Korea-Good for the Self-Esteem

I hadn't had a haircut since I've been here, as of last Sunday. The barbers here cut everyones' hair the same. Nicole, the Canadian, says it's a "mushroom" cut, but I think its more a "carrot with the greens still on it" cut. It's a terrible hairstyle and if you look at the pictures of my students you'll see that most of the boys have that cut. On Sunday, I went to a department store and found some hair clippers. I bought them and buzzed my head that night. I did not anticipate the fervor of the reaction to my new hairstyle that would ensue the following day.

I walked into work on Monday and my boss's eyes got as big as saucers. She was standing and she fell back into her chair. I thought, "Oh, no. She is going to be so mad that I did this. She must think this is unprofessional." But she stood up again and said, "You rook so hawnsum. You rook like movie stal."

She had invited a classmate of hers from her English class to interview me for a class assignment. The girl giving the interview was my age, and she was shaking and kept fanning herself even though it was very cold in the building. She too told me I was "hawnsum." One of her questions was, "What do you think of Lynn (Lynn is the English name for my boss)?" I said I was very happy that she is my boss because she if very kind and understanding. She told me that Lynn likes me very much too and she has talked about me in their English class. I asked what she had said, expecting things like "he's good with the kids" or "he's a good teacher," but my boss has told her English class that I am "very tall, very handsome, and cute." The girl then made an "X" with her arms while fanning herself to tell me the interview was over.

The little girls in my classes were very funny too. They were swooning all day long. The one girl that said I was an angel during the first week of class asked one of the Korean teachers where she thought I kept my wings. And when I say good-bye at the end of the day the Korean teachers normally say something in Korean and giggle, but as I was leaving this day one of them said, "Good-bye Mista hawnsum."

I was also a hit with the guys. I was told that when guys shave their heads it either means their going into the army, becoming a monk, or making a major life change. So for me to cut off my hair just for kicks I instantly became a very brave man in their eyes. They gave me lots of compliments and they would go up the mirror and cover their hair with their hands to try and see what they would look like if they cut off their hair too.

This was a fun day. And the class that is usually terrible was well behaved. I need to cut my hair more often.