以前讀很多牛人“從哈佛到山區(qū)村官”，“從華爾街到艾滋村”這類標題的雞湯文章，沒想到有一天我也可以套用一下這個模版，只是我所做的事情遠沒有那么的偉大和無私，單純只為一己私欲，混口飯吃。

事情再回到一年多以前，一來想要突破工作上的瓶頸，二來想給悶著頭自學了好久日文的自己一個正式的交待，我辭去谷歌的工作，義無反顧的把自己放飛去日本，來了個遲到的“gap year”。剛開始沒想著要打工，更沒想著要去餐廳里打工，畢竟都三十出頭的人，已經(jīng)沾染上好吃懶做的世俗惡習，想說靠著這幾年的積蓄，只要控制住不買包包，日常開銷一年應該過得去。

時間就如此飛快的流掉了六個月，白天去語言學校上課加社交，周末爬山遠足加泡湯，我的日子也過得不算渾渾噩噩。但人一旦松懈下來，就容易胡思亂想，特別是女人。于是大阪城某條街某一條小巷某一個晚上，喝了兩罐啤酒之后，六個月沒有工作的不安感以及自己獨在異鄉(xiāng)的那份孤獨感突然一齊向我襲來。日文的進步速度遠遠達不到自己的理想狀態(tài)，再來對未來的生活完全沒有實際的規(guī)劃，茫然，心慌在心中膨脹，越發(fā)責備自己每天都在揮霍光陰，虛度人生。不過除了善于批評與自我批評之外，我還有一個優(yōu)點，那就是行動快。我可以消沉，天天只吃冰淇淋的徹底的消沉，但僅僅只是沉淪個三四天，之后我就會跑兩圈，洗個頭，重新崛起。我的問題就是太閑！最快的解決方法就是讓自己忙起來，因為語言學校還沒畢業(yè)，不能找全職工作，但可以先從打工仔開始，能練口語，又能熟悉日本職場環(huán)境，身心一疲就不會再東想西想了。

決定的當天下午，我就在網(wǎng)上填好了星巴克和麥當勞的店面人員申請表，這是首先浮現(xiàn)在我腦海中的兩家公司，由于是美企，應該作風不會太日本，我也能有個緩沖。按了發(fā)送之后，我就開始想象著自己穿上制服，熟練專業(yè)，一個華麗麗的轉身就能端出完美沖泡的咖啡和完美制作的漢堡......好景不長，夢沒做完，郵箱里立刻就有了新郵件的提示，星巴克說我沒被錄取，接著麥當勞也說我沒被錄取！我再接再厲把履歷丟向了美仕唐納滋和KFC，不出四小時，又被拒了！五雷轟頂應該就是當時的感覺，原來我這十多年寒窗，再加十年含辛茹苦累積起來的職場經(jīng)驗，在日本竟然連服務生的工作都找不到。我就不信，出門看了看家周圍在招人的咖啡館和餐廳，做好筆記回來研究一下再戰(zhàn)下一輪。其實作為中國人，要在藥妝店找一份工作并不難，只是我不愿意每天講的普通話比日文還多，所以能夠跟日本客人交流的地方是我的首選。天助自助者，還沒等我自己主動出擊，朋友就告訴我她打工的壽司店需要女工，終于，我得到了一個在壽司店做服務生的面試機會。

沒有想到在日本連打個散工，程序都這么復雜和正式。習慣了中國人的那一套“見機行事“，“見招拆招”，但日本人對每件事情都有自己的條條框框，就算是世界末日，他們也一定還是會排隊上廁所。打工面試的程序是這樣的：
首先，買一份打工申請書（履歷書），在任何便利店或文具店均可購得，格式都一樣，不會有差。填好之后，需貼上穿上西裝的正式大頭照。拿去的時候都直接見到真人了，但大頭照還得有。這張紙就是一個面試的通行證，有此紙，有面試，沒紙或者你打印了自己linkedin上的履歷？撒喲娜拉，你的面試直接結束。

我當時進谷歌的面試都不如這個小小的打工面試緊張，可能主要還是語言的問題。由于面試中的日文需要使用敬語，就是把簡單的句子套用上一連串前綴和后綴使整個句子聽起來在貶低自己，抬高別人，這項技能我還沒有操練得很好；再加上日本的面試除了考核能力和態(tài)度之外，還會考察你的肢體語言。舉個例，隨便搜搜油管，你就可以發(fā)現(xiàn)幾千個專門教你面試時如何正確敲門，進門，關門的視頻：

不快不慢，不輕不重的敲三次；候著，里面的人喊了“請”你再進。
進門，一定轉過身關門，再轉回來講“不好意思打擾了”，鞠個躬，走到椅子前面；
別坐，繼續(xù)講“我是xxx，謝謝你，請多指教”；
再鞠躬，挺直站著，面前的人說“請”你才坐。

