10.17.05-- Dreadlocking in Seoul

I have a headache now. I am actually looking forward to going back to LA, as much as I miss Seoul and wouldn't mind hanging out for a day or two longer, I do miss just sitting around at home, cooking and eating with the bf, reading and being a little looser in my schedule.

Yesterday was our day off. I took the subway to Itaewon, which is a big shopping district and I wandered up an allies looking for food when I saw this...

Huh? Braids and dreds in the middle of Seoul, Korea? And 24 hours a day you can get your weave on? Wah? Huh?

Then I looked up to this building and saw this sign.

African food? In the middle of Seoul? I had to see this. So I went up the stairs of this mysterious unkempt building and the first thing I see is two Africans sitting in chairs in the hallway, staring at me as I was staring at them. They were waiting in line for their black barber who also sold shoes. His space of operation was so small that his clients had to wait in chairs in the hallway. It was the size of those photomats, if not smaller.

I'm so stupid. I was like those tourists who come up to me screaming, "Wow! Are you from China?" I was screaming, "Wow! What are you doing here? Do you speak English? Do you live here? In Korea."

They gave me a very dry, "Yes."

I had so many questions. So I stepped further down the hall to the African restaurant. It had a super local feel, very low frills, a picture of the owner and his family on the wall, and people sitting around watching tv.

Here is the menu. The food wasn't that cheap actually. Not compared to Korean food. But it was good stuff.

I sat down all wide eyed like a dumb tourist and started talking to this Nigerian businessman who was waiting for his food and sitting next to me. Apparently Itaewon is an international district and home to a small but thriving community of African immigrants. Me and the businessman talked about Condi Rice who was on the tv then. His sentiments on her matched mine. Korea seems like such an odd place for Africans to immigrate to. Mostly because Korean language is so difficult.

To me the logical move would be to an English speaking country since so many of them know Engligh. So many businesses here seem to serve and specifically target the African community, limiting their profit potential. Plus the cost of living is so high. And I guess my naive understanding was that the only people who were immigrating to Asia were other ethnicities of Asians.

I had the beans, plaintains and rice. I didn't know they were cooking it with beef though, so I had to pick all that out.

The waiter sat down with me and we were totally bewildered with each other. I had so many questions. Why Korea? Do you speak Korean? Are you kids going to go to school here and learn Korean? What's it like for you living here? Who comes to eat here? How the heck do you find clothes to fit you here? (He really laughed at that question.)

He was equally amazed to learn that I was an American and that my family has been in San Francisco for three generations and wanted to know why I was visiting Korea. I explained how this program I am on was partially initiated because of the aftermath of the LA Riots.

Anyway, I guess it just goes to show that the world is globalizing and even yours truly doesn't know it.

The term "foreigner" as un-PC as it is to use in Americans if the term du jour Koreans use to describe "non-Koreans." But as you can see, Itaewon caters to foreigners like this nightclub above.

Getting naked with my friend Annie

Ooh, that subtitle sounds so bad. But my good friend, arts organizer from SF who now lives in Seoul, Annie took me to a Korean spa. I've never been though I've heard about the ones in Koreatown. It was nuts, all these Korean women, some as young as 1 years old to 85 were all naked and scrubbing away and sitting in pools of mineral water and even a green tea bath.

Sorry boys, no pictures from inside the spa. But it was really quite amazing how normal it was for us all to be naked. In America, we have so many hang ups about our bodies and being naked in front of each other. Here it wasn't even sexual or perverse. It was totally normal.

Me and Annie got this "Korean Scrub" thing where these ladies take these exfoliating mitts and scrub off all the dead skin from your body. Yeouch! It feels like your skin is getting ripped off, and you can see the skin collecting in little "eraser booger" shapes all over. It's amazing how much the get off of you.

We both got oil massages which happen inside the sauna in front of everyone. The old ladies totally rub your whole body really fast with oil, even your boobs which I thought would make me scream and jump up, but she did it so fast I didn't even flinch.

Love, Korean Style

After being totally relaxed by the spa, Annie and I wandered the streets of Seoul like zombies. It suddenly wasn't so chaotic to me. The lights weren't so bright and overbearing, the traffic was manageble. I guess these spas really save a lot of sanity in Seoul.

We passed these cheap $30/day love motels where couples and other business transactions go. They are characterized by excessive lights. This one has light trees and light spirals coming off the side.

Can you read this?

There is this phenomenom of deaf folks who put a key chain down and a note asking for a donation for the keychain, explaining they are deaf and this is their income. Then after a minute they come back through and pick the stuff back up or their donations. So on the subway, I think this deaf guy was passing out a similar note. No keychain though. I didn't give him anything, but the lady next to me pulled out the equivalent of $2 for him.

Anyway, more tomorrow. The last day in Seoul!

Kristina