"One Pole or Two?" Top 5 Page for this destination South Korea Local Custom Tip by jburron

This is not a Must See nor is it Off The Beaten Path...it is truly a Local Custom. Over here, as you may know, there are some places where salarymen (office workers) frequent in order to releive the stress of the day and cement valuable business contacts--and I mean in addition to golf. These places are Room Salons, or R.S. (said arl-ess).

An R.S. is basically a brothel but it may resemble an up-scale club, a Noraebang (Karaoke to you who know Japan, but don't call it that here!) or even, yes, a barber shop. The little secret that even some Koreans don't know is that if a barber shop has two red and white poles out front it is 'special'...in that you can get a 'special finish'. Some street have so many of them you can hardly see anything else. So, keep this in mind when you're out to get a trim.

Foreigners at an R.S. should be accomopanied by a local...not only for the language, but for negotiating the bill. There are ways to limit the damage to your wallet if you are into this kind of thing...and there are ways to maximize the damage as well. Also, if you are not into the super-aggressive stuff but want a nght out with your Korean hosts or clients simply tell them your situation--Koreans understand that not everyone is looking for a hooker to close a business deal and some are even relieved at not having to go out to these places.

• Written Apr 12, 2004
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