My first NZ job!

I got myself a job!!! Finally. Yesterday, I had my first Friday shift at Lydia's Cafe...

After nearly a month of searching and applying at various cafe's, (of which basically none were hiring) I have to say that I'm ecstatic to be employed!!

Before my shift, I was nervous about the prospect of having to make coffee since my barista experience is from 10 years ago, but I'm happy to report that my memory served me well, and I was able to pull it off! They didn't put me on coffee duty right away, thank god, but when I was offered a coffee for my break, the question that followed was: "Would you like to make it?"

"Sure" Trying to appear confident, and also trying to recall the brief demo I had earlier in the day, I set off making my latte. Firstly, I began steaming the milk. If any of you have worked in a coffee shop, you will most likely have used a thermometer to steam the milk to 140 degrees, or 160 for extra hot. Well, here they don't use a thermometer! You are just supposed to steam the milk until the jug becomes uncomfortably hot to the touch. Well, when it became uncomfortably hot for me, it could still be steamed for a good 10 seconds longer..guess I need to toughen my hands up a bit! (More than likely some people will be getting too hot or too cold coffee while I perfect this technique!) Most importantly though, I remembered how to pull a good shot, and I breathed a sigh of relief as the creamy espresso streamed into my cup, while one of the owners watched. Success! Nothing fancy, but I managed to pull off all the basics of a quality cup of coffee, and I was very pleased with myself!

They were nice enough not to point out that I had chosen a flat white cup instead of a latte cup, which I pointed out when I noticed. I also forgot to use a saucer, which I realized as I spilled a bit of coffee on the way to my seat, but nothing disasterous. Most importantly, my coffee was just as tasty as the ones I've had that were made by the professionals!

Another challenge of working in a cafe in a different country is not being familiar with the food. When "order up" is called, someone needs to plate the food listed on the little sticky note and then bring it to the correct table: pretty simple. Except when you have never seen a Ricotta cake or heard of any of the pies and filo pastries offered! And trying to figure out what is served with chutney? No idea. To be totally honest, I don't know that I've ever had chutney!

Luckily, the girls I was working with were really nice and kindly helped me whenever I was lost. Now if only I could practice my barista skills before my next shift!