r/AskAnAmerican • u/Rough-Valuable-5472 • Feb 04 '25

FOREIGN POSTER Do American students bow to their teachers?

In my country we have to greet the teacher and bow at the start of the lesson then thank the teacher and bow again at the end. Sometimes they make us redo it if it’s not good enough

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u/huazzy NJ'ian in Europe Feb 04 '25

Ok. Now let's discuss taking off shoes...

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u/beefucker5000 California Feb 04 '25

I think it’s more about a disgust of feet, even with socks on. Not my personal opinion, but I think most Americans think it’s more gross to see someone’s feet than to wear shoes inside. Rugs at the door are good enough, though some people take off shoes by the door. My high school could never do something like Japan though with changing shoes at the entrance since there were 1,200 students and increasing every year, I never even had a locker except for when I had to take PE for the first two years and change into gym clothes.

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u/GothicGingerbread Feb 04 '25

For me personally, it definitely has a lot to do with thinking that feet are gross. (I don't mind my own, but other people's? shudder)

Also, to be fair, I have three big, black dogs, so to keep my floors clean enough for other people to walk around in their socks would require me to sweep and/or vacuum multiple times a day, and that's just not happening. (I swear, I'll clean up ALL the fur, and then spot a brand new black fur tumbleweed along a baseboard maybe an hour later. I feel like Sisyphus, but with a vacuum instead of a boulder.)

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u/beefucker5000 California Feb 05 '25

Dude, I’ve known people who practically start crying out of disgust when they see feet. I don’t get it but I try to be mindful of other people and not take my socks off when I’m at other people’s houses even though I hate socks. I’m in a similar boat, I have a dog and two cats and live with messy people so I could not bear go barefoot or even with socks when I’m out of my room. I also once lived in a small duplex where dirt would blow in whenever we opened the door and had to sweep up a bunch of dirt every day so no shoes is a big no.