Chinese Haircut

So you want to get your hair cut in China? Not too hard to find a barbershop, just look for the spinning poles outside. No wait, some barbershops are massage parlors that offer special massages. Better look for one where you can see people actually getting their haircut! OK, now that you have located a functional barbershop, all you need to ask is (phonetically) – KNEE SHOUWA YING U MA? About three-quarters of the time, you will get blank or horrified stares, meaning that they don’t speak English and it is time for the old sign language experience. They take your coat and put a lab coat type thing on you and if you are lucky, they have a menu with English on it. So you point to shampoo and hair cut, they hand you a magazine to read – you got to wonder what is going through their heads when you just went through the whole “I don’t speak Chinese” routine and they hand you a magazine in which the only English is in the title – and the process begins. You are seated in a typical stylist chair and they start to shampoo your hair. Notice I said nothing about a sink or water. They use a small squirt bottle, some shampoo and manage to work up a rather large amount of lather that they are apparently trying to work down into the third or fourth epidermal layer. Then they take you and your foam-covered head back to be rinsed off. This part is just like at home, lay back in a chair made for people that are 5’4” and lay back with you head on a block. Apparently, it takes a lot of rinsing & rubbing and rubbing & rinsing to get the shampoo out of your skull. Then they wrap your wet hair up in a towel like a turban and take you back to the stylist chair. Here’s the part where it gets weird. The next step is to clean our your ears. That’s what I said – clean your ears. Not the outside, the inside. The person gets out a supply of Q-tips and does your ears for you. I haven’t had my ears cleaned since my mother did it when I was in grade school! OK, you make it through that and then the massage starts. They begin on the top and work all over your head, temples, forehead, eyebrows, behind your ears, under your chin, your cheek bones and then back to the top where they start slapping the back of one hand with the other in the same rhythm that you would make when you are trying to sound like a horse galloping. Finally the massage is done – wrong! – it just moves down to your neck, shoulder blades, back, lower back then back to the shoulder blades with the horse gallop again. Now it is time to get your shoulders, arms, elbows, forearms, wrists, hands, palms and each joint of each finger massaged. I am now out of body parts that I am willing let some guy massage while sitting in the front window in the local neighborhood shopping center. At last, he is done and I get to move to where it appears I will be getting my hair actually cut – first clue; 25-lbs (11-kg) of dark brown hair all over the floor. I explain, or actually gesture, what I want done. Pick up the hair on top, and show that I want about an inch (25-mm) taken off of it. Pick up the hair over the ears, and then point to the top of the ear and make a cutting motion with my fingers. Then back to the Bozo curls on the sides, behind and below the ears. Pick up the curls, trace it with my finger, then make a scissor cutting motion just before where the curl starts in earnest. Then I picked up the hair on the very back and moved my fingers about two-inches (50-mm) apart. The stylist has nodded after each instruction. Now I know that it’s got to be my fault for not speaking Chinese, but nowhere in my gesturing did I say taper the back from about 1-inch (25-mm) at the swirl down to shaving the nape of the neck with a straight razor! The sides were cut up over the ears but it damn sure isn’t going to touch the ears anyway shape or form. At least they didn’t cut anything off of the top! She took the barber cloth off and I started to take off the barber coat, but no, she’s not done yet! I have to go back to the shampoo sink to get all of the loose hair washed out and have my head rubbed & rinsed and rinsed & rubbed again, another turban and them back to the chair for the blow drying. Finally, 1-hour and 48-minutes after I first sat down in the chair, I give the cashier my 40RMB ($4.86) and walked out into the fifth coldest day we have had this year looking forward to my 10-minute electric-bike ride through the drizzle back to the apartment with less hair on my head than since before I met Mona. Hey, I got a month & a-half before the wedding! It’ll grow out and should be just about right.

Not Much News...

