My hair-cut adventure

Today I accidentally gave a lesbian my number.
Let me explain:
It all started when I went to get my haircut. I caught the 758 bus on Pudong Road and stopped at a salon that looked reasonably nice. I was graciously taken to the back where they washed and conditioned my hair in delicious smelling soaps and then a wonderful massage, all the while I practiced my Chinese….while they laughed at me. Then this very gay Chinese man gave me a terrific haircut, which was impressive since my only hair-cut vocabulary words are “short” and “long” and “yes, I have red hair, yes, thank you, yes.” And then, in response to my broken sentences and pitiful attempts the whole store joined in to help me, an 11 year old boy was thrust in my face and in response to my “can you tell him I want bangs?” repeated over and over “I am in middle school, where you live please?” while everyone looked eagerly from him to me and then to him again. Finally, this one girl figured out the answer, she texted in Chinese on my phone (it’s much easier for me to read Chinese sometimes than to understand it spoken) and to everyone’s great happiness, I was able to communicate “side bangs with layers please, but keep the length.” Ta Da! However…..somehow in the chaos I told this girl (who was dressed like a boy for a reason) that it was alright for her to enter my number (remember she was holding my phone trying to communicate with me) into her phone. By the time I realized 1. she was a lesbian and 2. she was possibly trying to hit on me, scrap that, DEFINITELY trying to hit on me…..the damage was done. And when I finally made it back to my apartment I just received a nice little “ 你到了世博公寓了吗？or “ did you make it back to you’re apartment?” Yep. That’s right. And when I ignored it, she CALLED me. Why does this always happen to me?? Plus, she doesn’t speak English, and I don’t really know how to say in Chinese “you seem very nice, but not my type…I like men, thank you though, I’m flattered really, but if you could actually erase my number and never contact me again, that would be so nice, xie xie ni.”
In other news. Another full day at the U.S pavilion, my Chinese is improving, but slowly. It’s frustrating to say the same things over and over, and never have the time to have more in-depth conversations at the turnstiles. And then, when I do go out on my own ( like today) and try and learn from people around me, it seems they think I’m either hitting on them or crazy or need help and panic or walk away.  Sad. But nevertheless, I’m not giving up! I am texting in Chinese, talking to my ambassador friends in Chinese, to the bus driver, pedestrians, little dogs, babies, friendly old women, I am forcing everyone to help me learn this language!