First Shift

I've just got home from my first shift at Searock Bar. Compared to what I'm used to on festival bars, the work is pretty easy, it's just a case of learning the ins and outs of the bar and the system they use there. None of the staff ran off with a till float with £2000 in it, no one passed in the stock lorry after snorting too much Ketamine, none of the customers jumped over the bar and stole four bottles of Jägermeister (this things have all happened on my bars at festivals...) so it was pleasantly calm! The tills are easy to use once you know your way around them and everything else is pretty easy. Certain beers go in certain glasses, different glasses for soft drinks and spirits, y'know, the usual. The most annoying thing is remembering all the different names of all the wines and the switch of the house wines at happy hour, but I'll be fine after I've done a few more shifts. 

The thing I love most of all is the location of my bar! This is my view walking to work, from when I hop off the bus at Circular Quay, to just as I arrive....

This is the outside area, you can see how amazing the view is, it's literally right on the water looking straight out to the harbour bridge!

The people I work with are nice too. Today, there was Emma, who was the girl I did my trial shift with,  Sean, who's been working there for several months, and Marcus, who's a German boy working out here on a holiday visa. The bar did get busy but it was nothing compared to the mayhem I'm used to and apparently that's about as busy as it gets, so that means it'll never be horrendous. We have to clock in and out with a proper little time card which you put into a machine and it stamps the time onto it, which is so bizarre for me! I'm used to just signing a bit of paper. I think it's good for me to work in a smart bar and do things a bit differently, as running a festival bar is more about the man-management, whereas here its about the service.

I worked from 4pm-11.30pm and so at $20 I've made $150! In one shift! We do get taxed 25% though (we can claim it back) but it's still a hefty bit of money for one evening. I've got to fill in a load of paperwork tonight regarding my visa, my tax file number blah blah and hand it in tomorrow so that I'll be paid for this weekend. What I like about Searock is that it's run pretty efficiently because it's an upmarket bar, and so no hours get left out and no one will ever be under paid. 

I closed the bar with Sean and Marcus, and Sean taught me how everything was done and explained to me what the standard our manager Anton was expecting for everything. Apparently his pet hate is splash marks on the edges of the bar, so that's one to remember! Once I get the hang of things I'll be cocktail trained so that I can do everything. It seems that everyone's expected to do a bit of everything, whether thats bar-backing, cocktails, general service etc. so today was a bit nuts as they were having to teach me everything all at once.

Here's a few candid shots I got of the inside of the bar as we were closing down...

It's not particularly glamorous, but it is smart and the bar's main attraction is the location and the view - it's a bit of a tourist hotspot so it draws a lot of people who're just stopping in for a nice drink whilst they're in the harbour. It's not a place we'd all go out to, but I'm happy because it just works for me because it's a fun place to work and has got good pay, and it never really closes later than 11pm so I won't be working stupid hours which is nice. Plus, two of my friends, Grace and Kellie, work in our sister restaurant next door (where we only pay $7 for any food when usually everything is at least triple that! Score!) so I can see them and go to and from work with them on the bus if our shifts coincide.

All in all, it seems like this job is going to work nicely for me to help get some pennies in so that I can travel in the Christmas holiday!

I'm working from 1pm tomorrow and need to be up much earlier in the morning to get stuff done so best be off to sleep now.

B