這段完了之后就是幾千個視頻教你在面試中如何安置手和腿，我干脆就沒看，呼喚出心中最賢良淑德的一面就上了，不讓說話的時候就溫柔的點頭，只是激動處時仍然會稍微手舞足蹈一番，還好店長沒有那么苛刻，又或許是我的臉本來就寫著大大的誠懇二字，一次面試下來我就被通知過了。不過由于沒貼大頭照，我還得補貼，什么時候貼上什么時候入檔。一個多禮拜之后，端盤子經(jīng)驗值為零的我沒有培訓就直接上崗了。

這是我們店的全貌，連同吧臺共35個座位。大家就在這么狹小的范圍內穿梭，叫喊，上酒上菜。第一天一定只能豁出去，靠著臉皮厚才能活下來，這個前輩跟你說兩句，那個前輩跟你說兩句，我轉頭就忘了。怎么帶位，遞毛巾，什么酒水什么杯，盤子的方向等等，都有講究。日本人一坐下就要點酒，干了一杯之后才會點菜，所以酒的名字得放在第一位學習。在居酒屋，80%的人都會先叫生啤，喝了這么多年啤酒，怎么操作機器還真是頭一回，往前壓出酒，往后壓出泡，杯子要傾斜得剛好才能保證啤酒本體與泡沫達到黃金比例7:3。從生啤學校畢業(yè)后，還有一堆燒酒混合飲品要征服，雖然不及西式雞尾酒那么繁瑣，但也是大開了我的眼界。

我們店里一共有九種不同類型的日本酒，光是背名字就背了我半天，米做的，麥做的，蕎麥做的，黑糖做的，紫蘇做的等等。漢字看得懂，但讀音卻是完全不同。了解客人想要點什么之后，還得問人想怎么喝：

純的
加冰
加熱
加冷水
加熱水
加蘇打水
加梅子
...

語言真是很神奇的事物，明明很簡單的指令，但不懂的人就是不懂。點菜的很大一部分時間我都杵在那兒像傻子，慢動作，慢動作重播，才能把記憶庫中對應的單詞和釋義摳出來，好久沒有覺得自己這么蠢。英文里有句話叫那些殺不死你的東西只會讓你更強大。為了強大，為了不被酒殺死，我頂著厚臉皮，一遍一遍的練習著。現(xiàn)在想想如果我去了星巴克，來個客人說什么脫脂奶換全脂奶，奶泡打三分鐘，或是不要奶要豆奶，多沙司，不要糖，我應該當場可以嚎啕大哭。

接下來，就需要克服食物菜單了。我密密麻麻寫下了英文，寫下了中文，大多數(shù)魚的名字我都沒聽說過，鰹鯛鮭鰯鮪鰤鰻鮹，漢字我都認不全，別說日文了。以為自己背得很溜，接過從師傅手里遞來的盤子，傻眼。沒用，背的魚名跟外形對不上號。除了三文魚，金槍魚這種大眾魚之外，其他單看壽司上面那一點魚肉，我這個實戰(zhàn)經(jīng)驗只有鯉魚草魚的小孩，哪能叫得出整個水族館里魚的名字。最讓我頭痛的魚叫鰤魚，這是日文寫法，我就認半邊，叫他師魚。這個師魚，日本人給它的每個成長階段都取了名字，比如幼兒時期叫張三，成年了就叫李四，再長大一點就變王五了，其實都是同一條魚。日本人珍視每個時節(jié)要吃當季最好的食材，所以冬天吃的師魚，名字又變了。還有它的親戚，紅師魚（紅鰤），光看肉對我來說長一樣，但名字又不一樣。我彷佛看見自己就像動畫片里的卡通一樣，被一個怪獸活生生被打到了墻上還留下一個坑。除了魚之外，還有其他海洋生物，就拿蝦來說，有紅蝦，甜蝦，櫻蝦，牡丹大蝦；貝有扇貝，赤貝，鳥貝，螺貝。雖然一個輪班要站上6個小時，回到家我腳都直了。不過說實話，能夠讓你久違的拋開雜念，集中全力投入一件事的感覺還挺好的。

很難想象我以后的工作跟魚會有什么關系，但當我有了這一段經(jīng)歷之后，我真的覺得未來沒有什么是我不能做的，也許下一步就是去捏壽司吧（省去一個露齒的微笑）。

p.s. 謝謝所有在壽司店曾經(jīng)幫助過我的小伙伴們！雖然我最年長，但七七八八也給大家拖了不少后腿，下次再相約大阪走一個！

原創(chuàng)文章，請勿隨意轉載

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I am always attracted to articles titled with "From Harvard elite to dock worker", or "From wall street to the doctor in Aids village", very dramatic yet meaningful life. Who'd thought I could steal that title one day too, "From a Googler to a waitress in a sushi bar", just that my story doesn't have a noble purpose, only to make a living.

