My first experience of haircut in the US

Before I came to US, my friends have warned me that going to a barber's might be very expensive and unpleasant experience. I doubted if that was the real situation. It was not until when I stepped that shop did I realized that they were not dramatizing the situation there.

I usually have my hair cut once a month because the side hairs grow very fast and i always want to be neat. So several days ago I asked my friend here if he could recommend a barber's here near the university. He suggested his barber. He told me that it is a little more expensive but the barber did a very good job. I decided to go with him because he also need a haircut soon. But here you need to make an appointment with the barber before you go. What's more, they don't work during the weekend. Basically you need to do that during the weekdays. My friend made the appointments for him and me. We went there this afternoon.

The barber shop is in the downtown of Murray. There is a church opposite it. The moment I walked into the shop I realized that I made a wrong decision. First thing I did not like is that the barber is an animal lover. She keeps dogs, cats and pigeons. The room smells. She has her work place in the back of the room--a very tiny place. There's an old mirror on wall and a chair with dirty mat in front of it. The sink in the corner of the room is where you get your hair washed, I think. For one moment I was so uncomfortable about the smell that I told them I would like to go out for a walk while she was working on my friend's haircut.

I walked outside. The street was cold with rain. There was nobody on the street. It was chilly and stores are quiet. It was so quiet that I'm wondering how these business could make a profit here. Anyway, it was cold and wet and I walked along the street for five mins and then I wondered back to the barber's. I was back in the shop for two or three mins then the barber told me that she had done with my friend and it was my turn.

She was friendly when she was doing my hair. She asked where I was from and what I was doing here. She told me her Taiji training and her love of literature. I told her that I like reading The Cather in the Rye and To Kill a Mocking Bird. I think that it only took her 20 mins to finish my haircut, which was quite short if compared with the time the barber spends on my haircut in Beijing. What's more, she even did not wash my hair.

Anyway, this is my first experience of getting a haircut in the US. Next time I will go to a barber shop in Chaintown.