Korean Haircut

I got my haircut right before coming to Korea, and for the last two and a half weeks I have let it grow, delaying the inevitable. Eventually, as the edges began to curl out into a shag, I decided that I would have to finally stop putting off going to a barbershop.

And so today on my way home from work I did just that. I walked into the shop and the first thing I noticed was that it was not at all like the Greatclips I have gone to my whole life. There was one barber, who was in the middle of cutting a man's hair. He glanced up at me, and then back down to his work, saying nothing. I fumbled out a piece of paper with a couple of phrases I had asked one of my co-workers to write down. "Hello, I am here for a haircut," I muttered out in broken Korean. Again the barber glanced up, but said nothing, the man whose hair he was cutting started laughing. I felt exposed, standing in the middle of a Korean barbershop, holding my briefcase, with not much idea about what was appropriate for me to do.

I mustered up the Korean I've picked up since being here and managed to ask if I needed an appointment (I didn't), if the wait was long (it wasn't), and how much it cost (about 10 bucks). I was satisfied with this and took a seat in the waiting area. As I sat, I tried to think about how I was possibly going to describe what kind of haircut I wanted.

After waiting for a bit, the time came for me to have a seat. The barber spoke no English at all, so I was completely on my own. I managed to get across that I wanted to have a lot of hair cut off, other than that, all I could do was keep my fingers crossed.

As the barber cut my hair, we chatted a bit. I got through the typical small talk that I've come to memorize. How are you? What is your name? I'm a student from America, etc. It didn't take me long to wear out my Korean, and so I just sat and waited for the barber to finish his job.

The process was quite different from an American haircut. The barber took his time, unlike previous haircuts where I feel like the person cutting my hair is trying to set a personal record. When it came time to trim my neck, the barber didn't use a pair of clippers, but lathered my neck with shaving cream, and shaved the hair off with an old school strait razor.

The result was the best haircut I've ever gotten, far better than anything you could get for a similar price in the states. Being the goofy guy I am, I couldn't resist posting a picture of my new hairdo, that I think is.... "out of this world."

Soccer

Saturday afternoon I got the chance to play an organized sport for the first time since being in Korea- Soccer. If one of the Koreans I was playing with saw this post, the word "soccer" would make them upset. I sent an email saying that I had played "soccer" in high school and got a reply asking me not to use the word again, as the Koreans (like the rest of the world) refer to the sport as "football."

I went to the Eunamm High School football fields to play a friendly afternoon scrimmage with my Kotra co-workers. Kotra has an official team called "Kotra FC." When I arrived at the fields, many members of Kotra FC were there, along with a batch of uniforms that were modeled after the uniforms used by England in the world cup. They were by far the nicest uniform I've ever worn, and when I went to change, I felt like I was getting ready to play in the pros.

We went out onto the field and played several 15 minute games of 8 on 8 football. The the blistering heat reminded me of playing back in Georgia. I had a lot of fun, I was put in at forward because of my speed. I got a few good shots off, but never managed to score. Still, I played well and had assists on both of the goals that my team did score.

Because I played well, Kotra wants me to play forward for them in their next match on October 1st. Kotra is in a Southeast Asian tournament and has made it to the quarterfinals. The October match is against Japan's team. It is hard to overstate the level of rivalry Korea feels towards Japan, so the match is extremely important. My coworkers seem to have put a good bit of faith in me. It's rather bizarre that I've gone from a HS Varsity bench warmer to the big hope of my fellow co-workers in a coming match against Japan. I will certainly be playing hard come October. In the meantime, I need to get in shape, my legs still feel like they've been pumped full of led two days after playing the scrimmage.

Wedding Invite

Today at work I was grabbing some coffee at the snack bar when my department's receptionist approached me. I always smile and wave to her on my way in and out of the office, but have never offered a formal introduction. She smiled at me and said, "I would like to invite you to my wedding." I was caught a bit off guard, all I could do was smile, say thank you, and accept the envelope she gave me. I'm still a little taken aback at the turn of events, but I'm excited for an opportunity to see what a Korean wedding is like. The wedding is September 3rd, Ill be sure to take plenty of pictures and write a story or two about it.

Korean Independence Day

Monday was Korean independence day, which meant no work for me. I used the day off to explore Insadong, a famous historical Korean road thats bustling with tourists. Insadong is nearby the palace that I visited on my first weekend in Seoul. I went with two of my co-workers, 김 and 이.

Nametag

I now feel more included in the office. Since working here, all of the full time employees have had nametags, but none of the interns. Today, Mr. M, one of my coworkers, changed this and I now have an official looking nametag above my cubicle. Its funny how sometimes really small things can make you feel much more welcome in the office. I still am a bit of an oddball though. While everyone else's name is written in the Korean alphabet, mine is the only one Ive seen in the office written in Roman letters. I suppose standing out is just something you have to get used to when you leave America to work for a Korean business.

Planning a DMZ Visit

Today one of my co-workers, Mr. Moon, returned from his holiday. Mr. Moon had spent his holiday traveling to the DMZ at a post called 교하. 10 years ago, Mr. Moon had been stationed there for his 2 conscription period. I spoke with Mr. Moon for a while about the situation with North Korea, it was a great to get a chance to have a conversation with a local about the issue. Mr. Moon suggested that I take a trip myself to see the DMZ, and he also offered to look up the logistics of traveling there and email them on to me. I consider the DMZ to be on my top 10 "must-see" list in Korea, hopefully I can make some time soon so that I can go, take some pictures, and write a detailed post on it.

Update- New Intern

Next week, I will be launching a new website with detailed essays about my time here in Seoul. My purpose for doing this is to have somewhere to write long entries about my trip, and to get back to using the blog for a quick and easy daily update that I can write when I get a free 10 minutes at work. So here is my first quick daily update.

We got a new intern on our team at work yesterday. Her name is Minjae and she just finished getting her Masters degree in World Trade Policy at one of the local Korean Universities. It’s nice to have Minjae here, she lived in Seattle for a while and speaks great English.

On a sadder note, Tyler flew back to the States on Saturday morning. It was a fun three weeks with him here, and I look forward to reminiscing about our adventures together on the website. I would have to say that the highlight of our time was getting to go to the Boryeong Mud Festival, an experience not quite like anything I have ever done before.

It’s strange to think that I have already been in Korea for two months now, and even stranger to think that I still have four more to go. I think that six months will be a perfect amount of time to have a true cultural experience, without going too crazy from being away from home.