Always a ceremony

I got my hair straightened on Saturday and not just with a flattening iron that washes out when I wash my hair. I mean I got it "permanently" straightened so it will last six months to a year. One of my friend's at work does it and convinced me it was a good idea though I was still a little nervous. She kept telling me that I have to say goodbye to having any volume in my hair so I thought I might come out looking like Wednesday from the Adam's Family. Luckily though I think it looks pretty cute. My Japanese students at school this morning kept saying, "Kris sensei preeeeetttiiii". At morning exercises when we were all singing they kept turning around to stare because I guess to them I look really different. It was so cute.

Anyway the reason I'm writing is because while I was getting this whole process done I noticed that even getting your hair straightened in Japan feels ceremonious. The Japanese are famous for their tea ceremony and for those of you who don't know, it's a very long ceremony with very strict rules to be followed. While I'm pretty sure there were no strict rules being followed on Saturday, it still felt different from being in the States. First of all they offered coffee or tea to all of the customers upon arrival. Next they went through the standard application of the cape so no hair gets on you, but rather than one cape I got a towel followed by another towel then the cape and finally another towel. Needless to say, I didn't have any hair on me when I left. Then as each process was happening, any employee who wasn't working on someone else's hair came over to help with mine so I had two people applying the straightening chemicals and three people blow drying my hair the first time and two people (but one lady was holding two blow dryers) the second time. So pretty much I felt like a princess all day (well at least for the four hours I was there - that's right FOUR hours)!

The Japanese also love to say things to their customers. When you walk into a restaurant or store they always say something - and it's not just one person, it's usually close to the whole staff - then they say something when you leave too. We're not really sure what they are saying but it doesn't sound like hello and goodbye. I think someone said when you leave they say thank you, but in the past tense - like thank you for having eaten/shopped here I guess. Anyway the staff at the salon also all said something every time someone got up to get their hair washed and every time someone got back from getting their hair washed. I got my hair washed three times during my time there so this happened a lot but I have no idea what they were saying. I found it very amusing none the less.

I also found it interesting that they draped a cloth over my lap and removed it every time I got up. When I got my hair washed they put a different cloth over my lap and also placed a light cloth over my face. At first I was unsure how I felt about this but I think the purpose of it is to help you relax because all three times I almost fell asleep. It was awesome! The last time they washed my hair they placed a warm wash cloth on the back of my neck at the end. Again - awesome.

I know this picture isn't very good but it's just to give you an idea of how my hair looks. Take note that I just got out of the shower and blow dried my hair for about 5 minutes - without a brush! For those of you who know me, you know that it used to take me about 40 minutes to blow dry my hair and if I didn't use a brush I would look like a hairy wildebeest.

Speaking of washcloths makes me think of a few massages I've had here. The gyms here offer massages for $30-$35 for an hour so it's hard to pass them up. I had a few on base here at Kadena but then Audrey told me that she had an even better one at one of the Marine bases so I went there and fell in love with it. I told the masseuse that I'm training for a marathon and that my legs and body were just really sore. She started the massage by walking - that's right walking - on my legs. It hurt a little bit but mostly felt amazing. It hurt in a good way though because I know she was getting the knots out. She also applied hot stones to my muscles when she wasn't working on them and must have put icy hot on me because whatever cream she was using felt really warm when she first applied it. She did an excellent job of getting my knots and I just loved it so I went back for a second time. The second time she did all of the same things but pulled out yet another treat from her bag of tricks - hot towels. She placed really hot towels on my muscles and it was delightful. All for $30! Can you believe that? You can't be that price!

So I know all of this posting was about me and I'm sorry to those of you (Justin) who read our blog to find out what Giff is up to in Okinawa but that'll be the day I get him to write something on here. Until then I'll try to think of some more stories that include him :)

We hope you're all doing well! We miss you all very much and hope the economy starts picking up again soon so you can buy plane tickets to come visit us :)