Expat Life: Finding a New Butcher, Baker, and Candlestick Maker

So you’ve really gone and done it  - started a new life abroad, that is. You’ve got your purpose. You’ve got a place to live, or at least to crash until your new home materializes. But who’s going to fix your shoe heels when they get worn down after weeks of exploration? The plot thickens.

Building a new life is challenging, but one of the fastest ways to make the transition from “newbie” to “veteran” is to familiarize yourself with your neighborhood vendors. Farmers’ markets, pharmacists, butchers, tailors, dry cleaners, cobblers, locksmiths - find them, strike up an acquaintance. Me, I head to Whelan’s Butcher here in Dublin, run by one Mr. Paddy Whelan. His shop is ten minutes from my apartment and quiet enough that he knows my face, or at least my accent.  Nothing beats a smile of recognition in an unfamiliar place.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Local vendors are one thing, but what about a good hairdresser – the holy grail in the bumbling quest that is expat life?

It was my fifth month in Osaka and my hair was skimming my waist. The  girls at work told me about a man – let’s call him “Kenji.” Kenji ran a salon – let’s call it “Girl.” Kenji spoke perfect English and gave a “foreigner discount.” What did I have to lose? Fourteen inches of hair, it turned out. What remained, he layered into The Rachel, ca. 1995. I’d asked for ”three inches off” and sideswept bangs. It took me a year to brave another haircut in Osaka. This time, the grail was mine – Keiko Kaneko at Craive New York became my go-to stylist for the rest of my time in Japan. I miss her terribly.

It’s been 3 years since Kenji and my hair is once again scraggly. My classmates say that Peter Mark – a ubiquitous Irish salon chain – is the reputable choice.

Wish me luck.