Beauty of Shoes

So, a few comments on shoes, because I'm sure that all of you have just been achin to hear about my new revelation about shoes (for me and the cultural significance in America v. Czech Republic). So, therefore, this entry is in two parts. First, my theology of shoes, and secondly, the cultural effects of my American ideology in the Czech Republic.

First: I like shoes, but I'm not the kind of person that is going to go out and buy an ungodly amount of shoes that I'm never going to use. For those of you that know me, I'm fairly cheap. I wear my shoes until they can't be worn anymore. And then I wear them for another year. I remember this past year I went to the mountains in these tennis shoes I'd had for 5 years, and my feet were freezing after the walk through the snow cuz the sole is basically off of it. My dress shoes (which are the shoes that I wear daily nowadays being a teacher, are torn completely in half on both shoes, but it hasn't kept me from trekking all over town and through the thick of everything in them to get where I need to go ANd last, but certainly not least, are my pride and joy, my rainbow sandals. I have had my rainbows for over three years now and almost have worn them everyday for those three years. 2 years ago, I wore the ends off where my big toe is, and I contemplated getting new ones, but they are just so comfy. And now, I have acquired a new big hole in my heel, so the problem seems to amout at a rapid pace and I'm pretty sure the next acquisition to the shoes will be the back half of one of my shoes breaking completely off, and then we'll face that problem when it comes to. With only having half a sandal, I might think more seriously about getting new sandals. But when I make a purchase in shoes, i'm in it for the long haul. There ain't nothing, and i mean nothin, that is gonna take me away from getting my moneys worth from those shoes.

Secondly, a few good stories from the Czech about shoes. So, firstly, Czech just can't seem to understand that Americans wear their shoes always. We wear the same shoes to work, the same shoes to school, and the same shoes at home, always! In Czech, you come to school, change into your inside shoes. You come home and take your shoes off and get indoor shoes or slippers. They always ask me, "but don't the floors get dirty from what you tracked in?" I say "yea sometimes, but then we just clean it" Sure maybe it's a better idea they have, but we're just too lazy and it's our cultural norm. It's funny sometimes though. I remember the groundskeeper was coming into my flat once to replace a broken window and he comes in with this hugely godforsaken-sized window, starts to walk in and then, "oh, sorry," takes time to slip off his shoes (so he's just changing my window out in his socks). It was a little strange to me, but comical nonetheless. Another story... we went to Ireland and we all stayed in a hostel and all the guys were in a room and we were beat. We all come in and lay down. Of course all those guys took their shoes off and laid in bed, but they didn't understand at all when I just laid in bed with my shoes on. I was just tired and didn't want to fuss with it. So... they are all weirded out and one of them finally says, "Zach, your shoes are on still". I said, "yea, i know, it's fine, I don't want to take them off" So, then i proceeded to tell him that it's not as important to always take off your shoes in America. Maybe I should have taken off my shoes and I would have been more comfy, but i just didn't want to, and I felt fine. So... that's my news about shoes.