Thread: Take off shoes

Recently I invited a russian woman to my house. She is from Vladivostok. When she was entering, she asked me where she should leave her shoes ( ). She explained that in Russia, people has a wardrobe at the entrance, where they change the shoes. They also have shoes enough to offer some to visitors. I thought it may be a custom of eastern russian people only, because they are near Japan, China, ... But she affirmed it was a custom in all Russia.
Can anybody tell me more about this?

(I'm studying russian, but my level is still very poor, sorry).

See this topic

http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtop ... highlight=

Originally Posted by lauradh

Recently I invited a russian woman to my house. She is from Vladivostok. When she was entering, she asked me where she should leave her shoes ( ). She explained that in Russia, people has a wardrobe at the entrance, where they change the shoes. They also have shoes enough to offer some to visitors. I thought it may be a custom of eastern russian people only, because they are near Japan, China, ... But she affirmed it was a custom in all Russia.
Can anybody tell me more about this?

(I'm studying russian, but my level is still very poor, sorry).

Russian climate differs from yours. Are you sure that you dont want change your shoes for the sleepers if it is winter season? If you change your shoes - it will be polite, because it is difficult to clean the room in such climatal conditions

Originally Posted by lauradh

She explained that in Russia, people has a wardrobe at the entrance, where they change the shoes. They also have shoes enough to offer some to visitors.

I think they do the same thing in Sweden too. At home, most Russians wear slippers or sandals.

And usually there are parquet floors in Russian houses. So in winter or fall seasons water from shoes would damage a cover. And one would be too hot in winter or fall shoes at home.

As it seems to be a question of climate, I agree it's more comfortable even here in winter to wear slippers at home, but when we have guests, we would never let them see us in sleepers. Even when the postmans rings, I take off my sleepers and wear shoes to open.
So it's not only climate, is it?

I’m sorry, I think I exagerated too much in my last post. I was at my father’s village some years ago: it’s a very small village in Granada, so little that the butcher comes from another village in a van, and he stops at the square and all women in the village run there to shop, in sleepers, of course... It’s like the hole village is a great home...
I like very much to notice these differences between people with other customs, it’s what I like to know while I am learning other languages. I would very much like to be in Siberia, to come back home and take off my boots full of snow, and put on some beautiful sleepers... I just wondered if it had something in common with japanese customs, (Vladivostok is so near Japan...), which seems to be based in other reasons ...
Thanks to all of you for your responses

In Sweden everyone take their shoes off aswell. Tourists that came here always though it was some ritual, when it's just plain sense to not want streetcrap in the house

In the US you will be hard-pressed to find a house that lacks a vacuum cleaner. This is not all true for Russia, just the opposite probably. So you take your shoes off when you enter a house/apartment. Walk in your socks if there are no slippers (not "sleepers" that was a movie!!).

I usually do that here in the US for the same reason, even though I have a vacuum cleaner that set me back $400.

Originally Posted by chaika

In the US you will be hard-pressed to find a house that lacks a vacuum cleaner. This is not all true for Russia, just the opposite probably. So you take your shoes off when you enter a house/apartment.

LOL. Do you know how many hoovers we own per capita? 2.73 they said in some mag or something. I take my shoes off only when it's snowing outside. And I don't wear slippes, I walk barefoot - I've got nice tatami floors in my apartment (it is also a dojo).

VM, do you live in a dojo? How so, are you Sensei VM by any chance?

We take off our shoes when we enter a home because the streets here are FILTHY!!! I don't want what i see on the street to be on my bedroom floor when I put my bare tootsies on the carpet. In winter we wear warm slippers or house shoes at home and in summer we wear light slippers or sandles (i like plastic flip-flops). Usually people have extra slippers in the entryway for guests. We have Hoovers, Electolux, Philips, and many more machines for cleaning the carpet but they are usually the canaster style and not the huge upright styles like in the USA.

You live in Dmitrov, right? Is it a town in Moscow region? If so, you live in the clearest town in Russia with population up to 100 000. Imagine how filthy are other towns and cities :)

I saw a report about your town on TV and it looked nice and clean. It was found the clearest town this year with population up to 100 000.