Not much going on to talk about. Dad is back to work now. Lucked out again. He left his GE credit card at the ATM machine last Sat. and we didn't discover it till Tues. They had it in the bank, so he got it back. Actually I got it back with having the ATM receipt or advice as they call it and the card number and name. I lost my cell phone in a taxi early on and got it back. Had an honest cab driver who took it to the Police station. I think we've used up all our good luck for China. Maybe they are more honest here than I thought.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hi: Well it’s been an enjoyable time off with Tom and we still have two more days. We saw lots of fireworks on the eve of the 8th and are still seeing them. Seems they want to celebrate their holiday clear up until they go back to work on Wednesday. There are tons of aerial fireworks and most at about our level on the 21st floor. The fireworks get extra loud when they shoot them off between the buildings in our complex. Fireworks We did go on our city tour on the 10th. That day was a bit cool, but we survived. Visited 2 gardens in the morning, had lunch, toured the silk factory (very fascinating) and visited another garden and a city gate in the afternoon. Families of the past dynasties constructed the gardens. They served as their homes and were suppose to be very serene. They incorporated rocks, water and trees all designed in very artistic ways. Although they were all quite beautiful I think I would freeze if I had to live there, especially earlier when they did not have glass and just used rice paper over the windows and doors during the colder months. Garden Found out that the silk worms only eat Mulberry leaves, and that they have to kill the worms before they eat their way out of the cocoon. This breaks what would be a single, 4000-foot long silk thread. Watched the machines that unwind seven cocoons to make a single silk thread. If they have what they call twins, two worms in the same cocoon, they use them for batting in silk quilts. They soak them in hot water then stretch them over this inverted “V” form, then soak it again and stretch it over a larger form. Even wet, the stretched silk is unbelievably tough. This photo shows the women pulling one “twin” cocoon, to make one of the, up to, one thousand layers in the quilt. Sally Janet and I got to help pull one cocoon and you would not believe how hard it was! Silk We had a very good local guide that, strangely enough, Sally and I had met before. We had stopped by a travel agency to get some quotes on in country trips. Her name is Mi (me). The arrangements for the city tour had been made through the Renaissance Hotel and it just happened they used the company she worked for. She did tell us that we could call her personally and she would show us where to buy certain things. I think we will be back in touch with her. On the 11th we were taking our sweet time getting out when we had an unexpected visitor. It was Parthasarthy Srinivasen (Srini), the other GE manager that Tom works with. He’s from India and is a vegetarian, a very strict vegetarian. I had tripped down to our store in the complex to grab some pop and had picked up some cookies. When I brought them out Tom ask me to check to make sure they had been made with vegetable oil. Srini pointed out that eggs would be the problem. I’m happy to say that Chips Ahoy cookies have neither, so I did okay. Srini is here without his family and this is the first assignment he has had to endure alone. The poor guy even had an emergency appendectomy back in October. Unfortunately it did burst before he got to the hospital in Shanghai. He is here for at least as long as we are. Later that day we went out and bought electric bikes and the day before at the silk factory we had purchased a silk quilt (comforter) for the bed and a silk blanket to use while watching the tube. Guess they cancelled each other out, one in hopes the weather would warm up and the others figuring it wouldn’t. So the weather did just as it pleased and was really nice during that day and then starting snowing that night. By yesterday morning we had enough snow that the park was completely white. Snow Splurged on breakfast with Jerry and Sally at the Renaissance near us, then we were going to walk back home the whole 1-1/2 blocks, get our backpacks and catch a bus to Carrefour to shop a little. Seems that eating out and shopping are our favorite activities. Anyway we decided it wasn’t that bad out and to ride our bikes over to a grocery store Tom had not been to. Of course after filling our backpacks and heading home we decided to go even farther and head over to the new Starbucks for a warm cup of liquid, which we definitely needed by that time. Called some new friends that had gone on the tour with us that live close to Starbucks. So we had a nice visit with them. Then off we went to B&Q, the English version of Home Depot, for a couple of wrenches to adjust our bike seats. We did ride some without the motors turned on, but oh dear, are my legs out of shape. Of course it doesn’t help to add the weight of the battery on the bike. It fits on the frame straight ahead of where my legs would be and isn’t a small thing. Today, we did some more riding and tried to do more manual pedaling. Gradually we should get in better shape. We are trying to do ab crunches, push-ups and then I am trying to work on my upper body with some free weights. If I am going to try to do the dragon boat racing I will definitely have to be in better shape. The women should start training after we return from the states, so I at least have some time to improve my 50-year-old body. I think Jerry and Sally just plan on getting regular bikes when it gets warmer. So, if she doesn’t opt to use Tom’s I might be pedaling a lot. We figured with my bum knee and Tom’s that will get fixed, on March 30th, we need an option to get home if we have problems. Of course the first thing I asked was, “Can we take them home?” I do have a converter at home that should take care of the 110V to 220V, so that shouldn’t be a problem. They only cost about $158 each. If it’s too much of a hassle we can try to sell them before we leave. Actually I think that part of the reason I love my new bike so much is that is like getting your first car. I don’t feel trapped anymore. When your transportation consists of a taxi or a bus or your legs it does limit you. Especially when the bus schedules are all in Chinese. We do have maps with the bus numbers on them, but you can’t tell which direction it goes. We’ve made a couple of mistakes and ended up at the bus barn. Oh well, more adventures. Not sure if I will ever feel comfortable riding downtown, but we will see. At least I can ride here in SIP (Singapore Industrial Park) where we live. If I can talk Sally into it, I would like to ride to the Expat coffee on Tuesday and then to the luncheon on Wednesday. Today we located the German restaurant where the latter will be. Tom spoke with his brother Bob today. We had received an email from his wife, Sandy telling us that Mom was worried Dad was getting Alzheimer’s. Bob doesn’t really think that, but that Dad is just worn to a frazzle. Mom broke her wrist several weeks back and that with her bad eyesight has left everything to Dad. We also had emailed Tom’s cousin, Dick, who had been there recently and he agreed with Bob. Bob has talked with Dad about getting checked and we will follow up on that. Dad’s mother had memory loss in her latter years, but we aren’t sure what it was. My biggest concern is that he get checked and soon. Mom hadn’t wanted to mention it to him. The worst decision I think. She can hardly see anymore with her macular degeneration. Also, they are thinking of giving the house to the boys now. Said a lot of their friends had done that. Spoke with Mom yesterday and she said apparently the scans were normal, so the doctor had thought it might be her inner ear making her dizzy. She seemed in great spirits even though Nita and Vernon had left. Said Dad had even helped her in getting him in and out of bed. The new girls next door had offered their assistance, too. Guess one or both are trained for EMT’s. She had called them once. Told her to treat them good. Will be glad when Foy is home. Oh yeah, I have to tell you a funny, but mum's the word to Erik. Erik had mentioned that Amy was letting him decorate their bath. So, he has chosen to use slate gray towels and the dragons we have collected for him over the years as the theme. I would like to have a silk shower curtain in gray or silver with a dragon made for them, if I can. Have a lead on where to do that already. Anyway I had spotted this liquor bottle with a glass dragon blown into the inside of the bottle. It gave me reason to buy it. Got it home and decided to remove it from the decorative box and display it on the gold stand. Well it started leaking. The liquor smelled horrid, some berry like s**t. We then carefully removed the lock and emptied it into the kitchen sink. Believe it or not the gas detector alarm went off. Don’t think I want to drink any of that. Well our satellite dish has been out since Feb. 3rd or 4th. We did find out that the new cards are available, but since we had ours installed thru the real estate company we have to wait for them to return to work on Wed. to find out when we can get a new card. Jerry and Brian are run off one dish and they had theirs done thru one of the driver’s friends. They have been told they will get a new card on one eight (the 18th). We are back to our original cable box, which has HBO, Natl. Geo, CNN, and BCC. Everything else is in Chinese, French, Filipino, or German. Regular TV has one, channel in English. Of course the satellite dish had to go out when Tom has time off. So, much fun we are having. Happy Valentine's Day, Mona and Tom, too

