Translation credit: Hyo 🙂
This has actually always happened to me at some point or another in Korea (except without the nicknames Hyo made lol. Koreans seem to be fascinated with the curly hair that most black people seem to have.
And yes they do ask to touch it. I generally don’t find it offensive because it’s done in a curious manner. Some do get offended, but it’s really not that big a deal to me unless they do it in a negative manner. I’ve never had Koreans from the street actually ask to do this (but some of my female friends have), but at every school I’ve worked at, the student have always asked to touched my hair and were too amazed when they touched it.
They are even more amazed when I let it grow for a little while, then cut it all off (that’s when Hyo calls me Kiwi Dom). Actually this episode of her touching my hair reminds me of that scen from the new Karate Kid movie. It’s always funny that something as simple as my hair would garner lots of attention in a completely different culture. Here is another woman’s experience, but in China:
http://beingblackinchina.weebly.com/1/post/2012/11/can-i-touch-your-hair.html
Until next time