Sunday, August 03, 2008

The Asian Way--Shoes Off In The HOUSE

Our friend Tian Ming came to visit for dinner today. He has just started his courses at BYU here in Provo. We know Tian Ming from our days in Penang, Malaysia.
His mother is such a wonderful friend. Here is a picture of all of us in Hong Kong back in 2004One of the greatest things about Asia is the WONDERFUL custom of removing the shoes at the front door of any home!!! Even our Western Friends in Malaysia didn't need to be reminded to remove their shoes. If you need to run out to the car, step onto the back deck, whatever, when you come in the shoes come off. This is something we have done as a family for years, but it is difficult to ask visitors to follow custom.QUESTIONS: ( see the new poll up at the top of the page)
How would you really feel if I asked you to remove your shoes when coming into my house?

Does anybody have a cute idea for a plaque for the front door asking people to take their shoes off?

7 comments:

.From Her. said...

First of all, there is no way that could be a cat that Jordan is holding. Could it be? No... No way. That beast is far too large.

Second of all, EVERYONE takes shoes off when they go into houses out here too. Just automatically. I love it. There are cute little signs you can buy all over that say cute phrases like, "Mahalo for removing your slippers" and stuff like that.

I am TOTALLY into the removing your shoes idea. Especially when you have a baby rolling all over the floor. Who wants a sick nasty (nastier, I should say) floor?

Anonymous said...

Hey there, no way is it rude to ask visitors to take off their shoes.Im at home with three kids, new cream carpet and woods at the back of the house.So its shoes off all round.As far as the family is concerned its straight on with the slippers.Daddys taking a bit of convincing but the kids are getting him trained with lotsa help from me.Visitors kind of take the hint when they see our racks of shoes by the door(and my panda slippers!!)

LunaMoonbeam said...

Look at me, de-lurking already! I got your blog address from the Daring Baker's blogroll...hope you don't mind!

My hubby is Asian (I served a mission in Hong Kong...it looks like you and I were there at the same time!)so our house is also a no-shoes zone. Come to think of it, growing up, my house was also shoes-free. The cutest thing I've seen is to have a little sign by the door that is obviously "foreign." In this case, it was a little wooden sign decorated with palm trees and a beach scene that said "Mahalo for removing your shoes."

Umm...n'm. "our blog spot" already put that idea down. The other thing I would suggest is how our friends do it in BC - have a small basket of slippers by the front door, and offer them to your guests, next to a basket or rack for their shoes.

Cari said...

Once I replace my flooring I'll be asking people to remove shoes also. (With my floor as it is...who cares!) I think it's catching on here, slowly but surely.
As far as cute signs, I've seen the message made of vinyl lettering put right on the door. I'm not sure I really liked it but it's a thought. My creativity is at a 0 today. Sorry.

Mandy said...

Life is full of choices...
Remove your shoes, or scrub the floors:)

Matthew Celestine said...

It is a wonderful custom.

I have never had anyone be offended when I have asked them to remove their shoes.

I have an whole blog on this subject: Shoes Off at the Door, Please You might want to take a look.

Anonymous said...

I'm not offended if someone asks me to remove my shoes. In fact, we (meaning my hubby and I) usually ask when we come into someone's house. It's actually really a given for us. I think we asked you when we came to yours. As for my kids, they will just automatically take their shoes off because we are always barefoot. So, it's not about cleanliness for us, but the preference for barefootin it!

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