Chinese New Year

Year of the Rooster CHINESE DO'S AND DONT'S DURING SPRING FESTIVAL (aka: Chinese New Year). °Do wear red clothing as it is considered a bright, happy color that brings the wearer a sunny and bright future. ºDon’t wear white, it’s very unlucky as it signifies death and misfortune (it is the color worn at funerals). °Do make sure all debts are paid by New Year. Nothing should be lent on this day, as anyone who does so will be lending off you all year. °Don’t spank or tell off your children even if they are mischievous. Children are tolerated as it is believed if you cry on New Year’s Day, you will cry throughout the year. °Do look out for songbirds, swallows or red-colored birds as it’s considered a very lucky sign to see or hear them. °Don’t do housework on New Year’s Day otherwise your good fortune will be swept away. °Do be careful as to the first person you meet and the first words you hear on New Year’s Day, as these affect your fortune for the entire year. °Don’t wash your hair on New Year’s Day because it means that you have washed away all your good luck for the New Year. DO HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM TOMONA INC.

Another Letter From Mona

Hi Kids: Just a quick note to say we are doing fine. Dad is working Monday thru the Tuesday of next week so he can have Spring Festival week off. That's Chinese New Year's. We didn't manage to book any in country trips, but plan on taking a city tour of Suzhou. That will take up one day and isn't too expensive, around $38 each. Should be fun. Will have to figure out other activities for the rest of the week off. Me?, I've been trying to get us involved in the Expat Community here. Sally and I went for a luncheon last Thursday and joined. Today I attended a meeting for Dragon Boat racing that will be happening in June. Thought it might be something to try and give me another reason to get in shape. Guess we will see. Then Sally and I went to a delightful coffee get together and had a chance to meet more women or "trailing spouses" as we are called. Also, found out more info on where to do what, like getting our hair cut and such. We did tackle that one this afternoon. Mine wasn't too bad, because I ask one of the customers who spoke English and Chinese to help me out. She told the guy layer it, no hair drying, and leave long or her husband will kill her. He got a chuckle out of the latter, but still had to at least dry the top. The massage I received was worth the price of 58 RMB = $7.07. They massage your scalp while shampooing right there in the chair. The girl put shampoo on my hair, then used a bottle with a spout on it to get enough water on it to make more suds than I thought possible. Then she took me over to the sink, rinsed it and applied conditioner and rinsed again. After that we went back to the chair and for 30+ minutes she massaged my neck, shoulders, arms, fingers to the tips, palm, and then my back. It was quite relaxing. I can't say it was all a gentle massagee and I only hope I don't look like a bruised peach tomorrow. Unfortunately I was getting my massagee, as they say, while Sally was getting her hair cut. She wears hers to just above her shoulders and usually flips it under. Well she got a Chinese style SHORT hair cut. There's not enough to flip under. Then he kept trying to spike it on top and she kept trying to tell him to fluff it up, but no spikes. He just kept trimming more off, so she gave up. Sally is probably in her mid to late 50's and I tried to tell her it made her look younger, but she still was concerned. On the taxi ride home she was doing better than I in remembering directions in Chinese. I told her that her memory was longer than mine, but my hair was definitely longer than hers. She laughed pretty hard over that one. We must laugh at our adventures or they would definitely get the better of us. We are going to the spouses luncheon tomorrow, so we will see what adventures we have then. Miss and love you all. Write when you can, Mom/Mona/GraMona/Crazy Mom living in China