A Day At The Nail Salon

The other day, Erin and I went to the nail salon for a mother and daughter outing. Ki and Matthew just left to go to Cambodia for a youth missions trip, so I thought this would be something nice to do together. Getting a pedicure here in China is SO cheap. Compared to getting one in the U.S. for $22-$25, it's ONLY $7! Yeah, I know...crazy cheap. That's why I tell myself to take advantage of it and get a monthly pedicure. Before I left the U.S., I had just started to treat myself to pedicures. A lot of my friends did it, but I had a hard time justifying paying someone to paint my toes. It's something I did myself , though not well. I was convinced it was worth it after my first pedicure. Boy, did my feet look pretty! I have to confess, I have always felt self- conscious about my dry, wide feet. It didn't help that while we were dating, Ki told me I had ugly feet. To this day, he denies ever saying that. But I remember. Despite that insensitive comment, I still married him. Yes ladies, love is blind and deaf! Anyway, back to pedicures. So it's not just about getting your toes painted, it's about scrubbing the dead skin off, softening the skin and beautifying your feet. That kind of pampering is not something I grew up doing or seeing my mom do. In fact, my two sisters still don't go to nail salons unless I'm home visiting and I take them. After I started to get pedicures regularly, I realized it's one of those small indulgences that made me.... happy. I'll be sitting around watching TV and glance at my feet, and just seeing my hot, pink toes will make me smile. Erin has been asking me to take her to get her toes done, too. She's seen her friends get pedicures with flowers decorated on them and she wanted to try that. Of course that costs extra. At first I told her "no." I'm just getting used to the idea of getting pedicures. The idea of getting decoration on them was beyond acceptable to me. She was so insistent, I told her I'll pay for her pedicure, but she'll have to pay for the extra decoration. She agreed, saved her money, and got her toes done. She chose a pale pink base color with some silver in it and black flowers with silver glitter. I have to admit, it came out really pretty. Maybe one day I'll try......no, no, no.....I'm sticking to the plain ol' pedicure. Before you start thinking I'm living large out here, let me tell you the salons here are not like the one's in the U.S . At home, it's like a spa. You sit in nice massage chair, feet in hot bubbling water, and a machine to dry your toes once you're done. All in all, very relaxing. The first nail salon I went to here in China, my friend Pernilla and I walked into a hair salon that also did pedicures. We were both new here and still finding our way around. They took us to a back room with three ordinary looking lounge chairs. So we sat and looked around for the massage chairs with the foot bath. Before long, a girl came with a plastic bowl with lukewarm water to soak our feet. A plastic bowl!!!! Talk about doing it old school. Not only was it not like a spa, it was dirty and uncomfortable. After that experience, I tried a different nail salon recommended by a veteran expat. This place was worse than the first one! It was strictly a nail salon with 10 chairs, but so packed together, it felt like a sweat shop. Finally, I saw a brand new one that had opened. It was clean, airy, and had a relaxing atmosphere. Still no massage chair, but they do massage your hands and arms a little, and the chairs are clean. No foot soaking machine, but they do bring a wood bucket with disposable plastic liner with some kind of hot milk water with flower petals floating on top. Plus a little foot massage. Just like the Three Little Bears, the third one was j-u-s-t right. It's still not as nice as the ones in the U.S., but it is a whole lot cheaper!