a (perhaps silly) question about socks.

[holdfast]

i know that you always remove your shoes when entering a korean home, and i also know that it is rude to be barefoot in someone else's home. generally this is not a problem if you are wearing socks, but the question is this: what do you do in the summer time when you are wearing sandals, or for girls who are wearing high heels (you cannot wear socks with those!)?

i ask because i legitimately need to know - i usually wear flip flops to work, but on the days that i tutor (in a korean home) i will bring socks and shoes to change into before i go. would it be weird to wear my flip flops and bring socks with me to put on once i get inside? i do not know...

also, is it pretty customary for people to have extra house shoes for guests? i have been to several peoples houses where they have insisted on me wearing their house shoes (even though i have gigantic feet and can barely put them on, hehe..). in those instances, would it be rude to wear the house shoes without socks?

this may be silly, but i just don't want to offend anyone, and i also don't want to wear tennis shoes all summer......

[Keith]

holdfast - That's extremely respectful of you to try and get this deep into Korean culture!

As for being barefoot. Let me start off with a short story about my cousin. She's a 1.5 generation Korean (she grew up half her childhood in Korea, and the other half in America). So she's used to wearing flipflops in America. But when she wore flipflops in Korea, it was a big deal to other people (just not to her). She even got yelled at by someone!

The flipflop mentality in my opinion is that it is considered not very clean. Your feet are so close to the ground, and can get dirty easily. And then you have to go into someone's home with those feet. So people don't look good upon that.

Generally speaking, sandals aren't very common in Korea (although I believe they are starting to gain popularity). And women who wear shows, typically wear stockings (from my observations).

But these days, young girls will often wear shoes without stockings, and more and more people are starting to wear sandals and flip flops. As Korean culture is being more westernized, I think its gradually becoming more common to show barefeet, and accepted as the norm. It's definitely not a taboo by any means.

That being said, I think it's different for each family. If they're modern, and pretty up to date with the fashions, I don't think they would care much about it. If they're old school, and pretty traditional, they might do a double take.

To play it safe, I would do what you've been doing. Just taking shoes and socks on the day that you're tutoring. But keep your eye open and see if the family does what you would like to do.

And about house shoes, I think it's pretty common to have a few extra shoes lying around for guests. And being barefoot in the shoes are totally acceptable.

[shanshanchua]

I didn't know it was unacceptable to wear flip flops/sandals or to be barefoot in a Korean home. That's not the case with the Japanese, right? And with the Chinese, that's no issue too.

Then what do Korean people wear in summer? Surely they don't all go around in covered shoes??

[mariefrenette]

I asked my homestay family and the mother said that when she was in university (she's in her 40's) she wasn't allowed to wear sleeveless shirts to class, and if she was wearing sandals she always carried around a pair of socks with her in case she was going to someones home.

Even in the last 10 years, Korea has seen rapid changes. In many ways it has adopted a lot of more traditionally western customs. My homestay mother said that both of those things are no longer a problem in Korea. Although, maybe if you are going to someone's grandmother's house, bring some socks.

I've been living here for 2 years and hadn't even realized it was an issue, and I consider myself to be quite aware of Korean customs and what is expected of me...

So I wouldn't stress it too much, or get the impression that Koreans never wear sandals. Last summer it was pretty trendy to wear flip flops, like surfer boy style (always hot! haha)

Marie

[austinfd]

I see an awul lot of Koreans wearing socks with their sandals...Of course, that is really only possible with the Teva-style...