E(N)U

European (Non) Union. EU has common currency, freedom of movement of people and capital, what not, but no common language. Not even English? Till I was in India, I thought English was the 'universal' common language - but alas I was proved wrong today.

Decided to have my hair cut after four months. I chose Olivier Dachkin. The place was neat and the cost was 'okay' at 19 euros for the haircut, and most importantly, I was told that it was one of the few salons in my locality in Brussels where English was understood, atleast for the haircutting terms. So, I took it for granted that I can manage to communicate with ease with the people there.

"Bonjour!"

Me: Bonjour! I want to have a hair cut.

This way sir.. !@# bla bla bla dfkfhkfskfh #@!

Me: Excuse me, I speak only English.

Oh. Bla Bla !@# dfffjglskalskf #@!. You speak French?

Me: No.

Spanish?

Me: Nooo ...

Dutch?

Me: No, only English. (Only now I realised that I am gonna be screwed up)

He went to the other people to check if any of them could do translation. To my horror, there were no one out of the five people there who knew English. Wierd.

Then after few minutes of actions and expressions, I made it clear that I wanted a 'short' hair cut. And every now and then, he asked this and that, though I did not understand anything of what he said - just shook my head with a smiling face. But finally, he made my head look a lot better than I had surmised.

A nice experience for Rs.1200! You get a haircut with shampoo, TOeFL (Test of Xpressions as Foreign Language) and most importantly some thrilling and anxious moments in front of the miror.