.... at least that's what Sheryl Crow said. In this case it turned out to not be the case. For weeks before we left for Germany the thought had crossed my mind, "what's going to happen when I need to get a haircut? how am I going to explain what I want in a second language? etc."
Well the time came this past Saturday and I went for it. We strolled down the Bergerstrasse next to our apartment, poking our heads into a few places that were already booked up until we found one that had an opening. The other rule was that we would bypass any place that was geared towards turkish hairstyles - not in a judgmental way, but they tend to have very short hairstyles with occasional designs carved into them and sometimes even the "modern mullet" look.
I confidently strolled in and sat down in the stylist's chair and explained that this was my first haircut in Germany and I whipped out a picture of myself with my hair the length that I wanted it cut. As they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words", in any language. She seemed to understand very well, asked a few questions along the way to make sure that the length was o.k. and here's what I ended up with:
It was a real relief to get that first haircut out of the way without any casualties. Let's face it, bad haircuts happen to good people all the time. There is a difference between hair places here and in the U.S. though, as one of our German friends pointed out. Unlike places like Fantastic Sams, Hair Cuttery, and Great Clips in the States where young artists in training are unleashed to practice on customers, in Germany every person employed in a hair cutting establishment has served as an apprentice under someone and is going to be well-seasoned. Needless to say, I took my new "Friseur's (stylist)" card for the next time. Pia's got my back!