Back in a year, I was feeling a bit trapped at work, and going to Japan to polish my Japanese has been on top of my to-do list for a while. "Why not today?" That's what I was thinking about. So I quit my job, applied school in Japan, ready for my be-lated "gap year", "midlife crisis prep year" might be more accurate. I wasn't considering working at all, my sole task in Japan was to balance and build in rest. The money in the bank should be good to support my life here as long as I live with less.

After going through a lot of troubles dealing with immigration, school, real estate agent, I finally settled down in Osaka. 6 months just passed, I expanded my social circles, hanging out with friends or going for hiking at weekends. Not that my life wasn't comfortable, just when things slow down and you are alone in the middle of the night, suddenly you found yourself unemployed for 6 months and without a solid plan for the future, can be a bit scary, isn't it? Plus, I wanted to test my Japanese level in the job market by applying for customer facing roles,, and didn't even pass the Starbucks barista interview… or Mister Donuts baker one.I allowed myself to be down with waterfalls of tears for three or four days, and that’s it, time to dig myself out of this self-loathing period. The best solution for me and my ego would still be try again and get a part time job. I need something keeps me busy, on the other hand I need to further practise my Japanese and know the society better. Fortunately, I am way past my puberty embarrassing moments and my previous experiences had helped me build some anti-embarrassment muscles; I would go in and ask if they need a zero experience but passionate waitress when I see (legit) stores with "staff wanted". Thanks to a friend's recommendation, I finally scored an interview with a small but quite busy sushi bar - 魚心 Uoshin.

A baito interview can be nerve wracking for a foreigner in Japan. Coming from China made me forgot sometimes this is a country with OCD,where its people can maintain social order even as civilisation seemed to crumble above them (e.g. the victims patiently queued for toilet after the earthquake). And of course, the baito interview process is formatted.

Firstly, get the バイト履歴書 (applications) in any convenience stores or stationery. They all drafted in the same way. Basic info and a photo with suits. Think about it, they are gonna see you in person soon enough, but you still have to paste up the photo! The interview is considered over if you failed to bring along this piece of paper.

I don’t think I was this nervous when I interviewed with Google. It's just in Japan, interviews are beyond linguistic pointers, they require "correct interview behaviours" (there are hundreds of thousands of videos teaching you how to knock the door properly on YouTube). Here it goes:

Knock on the door three times firmly and do not go in until you heard PLEASE;
Enter, turn around to close the door, and turn back, say "sorry for bothering";
Bow and walk to your chair;
Stand straight and say "I am xxx. Thank you in advance";
Bow again, and do not sit until you heard PLEASE.

There are also videos showing where to place your hands and legs during the interview. But I seriously couldn't remember that much or control myself in that way, so I let go…The actual interview was not that hard, guess it had something to do with my trustworthy face. There are also etiquette to follow when you leave the room, and once you are out, congratulations, you've made it!

This is what our shop looks like, 35 seats in total including table and bar seats. At the first day, I was just absolutely overwhelmed by all the names on the menu. Fish names can wait, the first thing I need to conquer is the drinking menu. Drink order is placed as soon as you sit down in a izakaya. And then you can take your time eyeballing the food menu while sipping on something. Since 80% of customers would go for a draft beer at the beginning, my first mission was to figure out how to pour a perfect draft beer. Forward, beer; backward foam; and you need to hold the glass at a certain angle to make it with the golden ration 3:7 for foam and beer. After that, I had to learn formulate different shochu drinks. Not as hard as bartending in cocktail bar, but It's still simply enlightening.

Basically, there are 8 kinds of shochu served in our restaurant, rice, barley, sweet potato, soba (buckwheat), awamori (okinawa rice), perilla leaf, brown sugar and traditional shochu type called Kasutori. There are also ways of drinking them

Straight up
On the rocks
Warmed
Water mixed
Hot water mixed
Soda mixed
Add in plum
...

Language is such an amazing creature. The simplest request can just make absolutely no sense to someone who don't understand it. I was basically stood there like an idiot at the beginning when taking the orders. I thought I remembered, but the words sound ridiculously different when you hear them from someone else…

Well, what can I say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Now I am way past the amateur drinks-maker bar, advanced to the food order taker level:

It took me more than 2 hours to study all the fish names on the menu for the first time. I had Chinese names written down, English names written down. Yellowtail! Baby yellowtail! The second-youngest stage of the Yellowtail! Farmed yellowtail! Yellowtail's relative Amberjack!!…??? The vastness of those fish names awed me. It made our sushi bar seem like an aquarium. I can see me like a cartoon character being knocked down, and left a hole on the ground. It's a 6 hours long shift in average. But I must admit that finding things which demand your efforts and devotion to do has been exceedingly fun.

I am not sure how am I going to apply those fish "knowledge" to my future work, but for that moment, I did believe there is nothing I can't do! Maybe sushi chef for the next step? (A dazzling smile inserted).