Cultural Oddity Moment #7

As you may or may not be aware, Koreans always always always take their shoes off before entering a home or any restaurant that doesn't have chairs. This is something you get used to very quickly as there is a huge pile of shoes in the foyer of every home. The cultural oddity here is not that everyone takes off their shoes, since we spend a lot of time on the carefully lint rolled floor. There aren't chairs in the homes and we don't have elevated beds. It's all about the floors, so I wouldn't want shoes on it either. The strange thing is what the custom effects: a culture with relatively no sneakers. Barring sports activities, tennis shoes aren't worn by anyone. It's all flip flops, loafers, high heels and other various slip-ons. It's astounding and somewhat isolating (not nearly as isolating as being the only one not laughing in a room full of laughter, of course) to be the only one with a pair of shoes with laces, but the culture demands a shoe with fast in and out access. Even if you forget your hat, the shoes come off, you run and grab your hat, the shoes go back on. I would try to acquire some more Korean shoes, but my particular market isn't really catered to even in America. I'd hardly believe it if Ren found shoes here, much less myself.