Foot Fascination
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008The obvious foot-freedom in New Zealand isn’t really a new observation, but it still kicks me nearly daily. Today I visited another beautiful country school (they are kind of all “country schools” once you drive out of Hamilton). Even though I was supposed to be observing one of my kids, my eyes kept drifting downward: every one of the students in the classroom was barefoot. In fact, every kid on the field outside was also barefoot. IN FACT, the teacher that came out of his classroom to collect the newspaper was ALSO barefoot. A whole school full of naked, dusty, thick-skinned feet. Amazing.
My mind drifted as my kid just sat and read, and I remembered a poem project in the 5th grade. I wrote a mundane poem about shoes that I read while in the background a recording played of a loud, jerky march played on the piano: “Clip, clop as they walk down the hall; some falling off, some way too small….” I would never have composed that poem if I grew up a Kiwi. Instead, maybe it’d be something like this:
Thwip, thwap as they slap on the path,
Bare piggies and feet, bare their soles to the street,
In a country where shoes are more likely found on a horse,
and socks are kept safe for tourists in stores.
Hee hee. Its not just the kids who shun shoes. I have been amazed walking in grocery stores to see grown men, either barefoot or padding around in their socks. I thought this was completely laughable until it was explained to me very practically: “Well, their boots were probably muddy so they took them off and left them at the door.” Of course.
Lack of footware is not just for sunny days, but I’ve also seen schoolyards full of barefoot kids on rainy days, cold days, even frosty days. “Shouldn’t they be covered up? Aren’t they going to get sick?!” I had this exact conversation with a mum from Holland today. Both of us coming from our sheltered-foot upbringings decided: “Absolutely, it MUST be bad for their health! Children should wear shoes!” Well, despite our conservative musings, I also have to wonder if a whole country can be wrong. Or sick. Maybe they’ve stumbled across something very deep, like…..”free feet make free thinkers.” …….Or maybe they just don’t like shoes. : )
bimpy_ak