Culture within Culture

So, my daugther and I spent yesterday in Itaewon getting our hair braided.  Itaewon is a popular section of Seoul (Korea)  literally bursting with foreigners.  Part of this is due to the fact that there's a military base located at one end -- but the other I discovered a couple of years ago -- is a product of the large African community living there.

The woman who braids my hair, Angie,  is from the Ivory Coast of Africa and she now has her own little hair shop tucked on the 3rd floor of one Itaewon's endless winding alleys.  She always has a team of women helping her  (also from the Ivory Coast) - "her sisters" -- not sure if this by blood or not.  They speak rapidly to one another in French - their native tongue and I sit there smiling to myself -- wishing I knew what they were saying; especially yesterday when they got into an argument about a guy one of the women is dating.  

What's hilarious is that they  play these African "soap operas" while you're getting your hair done.  Yesterday, my daughter and I had the pleasure of watching "Campus Love" and "Crying Angel."  The actors are all African but speak their lines in English all while wearing a mixture of contemmporary clothing and traditional African garb.  They're low budget -- but always hilarious -- with the usual scenarious of unrequited love, jealousy, murder -- etc.

After a long sit in the chair -- 8 hours to be exact -- my daughter and I left the shop to find a group of African men sitting together talking across the street.  Right around the corner sat a West African restaurant  filled with African patrons and a small mini-store with a large selection of traditional Nigerian spices and food products.

Wow ~ how interesting I thought to myself.  I never imagined that within the city of Seoul there would be such an active and burgeoning West African community.  Cool right?