Part-time Jobs and Graduation Ceremony

In both Bakersfield and Fresno, I did varieties of part-time jobs. Unlike my other rich-foreign-student friends, I had no choice but to work to pay my bills.

I clearly remember my monthly expense total. It was $600 including rent, utilities, food, gas, and other personal expenses. I would not have survived in San Fransisco or Los Angeles, but it was somehow possible in Bakersfield and Fresno. The rent was only 250 to 300.

The first dollar I earned in US was from doing ushering in Bakersfield College stadium during the football match. The American football, of course. As I get to watch the game for free, I learned the rules of the American football at the same time.

But what I did mostly was a waitress in Japanese restaurants. I knew the menu, and knew the language if the Japanese guests came, and a Japanese waitress' presence made the restaurant look more authentic. They also provided a meal after work. Having a free dinner several times a week was a big advantage.

There is no custom to give a tip in Japan, so that I never earned a tip until I went to California. Customers gave 10-15% tips from the bill, and actually the tip kept me going to cover the daily expenses rather than the hourly pay of the minimum wage $7.25 per hour at that time.

Besides waitress, I did a part-time tutor for French, Japanese, and English.

Yes, French...I completely forgot everything now, but I was taking French classes in Bakersfield and somehow I was a top student in that class. So I was introduced to teach a junior-high boy at $10 per hour, but he was too young and so I was, and it did not work out. I always loved being taught and I still do, but I never made a good teacher.

Teaching Japanese seemed a lot easier. I had sessions with a gentleman who was so willing to learn the language, but finding a good textbook was not very easy in Fresno at that time. He just wanted to know the basic conversation, but teaching the very basic of your own language requires a lot of patience than other languages. I think I was a lousy teacher there too.

In one occasion, a friend introduced me a tutor job to teach English to a Japanese high school girl who was in Bakersfield and was staying with a local family. So I went to their house to teach her English several times because she could not communicate with the family though the entire purpose for her being there was to learn English and culture from them.

The host family's house was at the edge of Bakersfield and looked quite shabby. It seemed that earning extra income by accepting foreign students was the sole reason of them to have her in the house. The Japanese girl looked younger than her age and so vulnerable. She also looked lonely and lost. I do not know if my English lessons ever helped her at all, but she went back to Japan a few months later anyways. I realised not everyone enjoys living in US.

In Fresno, I did a house-keeping too. In my speech class, one of the other student was a retired lady, and she felt sorry for my situation and hired me to help her clean the house.

It was a beautiful house and I worked seriously, but I do not think I was any good as a house-keeper either.

So here are the lessons learned from my part-time jobs: I make OK as a waitress, but NG as a teacher and house-keeper.

Another thing I learned was that I can somehow survive with whatever I do. Though it was very financially tight situation, I never had to ask money from anybody back in Japan for living expenses. Well, even if I wanted, I did not have anyone to turn to anyways.

But I was rather proudly independent in Fresno. Young and independent...cool.

In one time I did not speak Japanese for nearly six months, and I forgot what to say on the phone when I called mother. My English seemed to have improved. Still keeping As from the classes except for English literature (B) and Calculus (C).

Oh, I hated Calculus and I still do. I spent one summer only doing Calculus full-time, but I never got it. It is such an irony that I married a man who loves Calculus and Physics than any other subjects. Those are the two subjects I never appreciated.

After one semester in Fresno City College, I graduated from Bakersfield College with honors. The Class of 1993. I was happy attending the graduation ceremony with honors' yellow belt, but no one managed to attend it from my family. My mother could not afford to fly, and I do not recall why my uncle did not bother to drive from Los Angeles. Anyhow, a few friends attended the ceremony for me, and I was happy enough with that.

Now I secured the minimum AA degree, so that I transferred to Cal State Fresno.

At long last, I started taking real psychology classes I always wanted to study. It was a long way from the time I experienced the first illogical bullying in junior high. I was so ready and excited to learn everything about psychology.