Yesterday I decided I had to get my haircut, because I've been meaning to do so before I even came to Japan. I went to the bank first because haircuts in Japan are pretty expensive for a decent one. They seem to run about 3000 or 4000 yen, or about $27 or $37. When I got to the barber shop, I asked them how much it would be for a haircut, and they said just that with no shampooing would be about $30. Oh well, I've paid more for haircuts a few times. In my poor Japanese I asked for the man to use the buzz cutter on the sides and back, and the scissors on the top.

The first thing that was weird was that he put a hot towel on my head at the beginning. After that, he shaved off most of the sides of my head with the buzz cutter, but then took a long time with the scissors afterward making it perfect. Then he cut the top off with scissors, and spent a long time on that. He also repeatedly put something like talcum powder on the sides of my head for some reason. When he was finished with the top, he used a hairdryer and a sort of curling brush to make the hair on the top stay up the way he wanted. At the end, he also shaved the bottom of my neck like most barbers do, but what I thought was interesting was that he used an old straight razor, which I've never used before.

After that, I picked up some groceries at the 100 yen grocery store, and ate at the cheap ramen place (about $1.75 for a big bowl of fresh ramen). Afterward, I decided I wanted a really good coffee, and during car rides with my host family I had noticed a Starbucks that wasn't terribly far away. Google maps in Japan doesn't really give good street directions unfortunately (although it does do great trip planning with busses, trains, and planes), but I was able to just wander off on a bike in that direction and find it.

The unfortunate thing about starbucks in Japan is that the small size is smaller than an American one, and the medium size is bigger than an American one, so neither size is too great. Also, a medium coffee is 380 yen or about $3.50. But the good thing is that I think it's more delicious than American starbucks here. In American starbucks, a lot of times the coffee tastes a little burnt, but here it's pure delicious.

After that I had to come home to finish a presentation for class. Even late at night one of the Senseis was willing to meet with me at Nishikawa Heights and help me correct things. They really care a lot.