Gaijin hair- Ash Hair Make experience

I'm a blonde. A blonde who likes to be blonder. And while I thought about dying my hair back to it natural golden hues for convenience while in Japan- something tells me my entertainment career will do a little better if I play the blonde card here.

So I decided to get my roots touched up before I had a demo session with a voiceover company. Which would be easy peasey back in the States.

I could get my hair done on the naval base.....but they couldnt get me an appt before my meeting aaand being a city girl I'm kind of weary of super-cuts esque salons

So I decided to get my hair done in the (2nd biggest) city, Yokohama at a salon I pass every day- ASH HAIR MAKE

I've seen some serious ads around town too so I felt good about stopping in.

Thank God for Google Translate App on my phone- it translated English to Japanese very well. I asked the lady in the front if they could "color my roots today?" she nodded and we attempted a consultation

.....Google Translate does not fair so well from Japanese to English

While it may be an exact literal translation- all meaning is lost on me!

Eventually with a lot of and gestures and laughter we all got through it.

The salon played pop music and I had 2 people work on my head at the same time! They gave me milk tea to sip while I waited for color.

In the back was a dimly lit room with classical music and a fish tank projection in the middle- this is where they wash your hair. They have the most comfortable washing stations ever! My neck didn't hurt at all AND they put a banket over my legs and a gauze cover on my face to keep the water from splashing me, the most relaxing hair washing ever!

The assistant communicated to me on Google Translate one word at a time while my hair was setting asking me "color. hurt head?" and "head itchy?" towards the end it got a little itchy but nothing I couldn't handle.

I mention this because in the middle of washing my hair he asks "itch anywhere?" so he would know if he missed a spot- I shook my head.

 He put the gauze back on my face and continued washing for a couple of seconds before he shouted:
"SHAMPOO! POWER!"

He sounded just like an anime and we laughed hysterically for about 5 minutes

The job got done, it def cost more than i was used to because I couldnt communicate properly exactly what needed to be done. But now I know what to ask about when I start my Japanese classes next week!

Land of the Super Nice

I've been in Japan almost 2 weeks, and it is such a refreshing experience. People here are really nice and polite- EXTREMELY

The Japanese still live lives filled with that thing called honor looming over their heads. For example-
did you drop your umbrella at the bus stop? Don't worry it will be hanging on the bus sign when you get there tomorrow.
Did you leave your purse in the store? Don't worry it'll be at the local police box.

Even after stories I was still skeptical. Until one day last week I had a job interview in Tokyo, in a very commercial and non-tourist part of town. I got there about 2 hour early and decided to get lunch at a little noodle shop. At this shop you pay at a ticket machine by the door, the machine prints you a ticket and you give the ticket to the hostess who seats you and takes the ticket to the cook.

I took my time with my mystery noodle bowl (pictured below), I burned about an hour at the noodle joint. 45 minutes into my stay, the hostess came up to me and handed me some coins. I looked at her puzzled, she then mimed to me that someone else paid at the machine and noticed my change in the dispenser- AND THEY DIDNT KEEP IT FOR THEMSELVES

Granted it was maybe 100 yen, but in NYC if you find change in a vending machine, you see that as your lucky day - not someone else's Un-lucky day. And over here no one wants to make someone else's day bad

They've also been really nice about my limited language skills- which you will read about in my next post about Ash Hair Make salon