Anyway, went to one of the multitude of barber shops between my apt. and work armed with my trusty notepad that had the Japanese translations for "I would like a haircut please," "Short on the sides," and "Leave it a little longer on top."
Get to my shop of choice and couldn't be happier. It is an old school barber shop with one old man cutting hair and an old lady who will shave your face if you want. The chairs are beat up and taped over and over until they are more tape than leather. There are sports, electronics, and nudey mags sitting on the table beside the waiting bench. Oh, and comics, but comics are huge in Japan for some reason. I haven't figured that one out yet. There is a tv playing god knows what. And there is that welcoming barber shops smell of disinfectant and shaving cream.
I open up the handy notepad and announce in my most cocksure manner "I would like a haircut please." and stand there smiling knowing that the lady behind the counter understood me. And I know she did because she asked me a follow up question. Shit! This is where the notebook fails me and I revert into "I don't speak Japanese" bowing and pointing at my head to indicate that I want a haircut. The lady knods, looking at me like I am an idiot and points to the bench. Ahh, I have to wait there. Excelllent. There is one guy who seems to be almost finished getting his haircut. Actually, this old guys seems to be almost finished getting any haircuts, ever. But, I digress.
Sit for a few minutes enjoy the cool breeze from the fan. The humidity has dropped in Tsuruga as of late, but the temperature is still hovering right around the mid 80s every day. And when you have to wear long sleeves all the time...
The guy motions me over and i sit and recite my other two phrases. He nods and goes to work. At this point I am nervous as all get out. I know it is only hair and it will grow back, but I don't have enough time to go home and do a recut so I know that if it turns out terribly that I will at least have to walk around looking like a doofus for the rest of the day. Also, it is nerve wracking to have someone waving sharp insturments around your head when you cannot communicate your desires with them.
So there I am sweating with my eyes closed (I keep my eyes closed for almost the entire haircut every time I get my hair cut. Anytime they are not cutting the back part of the head, the eyes get shut. I dunno why.) and trying to "feel" how much hair he is cutting off. And this guy is taking forever. I am used to people using electric trimmers and being done in 10 minutes. This guy used all scissors and took close to half an hour to cut my hair. That is a long time! At least in my experience. I do feel like I got my money's worth though.
After I get my haircut, and it turned out fine, he did exactly what I asked and it looks okay. Well, I mean, it is still my head, but looks pretty decent.
Yesterday's hair
Today's cut. And psychotic smirk.
Or more serious, I am going to teach the crap outta youz kids look.
So, after the barber is finished cutting my hair, he breaks out the straight razor and trims up the edges. And I guess he thought my sideburns were too long cuz he just cut them bad boys right off. Hmm, barber with an opinion. Definitely old school.
Sideburns sometime last week.
New short sideburns today. If you look closely you can see the very bottom of the sideburn still there. He just cut a swatch through it.
Good lord I have huge nostrils!
And then I went to work. And then I came home and posted on the blog. I am living the high life!
1 comment:
what, no mohawk? how about the shaved look! later bubba. br
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