I was thinking about writing about this post whilst I was waiting to have my haircut in a barber’s shop in Bari Italy.  I don’t know why, whether it is just me or if it is a common phenomenon, but so many of the barbers I go to seem to be from a different country to the one where they are based.

Bilal in Bari is Pakistani.  I remember having my haircut by a Turkish guy in Athlone, Ireland; by a Tunisian in a small town near Paris; by a Ghanian in Prague and by a Zimbabwean (at least I think his family was from there) in Sedavi, Spain.  To round things off, last year I had my hair cut in Sheffield by a guy from the Amalfi coast in Italy.

These things are not planned, but usually they are interesting because often the conversation will be in English as they are travellers and also they are wanting to speak about their home countries and their plans for the future.

Today, Bilhal – a rather large guy who likes to order me around – didn’t want to talk about Pakistan, but rather about his plans to emigrate again to Canada.  He has a friend who has a small shop near Toronto and wants to expand it and would invite him in.  This could happen within the next 6 months and it was clear that he was excited about the possibilities.

Often though, people are thinking about the places they left behind or things that they couldn’t bring with them.  My Tunisian barber, Ali, really wants to go back  home more often but finds it hard to afford and hates the experience of going through immigration back in France.  My Italian barber in Sheffield really misses the warmth and love he experiences in Amalfi.

The Prague experience was one of the most interesting as the guys there had the internet radio tuned to their local station from their town in Ghana and were listening to Ghanian music interspersed with local news and gossip – a bit like what we are used to on local radio in the UK.  Of course this was in English – so I was able to understand much of it and as it was in the summer time it wasn’t too difficult to think I was in an African country instead of middle Europe for 30 minutes or so.

People have always travelled and will continue to travel to make a better life for themselves.  As someone who has taught English as a second language to many people over the years both as a volunteer and now online with Cambly, I know that many want to have this skill so that they can explore other countries and see places far from home.  It always saddens me when people can’t make this happen.   One of my Russian students was hoping to visit Western Europe before the pandemic and then was unable to because of covid.   Of course now she can’t visit because of the sanctions against her country (flights are too expensive) and is now thinking of going to Armenia or Türkiye instead.  Two of my Turkish students successfully moved out of their country to Germany.  I was rather surprised at them learning English to do this – but one needed a level of English to get into University there, the other for a job with an international company.  Both are now busy learning German.

I find it easy to travel because of the luck of what I was born.  Some manage to travel even if they come from a difficult country like this guy interviewed by Drew Binsky (who has been to every country in the world.)  Baderkhan (he seems only to have one name) travels on an Iraqi passport and has been to 70 countries around the world – far more than my paltry 23.

Of course, the group of people who most want to leave their countries are those who feel threatened or in danger from the government or establishment there.  I have worked with a number of asylum seekers and refugees and heard some terrible stories.  I have never failed to be impressed by their wish to be successful in their adopted home and to do their best to give back to the UK, so it so saddens me that there seems to be increasing vitriol against people arriving, especially the desperate who come in “small boats.” 

Quite often those people are desperate and did not want to leave their home countries but felt that they did not have a choice.  Many of them have never travelled abroad before so have no idea what to expect.  Many of them are well educated in their own countries but may not have the “correct” qualifications to practice their professions in the UK.  I have met architects, university lecturers and pharmacists who have all had to take lesser paid jobs simply because to gain the qualifications needed to practice in the UK would cost money which they don’t have (although some colleges and the Open University have been great at trying to make things happen.)   Of course, this is for refugees only, asylum seekers are not even allowed to work in the UK – which I have to say, doesn’t make sense to me.   Surely if people are willing and able to work then they should be able to – if only to help fund their stay here.  I know people complain that they are taking jobs that could be done by local  people – but they are the desperate coming from dire situations and the numbers we are talking about are very small. 

Meanwhile all I am desperate for is to get my hair cut and my beard trimmed.  I have only had one really difficult experience – in Brest, France, by a local barber.  I clearly didn’t communicate the right word for “trim” and ended up with a shaved head and virtually no beard.  Still it saved me some money as I didn’t need to go for another haircut for a couple of months.  And my best experience … that would have to be the Turkish barbers in Ireland.  I didn’t know I was getting VIP treatment.  Head and shoulder massage, beard shampooed, eyebrows trimmed and my interior ear hair (which I didn’t even know I had) was set on fire which was a rather alarming experience.  Almost worth staying in Athlone to go to the barber’s every month or so.  But then the traveller’s life is always one of saying goodbye and wondering what the next new encounter is going to bring. I wonder where my next haircut will be?

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