by Savannah LagmayEven though it’s just dead skin cells, having curly hair feels all the more alive, with a mind of its own. On the day you have to sit in and study it’s a horse’s mane, but when you have a date it has already decided otherwise. Feeling prepared to enter a new country, I brought my hair products that would last three months. I even got a haircut. “I should be OK at most.” Wrong. I could hide in a bush at night and no one would find me. No exaggeration. And as I reach the end of my study abroad, on some days I could still hide in a bush. Here’s my hair journey in the past semester.
Finding hair products It took me a few weeks into my semester at Taida to find organic oil. Coupled with getting acclimated to Taiwan and my own laziness to use google, it took me a few weeks to find what I was looking for. With skepticism, I made a post on Facebook asking if anyone had any tips on how to manage curly hair in an Asian Country. Two people suggested flaxseed oil. For whatever reason, it was hard to find. It might be called Yàmá zǐ yóu. Then by chance, I stumbled upon an organic market near Taipower Station. Twisting it This is a daunting two-day process: on the first day, I wash it, condition, part my hair in two ways, cover my hands in flaxseed oil, then braid it. This takes up to one hour, not to mention rebraiding any strand too big (the smaller the better, but also more time). I tie it back or in a bun. Air-drying takes the entire day. I do the same back in the States, but less often. The second day, I unbraid it, letting my curls flow. When I’m tired or in a rush to class, I’ll throw a glob of conditioner/product, having my hair out, anticipating the bigger mess later. Wearing a hat Once I was caught in Shida Night Market in the rain, biking back to Gongguan. Taipei is a rainy city, a twenty-four hour sprinkler. No, noooooo. While I always had an umbrella or poncho in hand, some days I was empty handed. I haven’t mastered the art of holding an umbrella and biking at the same time as many Taida students have. I could have waited under a cafe, but at the time I had this sense of urgency to bike back to Shuiyuan. Repeating that hour long process? I would really rather not. So feeling frustrated, I threw all of my hair into a hat I brought. It worked out pretty well and has been my everyday look ever since. Since I can’t cut my hair, it’s nice to imagine another reality with shorter hair. Not sure if it’s rude to wear a hat in class. Acceptance I give up. While I always have an umbrella or poncho in hand, some days I’m empty handed. Other times, the humidity wins. In retrospect, it was because I felt that I stood out so much as a foreigner, I wanted at least an inkling to fit in–which mean straighter, or more controlled hair. But I soon threw up my hands: there was a lot more than just my hair standing out. As cliche as it sounds, you shouldn’t care what people think. But also Taiwan isn’t as much of a conformist society as I had expected anyway. In fact, more often I hear people point at my hair and say “Hěn piàoliang“ which means very beautiful. a
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May 2024
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