Friday, June 6, 2008

The washing experience

It was a kinda interesting hair wash I got yesterday. I was absolutley exhausted when I walked Ulumuqi lu after work, thinking about if I should just go home and settle for the low pressure hair wash (two vicious mosquito bites kept me up all last nite... the mosquito bites u get in china is something out of this world...) when I finally saw a small, empty hair dresser place with 3 funky looking kids inside. I walked in and asked for a wash. The three boys got a little bit nervious (like always when me -jedi jonna- walks into a room full of Chinese) and the kid who decided to take care of me even told the other 2 kids to keep it down...awww.. sweet. Seated in my chair in front of the mirror the funky looking kid began by pouring shampoo onto my dry hair. then he added water. the shampoo, water, shampoo... He worked up a foam, and then I sat like that for about 20 min while he continued foaming and rubbing my head (note, all the time in front of the mirror... not in the sink). We started talking too, although it is a bit weird to chat at the same time as u r getting your head rubbed. Anyways, I asked the funky kid why pretty much all hairdressers in China are men. Funky kid replied that in China it's always been like that and that people don't want a girl to cut their hair.

Soooo... after a long schampoo session (with funky kid's long nails scratching my head) it was time for wash and conditioner. And it was even weirder to lie in a sink and chat I have to say... Coz this guys took his time and he was really up for chatting.

Then, when he had finished, an older man came to do the blow dry. He started off by telling me my hair was very BAD because it obviously didn't want to be blown the way he wanted it to... (well, dude, that's my hair. Sorry). Then, after I had appologized for my hair about 10 times and after I had said that the hair ALWAYS behaves like that and that it was definitely not because of him and his skills, he got a little bit more friendly.

Anyways, about 1 hour after stepping into the place I was done. It was 30 kuai in total and now my hair is shiny and straight. Ladies (and gents) u have to try this when u r in China. Especially if u r on your way out but feel unhappy w your hair. Just step in, pay 20-30 kuai and walk out one hour later looking great.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love your blog! I read every entry. it's so funny. i am a korean-american so i found your blog especially enjoyable. keep posting!

and please post a picture of your "beautiful, finnish boyfriend" that the locals go crazy over. hilarious! ;)

Anonymous said...

No offense. I must say your blog is very cute but that's about it. If you want it to be more serious, you might want to pick some serious topics or make some serious and insightful observations about human nature, cultural differences, etc. Otherwise, it's just cute.

claretbob said...

As a 40 something englishman with a thirty year old chinese wife perhaps i shouldn't admit to enjoying your blogs in view of previous comments!!However they are always fresh and lively and because of that a good read.The key surely is to write about what interests you not some worthy topic done to death by the world's press.As someone struggling along with the fiendish delights of hanzi i particularly enjoy your occasional blogs on the rigours of language learning.

Anonymous said...

Keep it up!! You Na. Officially You have a fun club in Canada. We enjoy reading your blog.

Jonna Wibelius said...

Thanks for all the nice comments, I am happy to hear that some of you enjoy reading my blog, meanwhile others regard it as 'simply cute.'

In respons to the person who thought I should pick some more serious topics to write about -I think I have made it very clear that this blog is my personal blog about what I see, hear and experience in China, and that I don't want to write about politics or try to force my ideas onto someone. There are already so many blogs doing that (not to mention the newspapers). You should be able to find plenty of reading.

If you find this blog 'simply cute', I am happy. I never intended to be anything beyond that!

bloggingupiseasyd said...

I am very happy with your blog and can't stop reading it! : )