This is the hair shop that recently opened across the street from MyeongHee’s hair shop.  She was initially worried about the new competition but since it’s been open the woman has had few customers.  Maybe it’s because it’s not bright and airy and easy to see in side. Maybe it’s because the owner wears the exact same clothes for weeks on end.  Or may it’s simply her ostensible command of the English language.  The name she’s chosen for her salon, “Build Vallum,” make no sense to me. MyeongHee was very curious what those two words meant and for the life of me I can’t figure it out. “Build’ I understand, but “vallum”  is not so easy.  I’ve found a definition for Vallum that is an ancient Roman wall or fortification, and an anatomical wall. I’ve also found vareious things named Valume such as a poetry periodical,  a poetry blog, various pubs and B&Bs and even a software package called Micro-Valum.  I thought she might be trying to make a play on a clothes/hair designer or a shampoo name, but for the life of me I can’t think of one that might be similar. Bill Bellamy, the actor/comedian comes up in a search, but nothing else. If you can think of something the poor woman might be refering to, please post it in the comments. The Korean name for her shop (slightly cutoff in the vertical sign board) is the same – that also makes no sense in Korean.  What the woman was trying to convey escapes me.

Of course, it could possibly be the fine architecture of the adjacent building. This small addition smacks of just so much sophistication with its corrugated tin siding and roof.