White hair
Today I decided to wear my hair pinned back, something I haven't done much of here in Korea, because of my new haircut. So, of course, when anybody sees me with this hair style (and those of you at home will remember it), there's my big streak of white/grey hair that is so obvious.I've always gotten a lot of questions about my hair, but the hardest conversation about it is when I have to have the conversation with someone in a different language or culture. I had the conversation before, in Mexico, my first time there, with the teachers. And tonight my students asked me about it.
"Teacher... you hair is white?"
I tried to tell them I am old, but they didn't buy that (thank you!). I told them I started getting it in high school. They immediately came up with their own conclusion to the matter. They talked a little bit in Korean and then pronounced "ahhh. Stress-uh*". They all nodded and went back to the work, and left me standing there puzzled.
"No, not stress-uh," I replied. I tried to explain to them that my dad got gray hair early, and so I got gray hair early. I then told them that I don't go to the "hair shop" (as they called it) because I actually kind of like it, and I think it's cool. Unfortunately I ended the last sentence in a "right?" asking for an affirmation. I received no affirmation, just kids trying to avoid my question. Ha! So I said, "well at least I like it".
*(Most Koreans have a hard time ended their words with a solid consonant because they don't do that in Korean, so most words that kids say, when they end in a consonant, have an extra vowel at the end. "Finish" becomes "finish-ee", English becomes "English-ee", "E-Mart" becomes "E-Mart-uh", etc.)
posted by Meghan @ 6:23 AM
2 Comments:
Interesting. Both about the hair and the language quirks.
After talking with you about the hair, and reading your thoughts here and on vagrant about it, I wonder if there will come a time when you get tired of the gray hair discussion or the second glances you've reported receiving, and just start dumping chemicals on it.
I'm not sure what I would do if I were you. Then again, I am starting to lose my hair, and I'm pretty sure my approach will eventually be to buzz it down to a half-inch length and embrace the bald spot. No pretending or fighting it.
Of course, gray can be cool. Bald spots just aren't.
Pity me.
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