The Cupcake Princess

This morning as I was standing in the shower enjoying the experience of the hot water running through my hair and down my back, I was reminded of a different shampoo experience. This happened in Malaysia. I was there representing the National Association of Realtors at a conference of the Malaysian Assoc of Realtors.

The day before I had given a talk at their General Assembly loosely titled “A Day in the Life of a Realtor.” It was a chance to showcase a lot of the different activities we have. Among them was the showing of listed properties. When we show houses in the state of Washington, we use a lockbox to access the front door key (usually it’s the front door key) so we can get into the house even if the sellers are not there.

Of all the points I made that day, this one got the biggest response. You see, in Kuala Lumpur if a real estate agent wanted to show a group of homes, that agent would have to visit every listing office associated with those homes and pick up a key. Obviously, when the showings were over, the key had to be returned. What a fuss and bother!

The Malaysian Realtors were ecstatic over the possibility of being able to show homes without the key quest at listing offices.

So I was pumped up about making a shorter presentation to the Board of Directors the next day, the day in question here. I wanted to make a good impression, of course, which necessitated washing my hair, a step made obvious the moment I caught a glance in the mirror.

Only one problem. For reasons too tedious to explain, the water to downtown Kuala Lumpur, including this fantastic five-star hotel, had been turned off. The clerk at the front desk, in response to my inquiry, said it wouldn’t be turned on until late afternoon, but they would bring me some bottled water.

I don’t know about you, but when I looked at those six bottles of water, I couldn’t imagine how I would turn them into a shampoo event. Did I mention the water was cold?

However, all was not lost. There was a shopping mall attached to the hotel and I remembered seeing at least one beauty salon there when I walked through earlier. Hurrah! I dressed, ran a comb through the mess on my head, and started out in search of a professional shampoo.

Let’s be clear. I don’t speak Malaysian. Like an enormous number of people who live in non-English speaking countries, Malasia included, many speak passable English. Couple the few words we shared in English plus gesturing to the aforementioned mess on my head, and a beautician finally got the drift. Yes, she would wash and style my hair.

The “style” part made me a little nervous. Obviously, I didn’t want her to just make it look clean but in the style currently presented. Nope. I was a bit nervous.

However, as she set to work, the worries nearly vanished. She didn’t just wash my hair; she massaged my head. It felt fantastic. It was indulgent!

At one point, she sat my chair up so my head was no longer in the sink, and started working what I guessed was cream rinse through my hair. I call it that because it had a very creamy texture. She swirled it through my hair until it looked like frosting on a cupcake. No kidding. It was hilarious. I sat watching her in the mirror and thought: I came to Malaysia and turned into a cupcake.

This luxurious experience was most welcome and totally surprising. At the same time, I could hear my stylist chatting with a couple of the other beauticians. You know how you can tell when you are the topic of conversation even though you don’t speak the language? Well, a few of their polite giggles tipped me off.

I imagined that they were musing over how this (insert adjective here) American couldn’t figure out how to wash her own hair in the hotel room using bottled water. Then a teeny thought poked rudely into my consciousness: you have a microwave in the room. You could have heated up the water and done this yourself.

And miss out on this cupcake experience? Not on your life! I only wish I had overcome my shyness and asked them to take a photo of the Cupcake Princess.

At any rate, I walked out of there with a lovely hairstyle that was close enough to my normal style that I was comfortable. However, I felt somehow elevated. I felt very special to have had a reason to learn a lot more about the Malaysian way of performing an ordinary task.

While I discovered a lot of differences between our cultures, there was one thing that slapped me in the face as identical. At the subsequent meeting with the Board of Directors, I had a brief set of remarks prepared and then opened it up for questions. No kidding, the very first question was this: “Do sellers ever try to get you to cut your commission?”

Really? That happens in Malaysia, too? In many ways people in Malaysia and the US are very much alike and this is as good a marker of our similarities as the lockbox was of our differences.

On my very long plane ride home, I savored the joy of learning these things, as well as my reign as the Cupcake Princess, and the opportunities the trip opened.

Post Script: You might be wondering how a Small Town Gal like yours truly spent a tour as the National Association President’s Liaison to the real estate organization in a foreign country. Actually, after Malaysia, I was Liaison to Korea and then the Czech Republic.) My answer to that question can be a roadmap for anyone seeking to participate in the “next” level, whatever that might be to you.

1.      First, I saw a need and filled it. As a new Realtor in Port Angeles, I saw that we needed more classes here in town as the business and industry keeps changing. I became Education Chairman because no one else wanted it and figured out how to get classes sponsored by the state association to come to Port Angeles. Not hard. Just had to ask questions.

2.      Attend the next level of organization, in this case the meetings of the state association. I went to the Education Committee meetings as that was my primary interest at the time and was soon on the Committee.

3.      Pay attention. There are opportunities all around to learn more and meet interesting people.

4.      One year the annual meeting of the NAR was in Hawaii. In January. Easy choice. It’s easy to be friendly in Hawaii.

5.      Show up. I was chosen by the NAR president as his liaison because he knew me by virtue of having been on committees together for a few years wearing more than one hat.

6.      Don’t just show up and sit in the corner. Voice your opinion. Offer ideas. Get to know fellow participants. Learn to listen before you form and voice an opinion.

All the same, I am happiest here in our beautiful and wonderful Olympic Peninsula.