Shoes

It was my second day in Taipei when I visited the first aparments in my search for a place to live. The first thing that surprised me, and not pleasantly, were the corridors packed with shoes. Not only those that people could have just worn, but all the shoes you might have.

That was an extreme case, but it is very usual to find something like this in my apartment's staircase


I read somewhere that taiwanese may have very dirty buildings on the outside, but they really want them very clean in the inside. That's why they leave shoes (an umbrellas) in the corridors. It's not a bad idea, taking into account how much it rains here.

I don't do it yet in my apartment, but I have a large shoe cabinet on the wall opposite to the main door. The thing is, I don't have enough shoes.