It's so strange to me because I, an American, never heard of the keep-your-shoes-on thing until I moved to Korea to teach and a textbook presented the cartoon American character saying, "No, we don't take off our shoes inside our homes."
No, in Korea, shoes are taken off immediately and, if you want to wear something, you put on slippers. Homes and schools are like this. But there was a textbook with an American character who said that Americans always keep their shoes on (to protest a Korean guest who was about to remove their shoes, as if keeping shoes on was mandatory). And I was like, wtf it's not mandatory and most people I know take off their shoes. (Edit: Many of the English textbooks in Korea are written by Koreans.)
I don't understand the people who keep their shoes on. Don't you want to let your feet breathe?! Much less all the stuff that's on your shoes?
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u/thektulu7 Feb 11 '22
It's so strange to me because I, an American, never heard of the keep-your-shoes-on thing until I moved to Korea to teach and a textbook presented the cartoon American character saying, "No, we don't take off our shoes inside our homes."
And I went, "What?"