Poll Results: People Take Off Their Shoes

Last month I ran a poll asking, "Do you take off your shoes in the house?" This was prompted by a lesson I was giving my 6th graders before I finished at my last school. It was a lesson meant to teach Western customs and etiquette for greeting. However, the whole scenario of "taking shoes on or off" in the house seemed a bit contrived to teach. I know it is a cultural difference between Korea and America, but other western nations do take off their shoes before they enter the house. Plus the book and the CD-Rom imagery doesn't really go into much depth about why we don't take off our shoes.

I would ask my students, "Do you think we (Americans) are dirty?" And I would get a mixed result of "yes" and "no". Then I would explain why we don't, and that we actually do take them off later in our separate rooms. I made it a point to say that while I am in Korea I practice taking off my shoes at my house and when I visit other people in Korea.

All of this prompted me to put up a poll on my site. However, I can't really say where my respondents come from.

For those 4% who don't wear shoes, well I just hope you have some tough soles.

*You can check out this poll and past ones at the bottom of my blog.*