Getting a haircut in a foreign country is the hardest language exam you will ever take.

Not only because you have to make sure to articulate exactly what you want or else risk looking ridiculous for the 6-8 weeks following your mistake, but also because generally salons are places abundant with chatter and gossip and it's not always easy to keep up.  My friend Emily and I took this haircut-in-a-foreign-language "exam" this afternoon, and in retrospect I'd say we both aced it.  We went to a French beauty school because it's way cheaper if you're willing to let a student cut your hair, and now we both know why.  Here's the deal: my student hairdresser is by no means going to be valedictorian, if you catch my drift.  This was proven by the fact that she shampooed the back of my neck and also half my forehead.  This was further proven when her instructor, who was observing from across the room, literally RAN over yelling "Stop!" and then proceeded to grab at the back of my head and say, "What is this?!"  By the time the instructor had finished correcting the haircut already given to me by my student hairdresser, my hair was a full 2-3 inches shorter than I'd expected.  Emily's hairdresser didn't make any major mistakes, but she did make Emily stand up for the entire 30 minutes she was cutting, a sight that had me laughing until I was nearly in tears.  Though the near-tears could have also had something to do with the fact that half my hair was falling to the floor around me.  I was going to post a picture, but decided against it so that I can see my parents faces when they pick me up at the airport in a couple weeks.  So I'll say only this: it is the most drastic haircut I've ever gotten.  It's the shortest my hair has ever been.  And I'll say this, too: I think I really like it.