Korean Job Discussion Forums

Caesar1313 · Joined: 03 Apr 2008

So in the public school Lesson 14 about thanksgiving the characters invite someone over to their house for thanksgiving dinner and tell them not to take their shoes off since everyone wears their shoes in the house. I know if I walked into my house with my shoes on my parents would have freaked out, but my parents are also Italian immigrants so I'm not the best test case for the English speaking community. I told my co-teachers and kids that at my home and as far as I can remember all my friends homes shoes in the house was an absolute no-go, and this only actually happens on sit-com television. The teachers were surprised and under the impression we wore our shoes indoors. So is there anyone here who routinely wore their shoes at home or knew of people who did this?

spc525 · Joined: 12 Aug 2009 Location: Seoul, Korea

where i lived in america the crazy mothers were the ones that made you take off your shoes when you entered the house

most households i know, we wore shoes in the house. after spending time in asia i would take my shoes off and people would think that i was weird. they would call me asian and laugh at me.

two things i took back home with me after my first year, taking off the shoes and sharing plates of food.

tired of LA · Joined: 06 Nov 2006 Location: Seoul

With me and my friends, it depended on the floor. In the homes that had carpet, we usually took off our shoes. The homes with hard floors, we would wear the shoes inside.

bluelake · Joined: 01 Dec 2005

In my family's house back in the States, it was (and still is) a "shoes-on" environment (if you don't wear shoes, you at least put on some slippers or socks). Coming from the cold, snowy reaches of Michigan, winters are unkind to feet without protection. People may be asked to wipe their feet well, but shoes are generally still worn inside, no matter if there's rain, sleet, or snow.

When my son visits his grandparents, he instinctively takes his shoes off upon entering the house (and often goes barefoot, even in the cold winter) and he hears about it from his grandpa ("You'd better put something on your feet").

The only people I knew of who had a "shoes-off" policy were those with homes that cost more than some neighborhoods.

blackjack · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Location: anyang

I'm from NZ. I had to take shoes off, my mum was a neat freak. Most of my friends also had to take their shoes off as well. However it was not such a strict rule as it is here.

But just like koreans have four seasons and can use chopsticks it's something they are taught in schools and it is one of those set phrases they have.

Caesar1313 · Joined: 03 Apr 2008

Wow, I'm really surprised. I guess I was wrong to tell my kids that. I'm from a suburb of Toronto, where it is also damn cold in the winter but still everyone I know takes off their shoes and leaves them at the door. Is it maybe a regional thing then? Any Canadians here wear their shoes indoors?

lifeinkorea · Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Location: somewhere in China

I am from the Detroit area. We always wore our shoes, except when a friend's parent cleaned the tiled kitchen. Normally, vacuuming could get things out, and then on holidays we would get these carpet cleaners. We would move all the furniture to another room and clean room by room.

Another occasion when we took our shoes off were on wet rainy days, in which we usually had those Paddington Bear plastic (rubber?) boots. In which case, we had a rug at every door and took them off there. This also happened on snowy days. However, for the most part (4 days of the week) shoes were always on until we lied down.

sqrlnutz123 · Joined: 15 Jun 2009 Location: South Korea

I am also teaching this lesson. We didn't take our shoes off and I can't think of anyone else I knew that did. What bothered me most about this lesson and every other lesson is that Nami can't pronounce 'th' she always says 'd', as in "What's dat?" or "Danksgiving." What the eff is she doing on this CD?

sarahsiobhan · Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:12 am Post subject:

In Canada, the shoes come off at the door. I have relatives in Texas, and they came to visit one year in the spring, and spring where I come from is a mucky, muddy, slushy affair, and they tracked it all in for us to clean up later, all the while making fun of us 'weird Canadians' who take our (filthy, mud-covered, wet shoes) off in the house.

Not cool.

Shoes always have, and always will, come off for me in any house I live in.

Xuanzang · Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Location: Sadang

I think it's a filthy habit to wear shoes in the house. Think of all the possible things you could have stepped in outside. Then think about ithem combining in your carpets and on your floors. NASTY!

sarahsiobhan · Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:23 am Post subject:

I KNOW! Like animal feces, urine, rotted food residue, spit, gasoline, the list of disgustingness is ENDLESS......it makes me cringe.

I am so glad I am not the only one!!!

seonsengnimble · Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:30 am Post subject:

I think it depends on the house and family rather than the area. I had some friends with a no shoes house and some with a shoes on house. In most cases, if I went to a home with a no shoes policy, the owners of the home would tell me upon entering that it was a no shoes house. I think I would find it odd if a party guest or someone entering my home for the first time took off their shoes. It seems kind of like making yourself at home. To me, it's a bit like walking into my home and walking to the fridge and pouring yourself a drink.

Off topic drunken tangent:

Although, I do have to admit, my family and I are slobs. Although, I would consider myself ten times as cleanly as some roommates I've had. One roommate I had made a huge thanksgiving feast. Instead of cleaning the bowls and pans, he left them in the fridge for a month. When they started to stink, he put them in plastic bags and hid them in the closet. He also had a pet skink or gecko. When it died, he left it in its cage in his room. Six months later, he moved into a new apartment and brought the dead lizard with him.

seonsengnimble · Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:36 am Post subject:

Xuanzang · Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Location: Sadang

sarahsiobhan · Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:42 am Post subject:

Okay, seonsengnimble, I see your point, but in Canada (okay, bloody huge country, I will say this instead) in EVERY SINGLE CANADIAN HOUSEHOLD I HAVE EVER KNOWN/BEEN IN/HEARD ABOUT......the shoes off thing was automatic, just like being in Korea. If I were at home, in T. Bay, and someone came over and didn't take their shoes off I would not say anything, but I would be mentally tracking their every move so I would know what areas to treat when they left.

So, for us, it's not a matter of saying "Hey! Shoes off in my house!" People just assume it's shoes off, because most houses are that way. I would never go into a Canadian household and keep my shoes on.