May 15, 2007
Removing shoes ... to remove or not? That is the question :)
Of course living in Asia, it is almost without question that we remove our shoes when entering a house, be it our own home or the home of others. But I still can't figure out, why, why, why, gwais and those not-gwais but with strong gwais culture, do not remove their shoes before entering into someone's home?
Some are nice, they ask if they should remove their shoes which we would not hesitate to say yes we would prefer so. But some don't even ask, they just step right in. I can understand if they're some delivery guy or tradesmen coming to fix something but friends woh.
Even Kiwi G's cousin (a doctor himself!!) at first didn't remove his boots when stepping into our home at first but later changed his mind and he very well knows that we have a baby who crawls on the floors.
So my big question is, why?? Is it so difficult to remove their shoes even if it's just for 5 minutes? Good thing we don't have carpets in the house!
We always insist on removing our shoes when we visit friends' homes but some of them (especially gwais) really INSIST that we leave them on (carpeted floors some more!) ... so how??? I feel aweful but when other people kept their shoes on, it would look weird if we kept ours off. So no choice, I kept them on and I felt guilty walking around their home but the hosts themselves also wear shoes inside their house.
