Xmas Trip 1 - Dirty feet
So for the holidays, I’ve decided to head to Brazil and visit the folks with Marilia. That’s a three week trip, to places that I haven’t been to in 2 years.
And I was most impressed by what kind of habits you can develop in only 2 years. It is a known custom in japan that you do not enter many places (mainly people’s houses, but sometimes offices too) with your shoes on. The main reason is to help keeping the floor clean, in a society where people are used to sleeping, sitting, etc, directly on the floor. It is a very sensible and practical custom, so much, in fact, that once I was back to Brazil I started feeling a nagging behind my head every time I entered my mother’s house.
The front door is a little elevated in relation to the outside, just like in japanese houses, so my japanised reflexes hit, asking me to remove my shoes. Except that here you are not supposed to, and walking barefoot in my home would only treat me to dusty socks.
December 28th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
If I had some probems like that staying for only 1 year, I imagine you after 2…
An interesting one: do you slurp while eating noodles?