129. Babysitting a bunch of college kids at the pub crawl
Over the past years, I've been a barista, a waitress, and a volunteer librarian. These are just short stints I did because I was passing the time while working on my thesis/looking for a good full-time job. I am very fortunate have really good support system and be in a position where I could take my time. I wrote a lot more back when I was in the US, but I've been keeping a lot busier these past days. Frankly, I've had a lot of odd jobs since I was 19 years old. I think that all of these cute part-time occupations kept me a little bit brighter and helped me learn a bit of patience.
I would say that I am introverted, but if duty calls, I can be a social butterfly on the fly. Contrary to popular belief, I do need to take care of my social battery and charge it when I get home. I just can't take that much talking and socializing in my ears. Honestly, I like talking to friends and being present in the moment, but I really want to be alone most of the time to gather my thoughts and organize my things. My ideal night out is sitting down in a cozy pub, a pint of beer in my hands and a close gathering of friends. We'd just be joking around and sharing different stories together, with a warm atmosphere and perhaps a fireplace. Maybe throw a board game or trivia for an hour in there? And a piece of cake... hmm.. cake...
Currently, one of the "side jobs" I do on the weekends is being a host for a pub crawl/bar hopping/barathon. A good friend of mine is the main host of this weekly thing and I was really surprised that they took me under their wing to help host the entire thing. I'm just one of the organizers and assistant hosts, basically. I don't like to drink a ton, but I think I'm a good conversationalist. I have a pretty high tolerance for alcohol, considering my size, but I'm not much of a chugger- I don't like to drink heavily despite my lucky genetics.
One of my duties as one of pub crawl hosts is that I help wrangle the group, essentially. I got to make sure everyone doesn't get too drunk and sloppy. Also, I'm just a hostess that helps people know about the local spots and have a good time. I also have the lucky added bonus of practicing foreign languages with the international guests. I used to be so nervous in starting a conversation with a stranger, but it comes with practice. Not to toot my own horn, but I am a big hit with the Europeans, I gotta say. My host friend told me that this pub crawl is like "experiencing traveling without actually traveling" because we meet so many new people every time we go out. I think it's a really lovely time.
Anyway, it was my "first official day" on the job. My friends and I had dinner at Chinatown. I didn't realize that I was going to participate in the crawl today, actually. All I said was: "okay... maybe just one drink?"
My friends, it's never just one drink. Always keep that in mind.
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My group of friends and I arrived at the first bar around 8:15PM to have some time to relax before 8:45PM hits. We ordered some cocktails and chit chatted about relationship drama, friends, work, etc. As we were idling at the table, we saw these two young people, maybe about 19/20 years old, walk in and they were a little lost. My friend and I were so engrossed in our conversation, that we didn't notice that one of kids approached us.
"Hi! Do you want to play pool with us?" A friendly looking girl greeted me and my friend and invited us to play. They said they signed up for the pub crawl.
Oh hey, that's us :^)
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I played a round of billiards before more and more pub crawllers walked through the door. There were about a group of 18 people (I had to keep count) and I memorized all of their names and the countries they're from. Apparently, the two young kids who arrived first were actually part of a bigger group of students. The group of students all hailed from Canada. They are studying abroad for the semester and took a weekend trip to visit a bunch of places around SE Asia. They were so keen to bar hop today.
Here's the roster of pub crawllers for today:
- 1 guy from Sydney, Australia- he had a black shirt and a dark beard. He was in town for 3 days to talk to his clients. He wanted to have a fun night out before returning back to Australia.
- 2 people- a couple from London, UK, who just arrived from India. They're traveling around for a bit and in town for 2 days. They arrived in the morning and couldn't sleep a wink. The woman doesn't drink. We got her many tasty mocktails.
- 1 guy from Amsterdam with a missing tooth. I told him to eat some roti canai in the morning.
- 1 guy from Liverpool, UK. I joked about having a scouse accent with him. He's really jolly. He was bald but had the bushiest beard I've ever seen.
- My friend from Penang and her brother joined us. She invited me to go clubbing with her the next day. I told her I was waiting for a gentleman caller, so I'll let her know if I'm available later.
