I’d like to talk a bit about my colleagues.
Since I’ve had very little part-time work experience before, having “colleagues” feels like something completely new to me. I often find it hard to tell whether I should think of them as friends or just coworkers, so figuring out the right distance can be tricky sometimes.
I work at the studio two days a week, and there’s one permanent staff member who’s always there. There are also two other interns besides me, each working once a week at the studio, so I get to see both of them once a week. As I mentioned in my previous post, during the first week of my placement, I felt a big gap between what I had imagined and the actual workload. But honestly, thanks to these two, I’m now able to enjoy my two days at the studio much more.
The studio’s mission is to deliver reclaimed art materials to people who need them, and I feel a sense of purpose knowing that I’m contributing to that vision. Still, since many of the tasks involve repetitive or physically demanding work, it can be hard to stay motivated. That’s why the one-hour lunch break during our eight-hour shift feels like a little reward. I usually go out to eat with one of the other interns. Since the studio is in Shoreditch, we browse Google Maps, check out a few lunch deal menus, and walk about five minutes to whichever place looks good that day.
It’s only been about a month since we met, but they’re both incredibly kind and funny. Because our roles are quite similar, it feels a bit like, “We gotta stick together whether we like each other or not.” Even so, I’m genuinely happy that I met them through this placement.
It’s the first time I’ve been able to talk so freely with native English speakers my age without feeling stressed. Usually, I get frustrated with myself for not speaking English well enough and end up overthinking things. But with these two, I can be my true self — just as I am in Japanese. More than that, they have an exceptionally deep understanding of what it’s like to speak English as a second language. Honestly, they might be as understanding as my language school teachers (haha). Because of that, I feel comfortable speaking and making mistakes around them.
I’m really happy to have made new “friends.”