Jason | Auckland City
“At the moment I’m working in a bar at one of the restaurants in Britomart.
The last challenge for me was last week, because I have to change the bar menu and I need to create a drinks list, which is actually a gamble as to whether the customer will like it or not, and if we will get a lot of profit or not. That’s the biggest challenge for me, because I need to change every single thing, and the profit of the restaurant comes from the menu. So that’s a bit challenging for me. I’m a head bar tender, so I basically need to manage the bar, create a drinks list, and handle customers as well.
I’m from Indonesia. I came here three and a half years ago to study. I studied for two years and I’ve been working for the last year and a half. I’ve got a partner here. We just met here at school. Most of the people are quite friendly. I knew quite a lot of people from work in the hospitality world. Sometimes, when we hang out together, they’re quite friendly as well. Yeah, not all of them. Some of them are not really friendly, but most of them, yes.
When I came here, and I had just graduated from high school in my country, I was 18 years old. I didn’t know anything and I hadn’t really spoken English every single day before. So here, I speak English on a daily basis with everyone, from the workplace to school. So, yeah it was quite challenging.
I met my partner in school. She’s a chef. She was studying here for the last two years as well, and she used to work in some restaurants here, but currently she’s looking for another job. I just try to motivate myself always to be a better for my career, my future, every single thing. Well, my father also told me that you might have a better future, so you can study abroad. More people are doing something different. It’s quite fun.
I hope I get my residency soon so I can stay here forever, as long as I want, and of course have a better job, a better career in the future. How is it growing up in Indonesia? Growing up in Indonesia is a bit dodgy, you know, with the lifestyle. What made me come here? First of all it’s my father. He wanted me to have a better future, better career, whatever it is, because when he was young he wanted to study abroad, but he couldn’t get a chance to do it. I just want to say thank you to my father. Well, if I couldn’t come here, maybe I wouldn’t be independent, you know?”