- A friend I met two weeks ago. He's from Melbourne and was really keen on my girl friend from Penang (See above).
- 7 kids from Canada. They're all university students. The students consisted of:
- A tall kid who originally came from Montreal. He doesn't sound super Quebecois. I never got a chance to speak French with him. A little disappointing. I think the source of his reservation was due to the fact that he probably has a girlfriend. This fact was later confirmed correct when I his friends told me. (Cool, but I'm not interested in him!)
- A more reserved and introverted boy from Toronto. He told me he's studying accounting. He went home pretty early. He was really sweet.
- A very gregarious fellow from Vancouver who has an unusual Indian name for how white he looks... He told us he's 1/4 Indian, which is pretty cool.
- A super outgoing kid from Vancouver who just visited his family from Hong Kong. He was really keen on me, but he's just a kid.
- A guy who looks like he's a dopey romantic interest from a 2000's rom com film. He has a bad cigarette habit. He was the one who walked in with the girl.
- A tall girl who obviously was the pretty girl in high school. A lot of the guys were trying to talk to her, but I think she has a boyfriend... well, I'm not sure.
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As I fed the kids shots, (not literally) I showed them a bunch of touristic spots on Google Maps that they should hit up before leaving for Penang. I don't know all of their exact ages, but it was strongly indicated to me that they were super young when I heard one of the boys say, "so.. which drink is like, literally the strongest on the menu - haha!"
Everyone mingled and drank. I didn't drink that much since I was busy trying to be perfect little hostess at my first day of the job (it's a very lax job to be honest...). We moved pubs and all the kids went wild with the drinks. The one girl that approached me first was a little bit tipsy and asked me to bring her two tequila shots. I obliged, but did not realize how much she had to drink before. I found her in the bathroom and held her hair back for a little bit, while she hugged the toilet. I called her a taxi back to her hotel and made sure one of the kids in her group accompanied her as she went home. Just the motherly duties of a host, I guess.
We ditched the bar and went to a snazzy looking bar around Chinatown. It was around 11/12 midnight and everyone was dancing on the dance floor. I grabbed my friends and started dancing as well.
I was immediately hit on by one of the Canadian students.
"So, what is the youngest you've gone for?" this child was vying for my attention all night.
"Well," I was super disinterested. I'm too young to be a mother for a 19 year old and too old to be his 'lady-friend,' "The current guy I'm seeing is only 4 days younger than me actually." I rejected him with this silly remark.
I told some of the boys to talk to the lonely Russian girl and her tall girl friend who was hanging around the dance floor. She obviously wanted someone to talk to. I'm even playing matchmaker for the evening.
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To my surprise, I was approached by many people that night. I received a couple of free whiskey shots from a group of Korean tourists that were sat next to my group (They also let me take their can of Schweppes, heh). I really had to give out a couple of fake numbers that night. I was flattered that I was approached by different strangers, but I really don't have the time. For my own peace of mind and protection, I punched in my number, but would 'not so accidentally' get the last digit wrong. Also, by the way, I don't have an instagram (I do, but it's a meme account- nobody takes that seriously.)
Around 1:30AM, I phoned a car to pick me back home. Only 3 Canadian kids were left in the evening. They waited with me for my pick up and I made sure they're getting back to their hotel safely. Here's my report:
- "That Russian girl was really pretty, but she told me that I was a really bad dancer..." one of the Canadian boys said to me, "A hit to my ego, but that's okay! I'm glad you encouraged me to go talk to her that was pretty cool."
- "One of the girls on the dance floor that you told me to talk to- she's 26 years old and told me that I was too young for her. Aw." This is a comment from the same boy who was hitting on me. I did not reveal my age to him.
- Me and my friend shared fries and pizza with a group of 3 strangers on the street in front of the bar when we were taking a break to catch our breath. One of the guys in that group of strangers had a birthday today. He was wearing a Barbie shirt and a cowboy hat with boots. We invited him to come dance with us inside.
It was a pretty successful pub crawl, I gotta say. I'll give the blog an update if there's another nice story from the crawl.
~ not an alcoholic, just a mother hen,
<3 K