 2.Our part-time jobs 1)Cashier （Mayumi Kumagaya） 2)Delivering Newspapers （Tomoko Taguchi） 3)Selling beer in a baseball stadium （Yukari Kita） |
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1)Cashier （Mayumi Kumagaya） |
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Ｉam a university student. My studies and my part-time job take up most of my time. I work as a cashier in Daiei Super Market. I go to my part-time job about ten days a month and work about 6 to 7 hours each day. So I have enough time for studying, but I do not have enough time for playing. I have been working at this part-time job for half a year. The reason I began working was that I wanted to earn pocket money. But in fact, I have learned many new things in my part-time job. Being Chinese, I have learned a lot about Japanese society. |
 copyright Setsuko Watanabe 2000 |
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<< Some good things about being a cashier >> 1.The pay is good. On weekdays I make 1000 yen per hour. On Sundays and national holidays and after 16:00 on weekdays I make 1100 yen per hour. So, I receive about 60 to 70 thousand yen a month, working two or three days a week. 2.My language skills are improving. Since I am Chinese, I do not speak Japanese well. Working as a cashier has helped me improve my conversational Japanese language skills. 3.Knowledge of prices. I now know how much foodstuffs and daily necessaries cost. And I know when there are special bargains. This helps me shop wisely. And I can give this information to my family. << Some bad things about being a cashier >> 1.The store is very crowded. This store carries many items and it is conveniently located near many housing developments. Therefore, it is always crowded, especially on weekends, national holidays, and on special bargain days. I am always very tired when I go home. 2.The job is stressful. Even though most customers are kind, some customers can be very difficult to deal with. Some throw their money at me and speak disrespectfully to me. Others break into the line and others try to shop after the store is closed. 3.The work is hard on my hands. The skin on my hands becomes rough, dry and chapped. Counting money and handling merchandise, especially during the winter, is very hard on my hands. I have to use hand cream every day. << To summarize the job of operating a cash register >>
<< Stores in China >> 1.The cash register counter is only for paying money. To receive goods you must go to another counter. 2.The cash register is covered by glass windows and kept apart from customers. It is like a Japanese bank counter. 3.You can not touch and choose the things you want to buy. But this is changing. There are a few stores in some of the smaller cities in China that use systems similar to those used in Japan. And over time, more and more stores are changing. The super markets in big cities like Peking and Shanghai are not much different from those in Japan. << Differences between Japanese and Chinese stores >>
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| There are 30 to 40 part-time workers in the Daiei store. About half are housewives and young part-time workers called "freeter," which is a japanglish word to describe people who work at odd jobs. And the other half are university and high school students. While the work is not very interesting, I really enjoy talking with my new friends during break-time. I learn a great deal from them. I want to continue this part-time job, because I can earn pocket money and I can learn many things. |
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NEXT （Delivering Newspapers /Tomoko Taguchi） 
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