Hair Survival

Generally, now, I'm comfortable in China and can do things on my own. Getting my hair cut, however, remains the one activity that I dread and am completely intimidated by and still feel like I need to take someone to translate for me. I have a hard enough time explaining how I want my hair cut when I'm speaking English--trying to convey a hair style in Chinese is next to impossible for me. And, most of the places in Mengzi (as was the case in Yichang) have never cut a Western person's hair. Chinese hair stylists tend to want to show off their expertise by coming up with their own ideas for how to cut your hair. Sometimes it's hard to get them to listen and pay attention to what you want. What the Chinese find to be a stylish haircut is usually not what I'm thinking I'd like for my hair at all (they like lots of swooping bangs, wispy frayed ends, and they love using the thinning scissors) and they don't know much about dealing with naturally wavy hair. Plus whenever I go to Chinese hair salons, I end up being a kind of attraction for every to watch and it makes me feel so self conscious. That's one of the reasons I've let my grow longer since being in China; I don't want to have to keep with a shorter style.

Back in November, I went to a Korean-run hair salon in Kunming that Victoria recommended and got my hair trimmed and highlighted. It was less painful than some experiences, but took forever (that's another thing about getting your hair cut in China, plan on it taking several hours no matter what you want done to your hair) and while I was happy with the highlights, the cut was just ok. Katie and I had realized that is was desperately past time to get our hair cut again, so, yesterday I went with Katie and one of our Chinese friends to try a place in Mengzi. Thankfully the friend understood what we wanted and when she translated it to the guy who was going to cut our hair, he did seem to listen. All I wanted was the ends trimmed off and the layers re-cut. Thankfully, it went ok and while my hair doesn't look dramatically different, I can tell it's healthier already having the split ends cut off.

On my way to class this afternoon, one of the hotel workers who sometimes helps takes care of things in our apartments, told me she really liked my hair today! She had no idea that I'd just gone through the ordeal of getting it cut, so that really boosted my confidence!

So, I'm celebrating that I survived a Chinese haircut and I think (unless something strange happens) I probably won't have to get it cut again until I get home in June. I've already commissioned my sister to help me find a new style for when I get home. I'll be really happy to be able to talk to the person who's cutting my hair in my own language again!