My Latest Adventures

This past Friday, I was feeling rather spontaneous. On the bus to work, I contemplated what I wanted to do this weekend. And then out of blue, it came to me. Why not go to Paris? Sure, why not. Only live once. I decided that the overnight bus was my cheapest option, and I could catch a bus that very night. Come quiting time at work, I rushed to an internet cafe to buy my coach ticket. This was at 4:00 in the afternoon. Five hours later, I was sitting on the coach bus, on my way to Paris. At 11:00 p.m, I was warmly welcomed (ok, I was allowed in) into France by Border Patrol. Then the bus drove onto the ferry, I spent an 1 1/2 hr on the ferry, and then I got back on the bus for another 4 hr journey. Yes, it was a long journey. Thankfully, I slept through most it! Who says you can't sleep on a bus??

Anyways, there I was. In the coach station, in PARIS, at 7:30 in the morning! Map in hand and a Metro ticket from my sister, I was off to find the Louvre, then Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Sacre Cour and the Opera House. It was quite the adventure! and such a full day! And the craziest part is that I was only in Paris for 15 hours! At 10:00 I boarded the overnight bus, on my way back to London. This way I didn't have to pay for a hostel. And I could sleep on the bus again and have all day Sunday to recover. All in all, it was an exciting and fun weekend in a whirl-windy sort of way. I'm glad I did it though, thanks Nicole for the recommendation (and funding!)
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And now for my biggest, bravest adventure thus far while in London.

Today I got my HAIRCUT!!How does this qualify as an adventure...I'll explain:

Again, today after work, I was feeling spontaneous. I walked into the little mall by Gloucester Road Tube Station, and the hair salon caught my eye. Haircut for 12.95 pounds (about $20). Sounds good, I could use a cut.

It started out on a very positive note. The hairdresser washed my hair for a good 10 minutes!! Shampoo, Massage. Conditioner, Massage. Another liquid, Massage. Probably the best head massage I've ever had.

Then I sat in front of the mirror and he starts fluffing my hair as hairdressers do, and I know what he's going to ask before he does: how do you want your hair cut?? I give him my generic answer (because I'm unadventurous when it comes to my hair): I want it a little above my shoulders, a few layers, a little more of a style.

"Do you want a French cut (point to my bangs) or a French side cut?" Uh, sorry, can you explain that? I'm a clueless American.

We decide on a French side cut (why not?) And so, the haircut begins. He divides my hair into sections. Nothing different there. But then he makes his first cut. Now, imagine how you would cut a piece of wrapping paper, using one long motion to cut all the way across the paper. That, is how he cut my hair. No "snip, snip, snip' of the scissors. It was an awful noise (rippppppppp), cutting straight through strands of hair. Is this guy really going to cut my hair?? I thought I took a deep breath and decided that it was only hair. He kept going. Eventually, he did go "snip, snip, snip," and this made me feel much better. For a little while. But then it was time for the French side cut bangs.

He left the division for my bangs for last. Normal. Twirling it into a knot at the top of my head. He then proceeded to "attack" my hair with his scissors, stabbing the twirl of hairs with open, sharp, scissors. In and out, In and out. "Shearing" I guess you'd call it. I'm pretty sure it was at this point that I had to started to laugh. This can't be happening.. But, it was.

At this point, I was convinced that he was finished. And I had to say, I was actually liking the cut, even after getting attacked by his scissors. But,no luck. He wasn't finished yet. He then went all around my head and used his open scissors to stab and attack and shear away hair in a random fashion. It's hard to describe. But it definitely wasn't a snip, or even a chop. Form of shearing again. (I'm guessing this part was to thin/fluff my already thin hair.) Who really knows at this point? He soon finished up, fluffed up my hair as he did in the beginning and asked me if I like the cut. The words, "yes, I like it" came out of my mouth, but my head wasn't so sure.

Let's just say, it was an eye-opening experience. I'm pretty sure my hairdresser at home will have her work cut out for her upon my next haircut. All I can say is that this was definitely the best and the worst haircut I've ever had.


(I think I'll stop being spontaneous for a while!)