In which Flora Amalie of Schöneberg complains about hair and the people who cut it

There are some things that are just more difficult than others when moving to a new country.

The language barrier was expected, but it is still a lot wider than i'd imagined.

Finding and getting certain things are a hassle, making phone calls is impossible, and something as simple as receiving mail is more scary and confusing than i can even describe, while something like going to the supermarket is the easiest thing ever.

You never know what the obstacles are gonna be before you're actually there.

But i never thought getting a fucking haircut would end up being a problem in a city as big as Berlin!

The first time i got my hair cut in Berlin was sometime this winter.

I'd made a hair date with Sarah, and we both wanted something pretty simple: i needed my bangs trimmed and she wanted her hair washed and dried.

We both left the salon feeling ripped off, even though it was reasonably priced.

My bangs were crooked and uneven, and Sarah's hair just felt icky.

Not a success.

The next time wasn't too long ago, right before my birthday in June, i think, and it was an even worse experience.

The salon was cute and the girl cutting my hair seemed nice enough at first, but then it went downhill fast.

She started asking me about my hair quality, if my hair had always been this thin, why it was so bad, and things of that nature.

Basically insulting me and making me feel really bad about myself.

Now, going to get my hair cut have always been a bit of an anxiety trigger for me.

You put your head in someone's hands, trusting them to do their best to make you look good, and you have to sit and look at yourself in a mirror the whole time. It's a nightmare!

So the last thing you need if you're already uncomfortable, is for the person responsible for not making you look like an idiot to start pointing out your weaknesses.

As if i didn't fucking already know i have the worst hair ever!

Would you also like to take a shot at my acne and my weight issues?

There is really no need to tell a person that.

Maybe it's just misplaced German honesty, but hey, i don't need that, and i certainly shouldn't have to pay for it.

She even said "see you next time", as if i'd come back so she could take some more shots at my already low self esteem.

So i'm obviously in a bit of a situation right now, cause not only do i need my bangs cut real soon, i also kinda wanna chop off my shitty hair.

Not because of what that girl said, but i am realizing i'm never gonna have long pretty hair, and since it's not ever gonna look good at this length, and it's too thin for me to ever wear it down, and since i wear it up all the time anyway, i might as well cut it off, right?

But where i used to just go into a random salon and trust them to do a good job (which, in Copenhagen, they almost always did), i now know that Berlin hairdressers are... well, sloppy.

Oh yeah, the girl with the really twisted view on customer service also half-assed my haircut!

And from what i've read on the expat forums recently (well, one forum), bad haircuts are pretty much the norm here.

I do not know why that is, but now i really wish i'd just booked a time at a salon in Copenhagen when we were in Denmark.

Anyway, if any of you, my lovely readers, have a recommendation for a place in Berlin that won't fuck up my head completely, i'd be so grateful!

And just to make this whiny, ranty post* a little more interesting, here are some pictures of some of my past haircuts.

Not all good, i know, and some of these pictures are from awkward grow-out stages, but it's all still better than what's going on with my head now.

Finding these actually made me really depressed, cause i've gained so much weight since moving here, that i don't even look remotely the same as in these pictures, but i already knew that, so at least it wasn't a total surprise.

But still... damn. I need to do something about that too.

 

Oh, and i just added that last one cause me and Allan almost have the same hair, and we both look ridiculous!

I don't even remember getting this haircut... maybe it was when i was growing out the brunette Mia Farrow?