This was the first "cultural" observation I made when I visited my friends apartments in Minsk. They took off their shoes immediately and walked around in their socks. I was not used to this, as I wasn't raised to do so in the U.S. But when in Rome...So I just automatically took off my shoes like everyone else.

Yes, I live in Dmirov (2 hours north of Moscow by train) which is very clean. Our adminisration works hard to make our city the best in Russia. We have workers cleaning the city center daily and they also do routine sweeps through the parks and forests in town to pick up all of the litter. But unfortunately the current culture of littering and (men and boys)spitting on the sidewalks is hard to keep up with. So, unless it rains, the sidewalks are still not as clean as we would like. Our city is also built on sandy hills so everyone has rough plastic mats at the entrance to homes and stores to keep the sand out of the buildings.

Originally Posted by net surfer

You live in Dmitrov, right? Is it a town in Moscow region? If so, you live in the clearest town in Russia with population up to 100 000. Imagine how filthy are other towns and cities

I saw a report about your town on TV and it looked nice and clean. It was found the clearest town this year with population up to 100 000.

Clearest town? What, like in terms of air visibility? Or did you mean cleaNest, netsurfer

-Nitpick

[quote=kalinka_vinnie]

Originally Posted by "net surfer":3iv3s6wn

Clearest town? What, like in terms of air visibility? Or did you mean cleaNest, netsurfer :)

[/quote:3iv3s6wn]
Lol, cleanest of course! Thanks Nitpick :)

We have clean air (no smog or pollution), almost no stray dogs (no puppy pies or towers of frozen pee on the walkways), and litter is picked up daily. We also have street cleaners that sweep and wash the sand off of the sidewalks after big rains. And this summer there was an extensive sidewalk remodel project that repaved old sidewalks and built many new ones in places where there were only dirt pathways.

take a look at this
http://www.russianparis.com/forum/in...c=2025.msg6456
That's interesting. Inviting guests to my home, I never want them to take of their shoes for a few reasons:
- it can bother a person in different ways;
http://www.prazdnik.by/essential/eti.../guests_invite
- sight might be rediculious (a man in a white shirt, suit, tie and slippers or a girl brilliantly-dressed and in slippers as well);
- there's nothing wrong in sweeping the floor. To clean up the floor takes me 1 minute (linoleum) or 3 minutes (carpet);
- what if a person is infected by some kind of fungus or so (http://news.izvestia.ru/tech/news78469);
- if a sanitary technician has a privelege not to take off his shoes, why do my guests have to have less rights in that and not to take them either?

P.S. the Preview mode is not working, but anywhay.

Originally Posted by mishau_

That's interesting. Inviting guests to my home, I never want them to take of their shoes for a few reasons:
- it can bother a person in different ways;
- sight might be rediculious (a man in a white shirt, suit, tie and slippers or a girl brilliantly-dressed and in slippers as well);
- there's nothing wrong in sweeping the floor. To clean up the floor takes me 1 minute (linoleum) or 3 minutes (carpet);
- what if a person is infected by some kind of fungus or so (http://news.izvestia.ru/tech/news78469);
- if a sanitary technician has a privelege not to take off his shoes, why do my guests have to have less rights in that and not to take them either?

That's just a tradition which shows your respect to the host (or his carpet). Why are you trying so hard to prove this tradition is rediculous?

- it can bother a person in different ways;
What ways? Do your guest hide his ragged socks?

- sight might be rediculious (a man in a white shirt, suit, tie and slippers or a girl brilliantly-dressed and in slippers as well);
Those who want to look brilliant bring their own clean and dry shoes which fit to their suits/dresses.

- there's nothing wrong in sweeping the floor. To clean up the floor takes me 1 minute (linoleum) or 3 minutes (carpet);
ha ha
Maybe you like cleaning up lots of dirty melting snow on your carpet during a party instead of having fun with your guests..

- what if a person is infected by some kind of fungus or so
What if a person is infected by chicken myeloblastosis virus?

- if a sanitary technician has a privelege not to take off his shoes, why do my guests have to have less rights in that and not to take them either?
Any sanitary technician if he's well-brought-up takes his shoes off as any other guest.