Bucharest city tales: Getting lost in hair translation

Columnist Eleonore af Schaumburg-Lippe writes in her weekly column about life as an expat in Romania. This week she tells about how you can avoid getting lost in translation when you go to the hairdresser in Romania. As an expat living in Romania, I have more than once participated in some sort of social or cultural event, so I often go to the hairdresser to prepare for such events. It is a treat I spoil myself with. The world of hairstyles and makeup deserves to be discovered. You can try different looks for different occasions. During a hairdresser session, they will usually also massage your head, while washing your hair. After a busy day at work, sometimes nothing feels better than a scalp massage. Compared to Denmark the prices are far more reasonable here in Romania. Remember to always tip the person who washes your hair, which is a custom in Romania. I would recommend going to a hairdresser even if you are a tourist just visiting the country. Besides fixing and arranging your hair, most hairdressers also offer manicure, pedicure, and facial treatments. They can even apply every kind of makeups you can imagine. I personally have a regular hairdresser that I go to and he is the most talented hairdresser I have ever met. He turns hairdressing into a work of art. I know, these are big words. But I usually just have a small clue and I tell him what event I am going to, and then he begins to create. My hair is typically Danish: fine, thin hair. Not many hairdressers have been able to arrange it more creatively than the usual way of just putting it up, but my Romanian hairdresser, he is a hair magician. And not only with me, it seems. I have seen other people in the salon, and it’s amazing what he can do. But once he had to leave earlier and had asked some of his staff to wash, colour and arrange my hair. Well, that is what I thought we had agreed upon. I was going to a funeral in Germany and wanted to have my hair done before I went there. I had some hectic days and I was quite tired when I reached the hairdresser, just one day before I was supposed to go to Germany. So what happened: I fell asleep while my hair was being washed, and I failed to notice what was happening. I was under the impression that they were just applying some hair treatment. When I woke up from dreamland, I felt fresh and thank them because they let me sleep. Then I looked into the mirror, and, stunningly, my natural hair was dark blonde! My hairdresser usually helps me with some blonde stripes or just lightens it. But on that day something had gone wrong in either the communication or the translation, because my hair was not blonde, it had more of a reddish color. I asked the staff what happened. He said: “What do you think? iI is chocolate cherry colored!” I couldn’t stop laughing, I had never heard about that color before, but said to myself, “why not?” However, I wasn’t really sure if that was my kind of look. I went to the funeral in Germany the next day, it was the funeral of my aunt and godmother, and I remember the moment I went to the reception before the funeral, to meet relatives of my family, some of them whom I had never met before. I met all these very tall, blonde Germans and believe me, I was the only one in the room who had chocolate cherry colored hair! A cousin of mine, whom I had been in touch with and I was to meet for the first time at that event, has named me Ginger ever since. So it’s is in the eyes of the beholder: chocolate cherry, red or Ginger. Luckily the color could be washed out. The hairdresser said it would wash out in a few days, but it did last for some weeks. So: learn to say your lines in Romanian, and don’t fall asleep at the hairdresser, otherwise you might end up as Chocolate Cherry. If you don’t speak Romanian very well, usually one of the people in the hair salon will speak English or another language, since most Romanians in general are very gifted when it comes to foreign languages. But just in case, here’s a little list of the most common sentences you need to know at the hairdresser (with the help of a friend).