At least once or twice in my life, I have had the dream to work in or own a cafe. The scent of freshly baked bread, the calming sound of coffee machine brewing, the comfortable atmosphere where customers drink quietly while reading a novel…
…that idealistic perception of cafe life is not what I experienced while volunteering at the Bazaar Cafe. But that does not mean my time at Bazaar Cafe was a negative one.
First and foremost, what I wanted out of my CIP was simply this: to interact with Japanese people and understand their daily life within the community. At first, I had planned on sticking with a cooking class, but because of their infrequent meetings, I decided to look for other options. The Bazaar Cafe caught my interest because it was one that did not require previous food & service experience, it was close-by to the university, and finally because other KCJS students had volunteered there in the past.
At first it was hard to schedule a time to volunteer because the cafe is open on a few days of the week: Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11:30 AM – 5:00PM to be exact. Because my school schedule consisted of an afternoon class everyday, it was hard to figure out the days I could volunteer for them. But despite this obstacle, I ended up volunteering at the cafe during my lunch time on Fridays (12:30 PM – 2:30PM). If one ends up having a pretty full class schedule, this place may not be the best choice.
What makes the Bazaar Cafe so unique is that beyond its cafe exterior, this place is a second-home and haven for those who do not have a “safe” place to be themselves. The casual atmosphere and family-like staff make the customers feel very relaxed to the point that sometimes they would play the musical instruments kept at the cafe. Furthermore, the cafe’s staff consist of many foreigners who speak Japanese. Japan, Thailand, Philippines, South America, South Korea, Vietnam, China…Bazaar Cafe staff members come from countries near and far. And although the level of ability varies among staff member, everyone understands their roles and still manage to share a joke or two, which contributes to the lively work environment.
Now to the nitty gritty. If you expect a large role in the cafe logistics, unless you are an actual cafe staff (and not volunteer) that will most likely not occur. It’s not to say that they do not appreciate the help of volunteers, but there are already so many co-workers and only a certain amount of cafe duties to be done. Therefore, depending on the time I volunteered, I would often be waiting around or asking for more jobs to do. But because there is already a system for the cafe staff, mainly the duties of dish washing, food prepping and meal serving were my most consistent duties. Therefore in order to compensate the sometimes slow time, I often started conversations with other staff members and pro-actively found duties to finish around the kitchen. I found that rather than always expecting a task, it is better to find things that one can do without being asked. Furthermore, the tasks are quite rudimentary and things you can experience working in the food service back home. So if you expect an exciting and “foreign” cafe experience, this cafe is not the place.
However, if you want to immerse yourself in a family-like work environment, then this place is a good option. Overall, my time at the cafe tends to be long only because I am able to work once a week. But volunteering on different days will let you meet the other workers and each day has a different atmosphere (because cafe regulars come on certain days). And at the end of a good day’s work (at least for lunch time), the cafe owner provides a small meal for all the staff.
If you are looking to volunteer at a cafe, I’d say be realistic. The behind the counters of a cafe or coffee shop, things are not as a rose-colored as one imagines it to be. Just like the jobs in the food & service industry, there are both interesting and mundane tasks…more of the latter. In the end, what makes this place interesting to me is the interactions I have with the workers and the relationships I make with them. It may not be for everybody, but it made me understand Japanese and non-Japanese people’s every day life in a different light.
Hi April, glad to see you had an interesting experience on the whole. You mentioned that the cafe had a nice, relaxed atmosphere. I’m just curious as to what the expectations were when you had to interact with customers. As we know, keigo is a must in most places, but it seems like you might have been afforded more flexibility here. Was this the case? Thanks!
I guess I had a greater expectation of being able to make small conversation with the customers I would serve, since the cafe is quaint in size. Actually, it’s quite the opposite at Bazaar Cafe, surprisingly. Most of the time they preferred that I refer to them in a more casual tone and therefore when I used keigo it was more for when I requested something. So definitely the latter. I guess because it centers around foreigners and a community feel, the usage of keigo would’ve created a barrier and distant relationship.
April, I have had many work & volunteer experiences where there is not enough work to go around…so I understand the frustration, but I think it’s good that you were proactive about helping out. I’m not surprised to hear that it seems more or less like food service back home, but I have heard Bazaar Cafe has a great atmosphere. You mentioned that the relationships you made was what made the experience interesting–and I think it’s great that you had positive experiences in interacting with your coworkers, because if you did not communicate well with your coworkers, you probably would not have gained much from your time volunteering.
Indeed. I do admit my expectations were a bit unrealistic and despite not doing what I hoped, I decided to make the most of what was given. It also depends on what day you work because I only worked on Fridays (occasionally Saturday morning) there were less events and things to do. Had I been able to work on the weekends more, I probably could have been more involved in the cafe’s community events.
I feel you–it’s kind of awkward when they seem busy and like they could use some help, yet you find there isn’t much left to do. And because the kitchen space is so small for the number of people in it, I sometimes felt like I was in the way.
I would say don’t let this discourage you from working in a cafe in the future! I too find the scent of freshly baked bread pretty irresistible, and if you mention to a potential cafe employer that you worked at a cafe in Kyoto (and survived a language barrier, no less!) they may consider you a pretty irresistible candidate as well 🙂