I immigrated to SE Asia, certainly it was very different.
99% of indoor surfaces (and some outdoor areas too) are tile floors, or polished concrete/granite/terrazio. These are really easy to keep clean by just sweeping for 5 minutes. The few carpets I've seen were always really gross. No way I'm taking off my shoes to walk on that!
We don't wear shoes/sandals or socks indoors overall. It's normal to walk barefoot, even at many workplaces.
Socks are a weird thing that we wear to travel somewhere cold, or if we have to wear shoes for some reason (very formal events or workplaces, or for safety). Some people wear socks to sleep.
Sometimes we have a separate set of sandals to wear in the bathroom. You take those off before entering the rest of the house.
The other use of sandals is a form of low-damage ammunition for parental authorities to launch at you. We have a lot of memes about this.
99% of indoor surfaces (and some outdoor areas too) are tile floors, or polished concrete/granite/terrazio. These are really easy to keep clean by just sweeping for 5 minutes. The few carpets I've seen were always really gross. No way I'm taking off my shoes to walk on that!
We don't wear shoes/sandals or socks indoors overall. It's normal to walk barefoot, even at many workplaces.
Socks are a weird thing that we wear to travel somewhere cold, or if we have to wear shoes for some reason (very formal events or workplaces, or for safety). Some people wear socks to sleep.
Sometimes we have a separate set of sandals to wear in the bathroom. You take those off before entering the rest of the house.
The other use of sandals is a form of low-damage ammunition for parental authorities to launch at you. We have a lot of memes about this.