Places to avoid

Before I came to Korea a friend who had spent time here in the army sent me a note. He joked about "barber shops" and warned 'the more barber poles you see, the less hair they cut'. I didn't exactly have context for his comment but now I understand. A single barber pole is often used to denote a hair salon. Multiple barber poles on one storefront usually means "massage parlor". When the time comes to get a haircut just stick to the places you can see through the window from street level.

Places with lots of barber poles are easy to spot.


This place (on the second floor) has four barber poles out front.