We were walking out of the apartment we were staying at in Seoul when Hugh proudly proclaimed that he wasn’t going to tie up his shoes laces. He didn’t care at all. But within one second he was tying them up muttering, “Just a bit”. His responsible adult side won out. Hugh is at this stage where he wants to wear the younger guys’ fashions but then also worries about things like shoelaces. He goes out in Hongdae a lot, but then at times is annoyed at all the young people. He sees old friends from school or military who now look so old, while he looks quite similar to how he did when he was younger. It’s an interesting time trying to work out identity. We’ll have to see if his fashion changes when we move completely to Seoul later.

So in Korea, Japan… and probably most of Asia… NO SHOES INSIDE! Even though many Australian families may choose to not wear shoes inside it’s not a cultural norm here. It’s completely acceptable to wear shoes inside here. Because of this when I’m in Korea or Japan I have such a hard time. I’m so slow! Korean and Japanese people can take their shoes off so fast and and slip them back on in 1 second. I’m always left behind fumbling with my shoes. It’s actually something that stresses me out a bit because I know I end up looking like an idiot. Sometimes when trying to get shoes back on quickly while standing up and I’ve fallen over…

I know part of the problem is that many of my shoes are difficult to get on and off- because they were bought in Australia- whereas Koreans are usually wearing shoes that are easier to remove. And simply because I’m not used to doing it. I wasn’t born in a country where this is normal.

Hopefully I’ll get used to the constant taking off shoes. When we find an apartment in Sydney it’s probably going to be set up in a more Korean style so shoes will have to come off. At the moment I’m at the parent’s house in my hometown while my husband is job and apartment hunting in Sydney.

Also, just trying out another style of drawing which is why this comic looks different to others.