cusnkim's Profile

The reason why Koreans and Japanese (and probably other asians as well, but I don't know that firsthand) take shoes off at the door, is because traditionally, they slept on the floor. Unlike western countries, beds were not the norm, and Koreans used floor mats/blankets and rolled them up each morning and put it away. Then the bedroom would turn into an eating area/guest area. WHY would you walk in with shoes on if you had to sleep on the floor later that day? It's a cultural thing for us to just take shoes off.

I also don't think that asking guests to take their shoes off is rude. We keep guest slippers for people, and extra socks they can throw away later if they don't have any with them. I don't think it's rude at all for a host to not want to clean up the dripping wet shoes/mud thats tracked in when people come inside with shoes on. I might allow a guest to not take their shoes off if they absolutely refuse, but I would never invite them again. To me, it's just like being invited to someones house for a dinner party, and then hrowing a fit because you don't like anything there.