My Korean Barber

ROCKS!

I've been going to a barber next to my apartment building for my simple buzz cut, and each time I'm more impressed by the guy.  The first time entering the barber shop was a bit of a mystery due to the twirly traditional barber shop sign out front.  I had heard about these signs and what they could mean, but I couldn't recall how to tell what one was the barber shop and what one would involve old women, plastic gloves, and a horizontal "chair."  I was relatively certain I was safe due to the exterior of the building, but living next to so many love motels made me nervous. Once inside, I saw that it is a rinky-dink barber shop that actually reminds me of a place I went with my dad as a kid.  Just a couple barber chairs and a couch is all, I can picture old korean men sitting around drinking coffee and talking about the news.

 After finally mustering up the courage to open the door to see what was in side (bed or chair?) I saw an old guy sitting on the couch watching tv, and I breathed a sigh of relief.  Approximately two seconds later I thought "what if this actually is one of the other barber sign-bearing places of business, but a dude runs it?!?!" The old guy gave me a big smile and ushered me to the barber chair, and whipped out his clippers... I was finally relieved, and ready to try to explain what I wanted done with my hair.  One would think this would be simple and obvious, however he tried to shape the sides longer than the other hairs resulting in one goofy-ass haircut.  After finally conveying my desired buzz he was happy to fix his creation.

And that is the best part about my barber, he tries SOOOO hard.  First, he straps me into the chair and covers me with 2 or 3 different items to save me from getting a single hair on my shirt, then he methodically clips my hair making sure not to miss a single spot.  He uses three different clippers, depending on what part of my head he is cutting, and is so careful around my  ears I feel like he thinks my head is a balloon ready to pop if he ever were to accidently stab me with the clipper.

Next he scours my entire head looking for strays that he missed.  I watch him in them mirror, and he actually looks like a sculptor at work.  After working around my entire head and clipping imaginary stray hairs he lathers the entire perimeter of my hair with some shave cream.  He then proceeds to take a straight blade and shaves the lathered area to make sure I have a sharp looking hairdo.  Never before have I shaved or thought about shaving my widow peaks, but he did, and continues to every time I get a hair cut.  Perhaps thats not the oddest part though, as he shaves MY EARS too.  It wouldn't make sense to bend my ear and shave behind it, so to complete the perimeter he shaves my ears EVERY time.  I checked before going to the barber the 2nd time to see how long my ears' hair was, and it was non-existent (most likely due to the previous visit).  Nonetheless, my barber makes sure I look good before leaving his chair.

Now, at this point during the first experience I was truly amazed at the quality of haircut I was receiving, and was ready to pay him many compliments on my way out, but it turns out the haircut was only 1/2 over.  My barber then changed the covers he had on me to prevent any hair from falling on my clothes and put a tray on my shoulders that fit snug around my neck.  I was confused, and he could tell from the look on my face, so he happily explained in korean.  I nodded with a grin because thats my answer to every korean who speaks to me, and he lathered up my head with some sort of soap.  Now I thought he was going to shave my head, which had me a bit worried because I didn't know how to stop him, and I wasn't sure how my school would take it if I showed up as a skinhead one day to teach the 4th graders.  So, I braced my hands on the chair's armrests ready to bolt outa the chair if he brought a razor anywhere near me, but he pulled out an electric massage tool and gave me a head massage for a few minutes.  REALLY RELAXING!  and I once again my heart returned to a normal pace.  Next, he threw on some gloves and started giving me a massage with his hands which was OK too until he started pushing certain spots on my head.  It kinda hurts, and it seems like he's searching for some soft spot in my head that'll cause permanent damage... I'd be cool with this type of thing if I could communicate to understand what is going on, but, instead, I have a guy who doesn't seem to have all his teeth pushing on my head as hard as he can, with an intent that doesn't seem healthy.  He finally stops and I'm still alive, so I figure he must have an idea of what he's doing so I stay seated.    

The haircut experience continues as he takes the toiletseat bowl off my shoulders and asks me over and over to stand up (in korean) and come to the sink.  He sits me in front of a large sink and pushes my head over it to start washing my head.  Then he pulls out some ball that looks like one my mom uses in the dryer and starts scrubbing my head with extra elbow grease.  Finally he throws a towel on my shoulder and says something (guess what language he said it in...) so I assume I'm suppose to get up, but he pushes me back down and makes me wash my face and hands.  I comply, because frankly at this point I'm so confused/lost that I just want to make it out of this in one piece.

The last step of my korean haircut experience is to sit in a new chair while he sprays products on my head and combs my 1/8" haircut.  I just smile at how ridiculous it is, and thank him a lot (partially because he deserves it, and partially because thats 1 of 2 phrases I know in korean). I splash some aftershave on my face because he says to, and its complete.  TA-DA!!!  FINISHED!

As I am shuffling some money in my wallet to pay the guy I couldn't help but think it was going to be expensive because he did put in a ton of effort.  I pull out two 10,000 won bills thinking I'll just get by  the language barrier by paying too much and seeing how much he gives back (a practice I still use today).  He laughed at me and took 1 of the 10,000 won bills and returned with 2,000 won in change.  I couldn't believe it!  This amazing haircut for 8,000 won?  I tried to tip the guy the remaining 2,000 won, but he refused, so I received the best haircut of my life for less than 8 USD.

And that is why my korean barber rocks.  I've done this process about 4 times now, and I can tell he gets a kick out of cutting red hair.  I guess I can't escape the laughter...

My experience at the barber is only one example of living in korea, but I have had a lot of similar situations in the day-to-day living here.  In the beginning every encounter was an unknown, and thus a bit stressful.  However, now I realize how awesome most korean people are, and how happy they are to help.