I wandered around Hayang yesterday, searching for a salon that would cut my hair for only W8,000, but after visiting four or five different places, I gave up and went into Coco, a second-floor salon that charges W10,000 as all the rest apparently do. Service took a million years, and a Korean woman who came in after I did was served before I was, so I doubt I'll be returning to Coco. I've found that I generally prefer salons where the workers are over 40. The young'uns, such as those perky twenty-somethings at Coco, often cater to foreigners last instead of styling on a first-come-first-serve basis. The older ladies, by contrast, don't seem to care whom they're treating next. I had a similar insight while working at Sookmyung; in that neighborhood, there was a salon run by young people and another salon run by burly ajummas. Guess which provided better service.
In any event, the haircut is done. While W10,000 isn't what I wanted to pay, I have to admit it's better than the $13 I routinely paid my Korean barbers back in the States. So that's a major item to strike off my vacation to-do list.
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Belated comment, but I just wanted to say that I was puzzled by your experience. I haven't been to an ajumma place or a bathhouse barber in well over a decade (mainly because they don't know how to cut my hair), and I've never had the problems with service you mention.
ReplyDeleteYou say, "The young'uns, such as those perky twenty-somethings at Coco, often cater to foreigners last instead of styling on a first-come-first-serve basis." But, honestly, that has never been my experience. The only time I have not been handled on a FCFS basis has been when I was waiting for a particular hairdresser or someone had an appointment and I was a walk-in (I don't think I've ever made an appointment for a haircut).
Not saying that you haven't accurately described your experience, of course... it's just weird that our experiences have been so different.