...
The bar itself is cute. Physically it looks like a mix between a pub from england or holland, and a spanish bar. I will try to get some pictures up sometime. The working atmosphere isn't bad either. The boss gets on people's case quite a bit, but is nice. The workers are all cool. They are almost all international, which is kind of random but cool. I had some good laugh's with some of them. Like everything in life, the job has a downside. The downside is, of course, the low minimum wage that people get in spain. I probably make 30 bucks a day which isn't worth beans, but then again, I do not have that many responsibilities or things to do, so it really doesn't matter all that much.
It is my first job as a waiter and stuff. It isn't bad, but it leaves a lot of room for messing up. For a while today I was the only waiter around, and there were about 10 full tables. Maybe this isn't much, I don't know, but for me, it was a new experience. At least I am learning new abilities, like pouring a glass of beer from the tap; and how to change a beer keg. Oh, and multi-tasking... whatever.
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