A Korean Haircut...

My last hair cut was on my birthday, March 25, about four days before I left for Korea. Needless to say, I've been due for another one for quite some time. My hair had gotten a little shaggy over the past few weeks, but it hadn't been bothering me enough to get it cut. Also, I've heard (and have seen) many horror stories of Korean haircuts gone wrong, so I've been very reluctant to give it a shot.

Well, I guess you can only put things off for so long. When I got up this morning, I took a look in the mirror and knew that today I HAD to get my hair cut. I just had to bite the bullet and suck it up, and that's exactly what I did.

Things are a bit different than back home as, but it appears that there are two kinds of places. There are what we would consider normal shops (Hair Cuttery type places), which seem to be mainly for women and barber shops, where all men go. Now, normally I am not really a barber shop guy, but I think it might be socially awkward if I went into one of the normal hair places (the ones for women). I already knew of a barber shop from previous explorations of my neighborhood, so after school and a visit to the gym I was ready for my hair-raising adventure (I know that joke doesn't fit, I just wanted to use a viable hair related pun).

I received my first clue that this would not be your usual haircut as soon as I walked into the door. The lady was very nice, but pointed to six old crooked water-stained pictures on the wall that were numbered and asked me to choose one. I ended up choosing the number 4, which I thought would be a good look for me.

As I went to sit down, the women motioned me to the back for a shampoo. To my surprise, there were no chairs just a big Costco bottle of shampoo and a shower head. I'm beginning to realize that the motto here is if you can do it yourself then do it yourself. I did end up giving myself a very nice shampoo, though. I even threw in a scalp massage for free.

After my professional shampooing the woman proceeded to man-handle the sides and back of head. I think that Koreans really dislike hair on the side of the head. She would have just shaved me bald if I had fallen asleep in the chair.

To be fair, though, the haircut was only 6,000 Korean Won (about $4.90), so you really can't complain too much. It really isn't even awful, Its just a lot different than what I'm used to.

After the woman finished, I was directed to go back and wash my own hair again. I was then shown a large table with razors, trimmers, lotions and gels so that I could style my hair and groom myself the way I saw fit. I do think that part was pretty cool. I like being able to style my own hair after a cut. I just wish she had left more of it on my head to style.

Oh well, I'm just glad I got my hair cut, even though I do look like an army recruit. And to answer your question, no I will not put a picture up of my new haircut. Give me a couple weeks, and maybe I'll think about it.

JW