China perks

Once in a while I am reminded of the perks of living in China。I met my friend, Jenni Budensiek, a few weeks ago when I went to an expat BBQ. Since meeting her，we have gotten together every week at Marina City Mall and had lunch. She brings a blanket and we sit outside in the courtyard and eat McDonalds or Subway while our kids play in the fountains. 
Well, last week, she mentioned that she had just gotten a straight perm. I remember Jane Hwang, my close friend from high school, would get a straight perm in California or Korea every year around Christmas. I
always wanted to get one。So，I asked Jenni some particulars about where
and when she got hers。A few days later I was with my other
friend，Danielle Christiansen，and mentioned that I wanted to get a
straight perm someday。She said that her sister-in-law was a hair stylist in Utah and had given her straight perms before。 We then
concocted the brilliant idea to go together the following day。
Today her15-year-old and 7-year-old came to my apartment and babysat
the boys while Danielle and I went on a great adventure。
First of all， it was really hard to find the salon based on the
address and directions we had。 Finally， after taking a cab and then
walking about for half-an-hour or more， we finally found the salon。 It
was a nice clean Korean salon，but unfortunately no one spoke English。
So we just said the Chinese word for straight perm， “la zhi” and hoped
that we would be given the right thing。 They asked us what level we
wanted and indicated a little list of 3 different prices，￥120，￥240，and
￥360。I was totally stumped as to what these levels were and what the
prices indicated， but I just went ahead and told them to do the ￥240
one because it would probably be the safest option， whatever the
options were。 Later we found out that the “levels” or options
indicated product， so the one we opted for was the nice imported
product。I said a little prayer， abashedly admitting to God that it was
a little vain， but please， help the perm not to sear off my hair。 I
felt silly， but knew that Heavenly Father would be willing to at least
humor me because it was something that mattered to me。 Later Danielle
confessed having said the same little prayer in her heart， which made
me feel less stupid for having done so！
About 3 hours later， we both ended up with lovely straight perms！My
sensitive skin is a little bit burned on one patch of my scalp （which
happens every time I get any kind of a perm）， but it was worth it。

What women will do for beauty。
There are other things that are great about China。 Sometimes as an
advertising tactic，companies will include random things on a package。
For instance a carton of boxed milks has a water-gun taped to the
front。 A package of baby noodles comes with a little plastic feeding
bowl， etc。This is brilliant， in my opinion，albeit a little random
sometimes。 I also love how hairdressing is a group effort。 My hair is
so thick that usually it takes one beautician hours to complete a
simple cut and style。 Here 2-3 people will be blow drying or
straightening my hair at a time， which greatly speeds things along。 So
great。
There are other nice things too，like not seeing as much objectionable
material online，on the newstands，TV， and billboard。 China technically
bans pornography here， so it is in less abundance in public，so nice。
also like how it is easy to make friends。 People need each other here
more。 I am friends with people who I probably would not otherwise be
gravitated to， but because of circumstance we are willing to make
friends。 And it has been lovely。