Haircut

So last night I went for my first haircut since I arrived in Taiwan. Needless to say I was getting a little shaggy and having such a high-brow office job that just doesn't work. About a month ago an American, who speaks no Chinese, on the floor below me told me how tough finding a good place to get a cut was and since the Taiwanese aren't used to Western hair they tend to mess up on the haircuts.

Well I speak enough Chinese to make it mildly clear what I want (short on the sides and slightly longer on the top). However, the simplicity confused the stylist since when everyone has straight black hair everyone wants a cool haircut to stand-out. When I said I wanted short on the sides and long on the top he figured I wanted my bangs cut and my sides cut and then leaving the rest in a mullet was perfectly fine (and it would be if not for my job). After some explaining I was able to come out just fine and I was only set back $4.50.

But since I came in late the guy had to stay over a bit. The thing was that he was cool with it since it was a chance to cut a foreigner's hair. Then the owner of the place came over and wanted just to touch my hair. For me it was really funny since both of them were totally shocked that I have no ladyfriend; I still haven't figured out what that is such a big deal.