A haircut, a hot pot lunch, and gymnastics in Changzhou!

I know many of you have been waiting for me to experience the haircut and color process in China!  So i am going to start with the other two items to ensure you read this post until the end and your laughter doesn't consume you.

As many of you know we have made some friends here in China, there is an expat population in our city around 2,000 people and we have had the pleasure of meeting a few, some from America, Austria, Chile, Costa Rica, France, Germany and New Zealand so quite the mix of cultural backgrounds and languages to learn from.  All of these new friends have been in Changzhou longer than us so we have relied heavily on them for recommendations, directions, and friendships being so far away from home!  That being said they are all wonderful people, some really cool kiddos and we are having a blast with the whole experience!  Yesterday we were able to get out with some friends and have Blake try and gymnastics class and then have lunch at a hot pot restaurant.

Gymnastics!  Blake is so active we thought this would be a great activity for him and went with his new pal Serafina (they are one year apart and will be in preschool together in August, they also live in our compound so we get in some fun playdates!).  The program allows for open gym time so the kids can explore and such, which i think they really enjoy, some parachute time, circle time with activities, circuits for kids to try out, and a song and stamps at the end!!!  Here are some of the photos from our fun time at Inspire Sports (its a Canadian company that has come to China).  Blake is going to start class every Sunday and I think he will really enjoy it!!!

That's Blake and Serafina in the middle photo on the trampoline together!

After getting all the energy out we went to Injoy mall (in Changzhoou for you locals) and had lunch at a hot pot restaurant.  For those at home, a hot pot restaurant is similar to the Melting Pot restaurant except no cheese or dessert course...lol . 

The experience:  First you walk into the restaurant to find a few people getting their nails done, a few massage chairs and a kids play area that is closed off so while you eat the kids can play.  Then you walk into the actual restaurant where every table has the hot pot center.  You are given an iPad to complete you order on, and the courses just keep coming out!  Lucky for us we were with some experienced friends and they placed the order and could tell us what it is we were eating.  You get to order vegetables, meats, fish, tofu, rice cakes, noodles, etc and at your table is a set heating element that they then bring a large pot of broth/sauce of your choice to cook the food in. There is a sauce bar as well, sort of like at the Mongolian BBQ in the states but different selections, you mix your own sauce and then can dip your foods into it.  We had 4 adults adn 3 kiddos so we went for a large variety of items!  The broth to start was a tomato soup base, then we also had a spicy version you will see in the photos.  We ordered tofu skin, beef, lamb, sausages, shrimp, white fish, quail eggs, fish balls, meat balls, and I am sure I am leaving something out!  So in batches we were able to cook the food, the shrimp was very tasty as well as the beef that i tried, Blake really enjoyed the little sausages that were cut to look like octopus (only 4 tentacles) and Brian tried a variety of everything.  It was a fun experience to go and cook your own food, and also to try something more authentic to China than eating at home.  There was also a man walking around with fresh noodles, he would stretch them in front of your table and produce noodles for you to make in your hot pot, i got an action shot of him but i am not sure you can make out what he is doing in the photo.  The waiter also came around and gave the kids balloons and they were able to go into the play area to run around too.  So if you come to China we might be going back for hot pot! (http://www.haidilao.com/sg/)

The noodle guy is in the bottom left corner here makin' his noodles!

Ok the Salon experience....I asked around for some recommendations for a stylist, i think my hair is pretty different than Chinese thick hair so i wanted to be sure they wouldn't fry my hair in the dye process.  I found a salon that a few friends had tried call Mentor, apparently it is a chain in China and the stylist was trained at Tony and Guy in Shanghai so sounds pretty safe :)  I went in wanting to cut my hair into a long bob and add some side bangs, change the color to a brown all over no more highlights.  In order to do this i pulled up an old photo of a haircut i previously had since i can't communicate well with the stylist.  I had my trusty friend with me that has been there before and has much better skills in speaking Chinese than I do, we got our Starbucks and headed off to the salon!

When we arrived I was immediately greeted and given a chair to sit in, the stylist came over to speak with us and I showed him the photo, my friend provided some Chinese words to explain the color and cut in the photos were what i wanted to have done.  i think at the time there might have been two assistants involved in the process.  One assistance was instructed to get the color and mix and apply it to my hair, the stylist; Henry went on to cut someone's hair and came back to periodically check up on the color. Since it was all over color there was no foil, but i was given some Spock Ears as my friend called them while chuckling at me, so that no dye made its way into my ears :)  As he separated my hair and took small sections at a time to color he was very meticulous about this process.  I think he ended up mixing three batches of color to get all of my hair, then Henry came over, i believe telling the assistant there was too much color so a water bottle was pulled out and my hair was given some water so he could pull out some of the excess color.  After everyone was satisfied with the amount of hair color on my head I was wrapped up in some cellophane and left to sit for a few minutes in the chair.  While waiting my time i was given a nice shoulder/neck massage :)

Photos courtesy of my friend watching the whole experience!

When time was up I was taken back to the hair wash station just like at home to get the color out and do a good shampoo/conditioner wash and scalp massage and then off to get the cut and blow dry completed!  He tilted my head forward and started to cut the hair, i noticed it seemed a bit short when he cut it but i figured the back was going to be more stacked or have more layers, then he proceeded to pull all the hair in sections to the back and cut the same length, i was a little concerned but nothing i could really do now, so i let him continue to cut my hair, same with the bangs, i was concerned they were too short, but once their are cut that's all folks!  I figured i showed him two photos, and he knew what he was doing.....well then he started to dry my hair ( mind you he used no styling products, not what i am used to at home) and then i saw it, the final product.....it was shorter than i wanted in length and in bangs, i typed in my phone to ask him what about layers in the back trying to explain i need volume, he said this length would be easy and to let it grow one month before putting layers in the back....roughly translated.  Wait, this isn't what my picture showed, what happened?  Luckily i am one of those, it will grow back people :)  So in time it will....but then he also proceeded to curl the short hair and you can see for yourself what it looked like, I believe my friend said i looked like a mod go-go dancer, just needed the dress and boots!  I went home and washed it again to get the curl out and style it in a more straight look, still short......but it will grow.....and another experience in China for the books!

The bottom right is after i was able to dry and style it myself with the bangs pinned to the side.

This is going to be a fun filled week with the in-laws in town so i am not sure how much i will post this week but will take pictures of our experiences and update the blog as i can!  Happy July 4th to all my friends at home this week, enjoy the summer fun of swimming and BBQing for me!  I will miss our annual Schumer reunion in Las Vegas sipping beverages while floating in the pool, good food, good family and good times!