I've been in Berlin for over two months, can you believe it? I mean, clearly you sit around all day wondering how I am doing, thinking about how exciting and anxiety-ridden it must be. This of course, is if you are my mother. The rest of you don't care, I totally understand.
The truth is, it's been great but hard. The lack of close friends and family is difficult, but luckily even that hasn't been too bad thanks to The Internet. Although it doesn't help me when I'm in the mood to have someone to pal around with, but in that case I just import them from home. House guests = problem solved.
But my real hang-up with living abroad is the small fact that, you know, I don't really speak German. If anything, my German language skills have regressed since I've been here. But, Rachel, how could they possibly have gotten worse? Oh maybe because I am a Horrible American who refuses to practice and totally takes for granted that she can find someone to cater to her language-barrier needs. Like I said, I am the worst.
My insecurities in this area (which I totally admit I bring on myself), have caused me to become kind of a hermit. (Although I am also convinced I suffer through periodic agoraphobia considering I went through phases in New York where I would get stressed about leaving my apartment. Then again, this could also probably be chalked up to 'laziness.')
Anyway, this week I was forced to overcome my fears and figure out what the F to do about my increasingly out-of-control hair. For someone who loves to plan, I cannot for the life of me make a hair-altering decision more than 48 hours in advance of pulling the trigger. This is because I completely block out all normal signs that something needs to change (e.g. the bottom two inches of my hair felt like I had gotten straw extensions), but then all of a sudden, the thought invades my brain. I HAVE TO GET IT TAKEN CARE OF IMMEDIATELY. Luckily there are like five salons on my street, one of which had great online reviews (five stars translates to any language).
I immediately booked an appointment once I learned they spoke English, obviously a necessity considering I have a really bad tendency just to nod and say "Ja" when I don't know what people are saying. "Do you want to chop it all off?" "Ja....OMG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Luckily, though, I dodged a bullet and it was a great experience. The actual haircut was fine. I went in with ridiculously long hair, and I left with less-ridiculous-but-still-long hair. Nothing too exciting. But the shampoo chair. That is the totally non-important thing we need to talk about it. It was like the most luxurious massaging pedicure chair ever but with a leg rest like a dentist chair to prop you back. Basically it was heaven. And now I need to know: Have you seen this before? Is this a common thing? HAVE I BEEN MISSING OUT ON THIS FOR YEARS??? ARE ALL THE SALONS I'VE BEEN TO TERRIBLE? Or ARE GERMAN SALONS ON THE FOREFRONT OF THE SPA EXPERIENCE?? AM I LIVING IN THE FUTURE?? WE NEED TO FIGURE THIS OUT RIGHT NOW!!
I know what you're thinking, pretty bold move, asking such important questions on a Friday afternoon. I agree. I personally will think it over while continuing to live up to the Horrible American stereotype and promote the use of English as the universal language. And possibly while also justifying to myself the need to have weekly blow-outs. (Practically free when you factor in the fact you're basically getting a massage as well!) If only I could be as good at learning languages as I am about falsifying the importance of spending money.
Sigh. Something to work on next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment