Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ABC KID]

When I first came to Korea I obviously knew very little Korean but somehow wherever I went, despite the communication problems, things always seemed to work themselves out, with one exception - Going to the hairdressers...

My first trip to a hairdressers in Korea a few years ago felt like a thoroughly demeaning experience (maybe it wasn't wise going alone but hindsight is a wonderful thing). I arrived and waited for a few minutes and then it was my turn to get into the seat. Presumably the hairdresser asked what I wanted (could have asked me anything for all I knew), cue my strange finger signals of lengths I wanted my hair cutting to etc. This of course prompted the first round of jokes between the staff and the ajumahs whose hair they were cutting. Later my hair was cut and it was time for a hairwash (only back home this isn't part of the service for men) so I was shaking my head continuously thinking it was optional and not part of the service, while they tried to coerce me to the chair and sink - cue more jokes. By now of course, I just wanted to get out of there a.s.a.p but after a wash and dry they tried to force me to have coffee. Again I didn't know what I was doing - Was coffee part of the service? Did I have to pay for it? Anyway I just shook my head and headed for the exit, with more laughs clearly audible as I left, never to return.

Ever since that day I have had a phobia of Korean Hairdressers and despite a significant improvement in my Korean skills I never seem to quite get the haircut I'm looking for. In fact I try to put off haircuts until I take a trip back home or until my hair is literally in my eyes.

Have any other posters suffered misery at the hairdressers in Korea or developed any other phobias?

[The_Eyeball_Kid]

No, because I go to a proper one.

[seoulman1]

[renzobenzo1]

I waited until my Chuseok holiday to the Philippines to cut my at the time daggy hair for that reason.
At Nice guys Suji, you are better off walking in sitting down, closing your eyes and praying OR just put a bowl on your head and cut around that.

[Hanson]

[fortysixyou]

I had the SAME phobia of hairdressers in Korea...until today!

I went with my (Korean) girlfriend to an older shop in Gwanghwamun.
It sounds a lot like the one you went to. Ajummas, women, hair being cut.

I was nervous at first, but the woman did a fantastic job. I mimed to her that I wanted it really short on the sides, and she happily complied. She wanted to wash my hair afterwards and I happily complied. This included a nice scalp massage with a mint-tingly shampoo. After that she dried my hair, made a few last minute touches, and I was off. Only 8 thousand. No coffee, though.

OP: maybe you had a bad experience the first time because you were acting paranoid and squeamish? Maybe the ajummas thought that was funny, like, "Chill out whitesy, it's only a haircut." The shampoo is pretty standard I think. And the complimentary coffee? Well, you can take that with you, can't you?

I say give it another shot, otherwise you'll end up looking like some dirty long-haired hippie.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[PeteJB]

Um, do Korean hairdressers use the same numbering system for hair cuts?

[Mr. Pink]

Getting my haircut in Korea is one of my favorite things about the country. You get a level of service I have NEVER found in Canada.

My first time getting my hair cut I went to one of those neighbourhood places, they did a crappy job and ended up cutting me with the scissors. I talked to a Korean teacher at work...after that I was introduced to the high end salons in trendy areas like Ewha, Kangnam, Myungdong, etc.

I don't get why you wouldn't want your hair washed. That is the best part: they do a little head massage on you and it gets out all the little hairs. I hate places in Canada where you don't even get a single wash.

My place in Korea I goto, I get offered drinks while I wait, then they wash my hair, I get a GOOD cut, then they wash it again and give the old scalp a massage.

To the OP: you are missing out on some good pampering. I suggest though, goto a salon.

[lastat06513]

When I took my ex-wife to a hair salon near Sookmyung station, they did the impossible......they took a mess and made it look attractive.
I mean, after she was done, people thought she was actually Korean (which she wasn't).
And I found a great barber in Itaewon that I went to every month for 4 years....that place gave better cuts than any place I went to back here in the states.

I give Korean barbers "some" credit..all you need is to find a good one, which yes, would take alittle legwork to find.

[BreakfastInBed]

I agree with Mr. Pink there. Once I got out of the neighborhood barbershop and into a nicer place I started to love getting my hair cut in Korea, I just didn't always love the haircut. I started bringing old pictures of me with the haircut I wanted and it more or less worked most of the time. It was pretty much a crapshoot, but nothing ever went horribly awry. My coworker was butchered though. I took him out to a place I'd had a good experience at for his one and only haircut over the course of a whole year working together, and what they did to him was indescribable. Best laugh I had all year. I was giddy all day. He went home and shaved his head.

[Ilsanman]

My wife is a hairdresser. Problem solved for me. She has also cut some of my friends' hair, and they were satisfied. She just asked for 5,000.

[kreitler7]

These haircut threads are so funny. You're scared of a f*cking haircut??? Hair grows back in case you've forgotten. If you don't like the job that anybody else does for you, cut it yourself. Better yet, shave that f*ckin' mop. Maybe you should worry about more important things than your greasy unattractive hair.

[tzechuk]

While I don't really have a problem with the way my hair is cut or styled here, I always prefer to either go to Hong Kong or to the UK if I want a really decent job done.

[TexasPete]

Dude, you gotta go to the barber shops with two poles. They give great service