Vocabulary of Beauty

I wear my hair in a spike, and it has to be cut every three to four weeks or else it starts drooping. The Chinese have straight hair, so the style is popular, but Chinese women don’t wear it—it’s only the men. I wouldn’t wear it myself, but it’s the only hairdo that works, since I have hair loss.  Chinese stylists are reluctant to cut my hair in a spike—they think they have misunderstood me.

I was determined to get a haircut myself without involving a Chinse friend.   I considered it a good chance to practice Chinese. Li, the young man who is helping learn the language, wrote relevant vocabulary in my notebook—for instance “Shang mian jian duan yi xie”—Make the top shorter.

I knew there was a beauty salon in the building beside the Liqun Market, and I climbed the stairs to er lo, the second floor. The personnel understood me, and I got a pretty good haircut for 30 yuan—about 4 and a half dollars.