Expatriate Life: Please Remove Your Shoes

Expatriate Life: Please Remove Your Shoes

'We wore slippers at home when I was a child in England, but it was definitely a comfort thing, like changing out of your school uniform or work clothes into something loose and comfortable. Wearing slippers or taking off your shoes in someone else’s home would have been very presumptuous, like helping yourself from the fridge and almost bordering on an insult.

When I first arrived in Canada it was mid-winter, so I wasn’t surprised when I saw plastic boot trays inside the door of every Canadian home. In fact I thought “What a great idea!” given the slushy and salty streets of Toronto. But as summer rolled around and the boot trays disappeared the habit of removing shoes did not and I quickly realized it was a huge faux-pas to keep your shoes on in a Canadian home. Walking around in stocking feet or barefoot was the accepted norm for visitors.'