I'm kind of a big deal

One of the things I will miss most about Taiwan is the celebrity status I have based off of being a foreigner. White people can get away with almost anything here. Rules do not apply, and usually people will be extra nice to us. I have stopped noticing when crowds of people stare at me, and it is not unusually for random people to stop me on the street and tell me I'm beautiful. Really, how will my ego handle a return to a land where I am normal?

Yesterday I went to get my hair cut with my roommate Katie. Our Taiwanese friend Viola came along to help us and serve as translator. Basically I wanted to make sure the hair dresser didn't get confused and think I wanted a buzz cut. A hair cut in Taiwan is a magical thing. I paid about 15US dollars, and the cut involves a 20 minute head massage while they wash your hair and then a shoulder massage once back in the chair.

The people in the salon were fascinated with both us and our hair. By the end of my haircut there was an audience of 5 people sitting around watching and asking Viola lots and lots of questions about us. At one point one of the guys held up a lock of my hair to his head because he wanted to dye it to match.