First Haircut

You officially live somewhere, rather than being on vacation, when you get your hair cut in a foreign country. I had been putting it off for a few weeks but my hair was growing over my ears and I was starting to look like an unkempt British prime minister, so I began preparing for my first haircut in Korea.

Actually, preparations for my haircut started a few weeks in advance. I went on a solo scouting mission around the neighbourhood, looking for a nearby barber. I spotted a swirly barber pole at street-level but failed to locate the shop in the building because I couldn't read which floor it was on.  Also, the building was eerily empty so I had to continue the search elsewhere. 

Swirly barber pole means a barber is in the building

Knowing that I would have to actually speak to the barber, I studied some of the words and phrases I thought I would need: 이발 (hair cut), 간단한 머리 자르기를 원합니다 (I want a simple hair cut), 얼마예요? (How much is it?). Unfortunately, this language is still too advanced for me and I knew I wouldn't be able to pull it off in real-time, under pressure in the barbershop.

Thankfully, a teacher at the school was willing to provide some help. Together, we strolled around the neighbourhood looking for an affordable barber (her criteria) who wouldn't be freaked out by western hair (my criteria). We found a few promising places and I vowed to have my haircut by the time I returned to school on Monday morning.

Saturday was the big day. I woke up early in the morning and got ready to set out. Unexpectedly, my doorbell rang. It never rings. Two workers were standing there with a bunch of tools. Seeing that a foreigner lived here, the worker simply said, "excuse me" and started to enter. Before taking another step, he said, "shoes?". I correctly guessed that he was asking permission to come in without taking off his work boots. I waved him in and watched in my boxers while he and his partner pulled out all of my light fixtures and outlets, fiddled with the breaker box, ran some wires through the ceiling, and installed this oddly placed electrical outlet in the ceiling of my shower, which I definitely cannot reach nor understand.

My unexpected guests reassembled my apartment, swept the floor, and departed with a slight bow and a "thank you."

To the barbershop!

The plan, which I executed perfectly, was to point to my hair, make scissors with my fingers, and hope for the best. I was greeted by two women sitting at a table, eating their lunch. The first woman gestured me towards the barber chair, and then pointed towards her food and said something I didn't understand, "한국어 한국어 한국어". Thinking she was offering me food, I said, "uh, no thanks. I don't want any food. Just the haircut." I sat down in the chair but immediately realized my error. They weren't offering me food. They just wanted to finish their lunch before cutting my hair! Cringing, I awkwardly waited for 15 minutes until lunch was over.

The haircut went well. I showed a picture of myself on my phone. She shouted over to her friend, "한국어 한국어 한국어" and then began cutting. Not another word was spoken until she finished and said, "Shampoo?" I paid the 10,000₩ and was out the door with a pretty nice hair cut. She even trimmed my sideburns into a stylish point.

Trimmed and clean and ready for the next adventure.