Kimchi, not for me

A leisurely squat

The point of this picture is to show how people squat here all the time. I see old old O-L-D women squatting down like this pulling weeds at the park and such. When I first got here, I couldn't squat with my feet flat. Kylie couldn't either, and this was of some concern to here before they went to China on vacation. There are lots of Western style toilets here in Korea, often along with squat pots, or in the vicinity usually. In China, it's mostly just squat pots. And neither of us could squat without our heels coming up, and that position gets extremely uncomfortable very fast. I can squat flat-footed now though. There's a lot of sitting on the floor here in Korea - so it keeps them all limber, I think. That basically points to the entirely different cultural perception of the floor - that's why they don't wear shoes, and sit on it, and can squat. We sit up on things most of our lives and are generally less flexible. But now I'm so used to not having my shoes on (that is, the shoes I wear outside) on inside, I can't even imagine why I'd want to. It's much cleaner (or at least it would be if it weren't for all the shedding that happens in this apartment), and if one really needs something on the feet, slippers are a good option. I think it's something that just might stick in my life. We'll see.