The chapter opens with a description of a summer retreat at a lake in the middle of nowhere. The narrator tells us that the retreat is for people who don't want to get a job or marry or live in a foreign country. It's also a place where people who have been in long-term relationships come to escape the everyday problems of their lives. He tells the narrator that he's been avoiding his hair, going to the movies, and going to a karaoke bar. He says that he doesn't like the way people talk about his hair. He's not avoiding them at all, he just wants to be in a better place.