Chinese Haircut

I got my haircut Tuesday. Big risk. I waited a few days to put this out here so that I would know if it was a nightmare result or a success. It took me most of last week to find a place that spoke some English and didn't cost me too much. One of the first places I stopped had about 10 girls and guys standing around, but not one paying customer. And no English speakers, so they called someone on a cell phone who talked to me. I decided to keep looking. I found a place very close and was happy to find that I had to make an appointment. I took that as a good sign! His name was Tony. He was Chinese, maybe 23-25. He spoke decent English, enough to find I out I wanted it the "same" and "fringed" over my ears. After he played with my dry hair, he sent me to the shampoo boy. I seriously had a head massage to die for. I had two different shampoos and some final thing like conditioner that I probably didn't need, but who cares? The massage was great!!! I think I practically fell asleep it was so relaxing. I went back to the chair and then Tony and his two assistants (yes, he had two who appeared to be in training) started in. Now, forgive me here for all the detail, but I know that mom will want to know (she did hair for more than 40 years, which is weird because it means she had to start when she was 10!) the gory details! He did a lot of parting of my hair. And he apparently knows martial arts as he constantly worked the comb and sometimes the scissors around like a weapon. he could twirl the comb around his fingers in a full circle two or three times between cuttings. It was mesmerizing. After going through and cutting the first time, he went back and trimmed again. Then he told me "I dry your hair before I finish cutting. I was having a hard time imagining there was any more hair to cut! So he dried my hair. He took about 10 minutes which wasn't necessary for drying, but he was using a comb and combing it smooth. As he smoothed it, I think he was studying the way my hair grew. I know that sounds weird, but it makes sense to do that while you are blowing it as you can tell what way it is growing. After he totally smoothed and analyzed my hair, he went back at with the scissors. This time he spend a lot of time thinning it out with little side cuts with the scissors. Again, he had to cover my whole head. Then he went back around my ears and my neckline. Then some "product" which seemed like pomade, and voila! I was finished almost exactly ONE HOUR later. I have never had a haircut that lasted long. He did do a nice job though. I think the right term for his behaviour was meticulous. But I still find that the Chinese processes for getting a task done are not always the most efficient, but their processes seem to be more adaptable than ours. He really took some time to be one with my hair. It was a little flat when I left so I was worried, but it has washed up OK. Trust me, I have had a lot worse! Hey Mom, remember that damn pageboy cut when I was 13!