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Removing shoes before entering a house | ||
Tags: Traditions | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| LuckyNomad Groupie Korea, South Joined 6351 days ago 79 posts - 89 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 25 of 46 17 December 2008 at 10:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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In Korea I've never been to a house or apartment where people didn't take off their shoes. In apartments there is a small depression at the door where you take off your shoes. Even in many restaurants, you have to take off your shoes and leave them on a shelf near the entrance. In many schools also, you have to take off your shoes and put on slippers/sandals. We also take off our shoes in our church.
At the public bath you remove your shoes along with everything else you are wearing. In hawaii most of the time we didn't even wear shoes. We wore rubber slippers(better known as flip-flops) and you almost always take off your footwear before entering the house. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Satoshi Diglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5827 days ago 215 posts - 224 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English Studies: German, Japanese | Message 26 of 46 19 December 2008 at 9:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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Wow, I thought the shoe removing thing only happened in Japan. Seems I was very wrong.
Here in Brazil, you never take your shoe off. If someone asks you to, it will be considered overprotective and rude, and one will probably be offended by it. We normally wear slippers inside the house, or we will simply be barefoot, though this is not at all required. And we can go out in slippers, too. It is very commom. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Walshy Triglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6946 days ago 335 posts - 365 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German | Message 27 of 46 20 December 2008 at 3:03am | IP Logged | ||
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In Australia it varies from house to house.
I usually just have a quick look around, if there are other shoes at the door, or if the house appears particularly tidy, I will take my shoes off. Otherwise, I won't, unless asked. This is how most of my peers go about it, too. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Elvegenth Diglot Newbie Canada Joined 5813 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 28 of 46 07 January 2009 at 5:41pm | IP Logged | ||
Oh, that must be why there was so much talk about Japanese people taking their shoes off in their houses when the Europeans discovered that country. A lot of websites point this out as if it was something "exotic", which felt quite weird to me because I live in the eastern part of Canada and, because we have a lot of snow here, most people expect you to take your shoes off when you enter someone's house so, being a teenager, I just assumed it was something all "occidentals" did too ^^" Edited by Elvegenth on 07 January 2009 at 5:43pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| SlickAs Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5881 days ago 185 posts - 287 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French, Swedish Studies: Thai, Vietnamese | Message 29 of 46 07 January 2009 at 6:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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It is a snow thing. In countries where it snows you will always take your shoes off, and it will be offensive to leave them on, because who wants snow tracked through their house? This will follow on to summer too.
Australia is completely different. Our climate is such that everything is underheated in the winter. So traditionally we laid down wall-to-wall permenent carpets so that your feet dont get cold in the winter. In Canada everyone has fantastic heating and no-one has carpets. I never ever once saw one there. It would be rediculous with snow ... they are too hard to clean. So in Australia, you will take your shoes off if your shoes are wet from the rain, or dirty, and especially if there are carpets in the halls and you have dirty shoes. Otherwise you would leave them on ... Because more people have heaters, most houses these days are built with polished floor boards in the halls. You would not even think about taking your shoes off if the house has polished boards. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6443 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 30 of 46 07 January 2009 at 7:46pm | IP Logged | ||
Houses in Canada definitely have carpets. Admittedly, the front hall next to the door tends not to be carpeted, but most of the rooms in many houses are. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Britomartis Groupie United States Joined 5813 days ago 67 posts - 74 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 31 of 46 07 January 2009 at 8:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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In the United States, it varies from house to house and person to person. I prefer taking off my shoes when entering another person's house, especially if it has carpeting, but other members of my family don't unless it is a rule in that person's home.
However, if I was wearing high-heeled shoes and nylons, I would not take off my shoes. Walking around in socks or barefoot seems fine, but it's weird in nylons! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Amoore Senior Member Denmark Joined 5774 days ago 177 posts - 218 votes Speaks: Danish* | Message 32 of 46 07 February 2009 at 7:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Inside.. in shoes? I would consider that very rude if someone did that in my house.
Shoes are dirty and you walk in grass, dirt, dog-pee, etc.. Why would you mess up your own or other peoples carpets and home like that? O.o I am from Denmark, and i believe it is very common to leave your shoes in the first room (the front hall or alike) when you enter. Edited by Amoore on 07 February 2009 at 7:42pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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