Door Opening

[Ian_Lee]

When I watched those J-Drama and K-Drama, I felt something very odd.

In those apartment buildings in Tokyo and Seoul, the apartment door is opened outward towards the hallway. But apartments in most other cities are opened inward.

So will it be likely that if you open your front door in a rush, would you probably hit your neighbor whom just passes in front of your apartment?

[Xiao Kui]

this does, however, allow more space for stacking numerous shoes and slippers inside the door though. maybe they have more shoes and not enough shelf space? i have more insane theories but i'll spare you.

[trevelyan]

Could be the fire code. Doors in most public places in the west are supposed to open outwards to prevent people from being crushed in the event of something like a stampede in a rush to exit.

[Ian_Lee]

Other than door opening outward, most Japanese and Korean homes still have tatami rooms as seen in their dramas.

The Japanese actors/actresses still kneel in the room. But it seems that the Koreans just sit on the mat.

For me, eating meal in the tatami room is a torture no matter I kneel or sit.

[skylee]

I think the korean style is called ondol (well when the floor is heated anyways) instead of tatami ...

[Ian_Lee]

The modern apartment in Seoul has a theromstat to control the temperature of the ondol. The first time I used I kept looking around where the heater was but found none.

Another Korean drama shows how they do moving from one apartment to another. On the roof of some modern apartments in Seoul, they have a big metal hanger on the top (like those in Amsterdam) but with big pulley.

The moving company hanged down bulky items, i.e. piano and sofa, from the balcony down to the ground with the help of the hanger.

[skylee]

The moving company hanged down bulky items, i.e. piano and sofa, from the balcony down to the ground with the help of the hanger.

How tall is that modern apartment? I would think that it is possible only if the building is short. I can't imagine hanging down a piano from 35/F of a high-rise apartment building in Hong Kong.

IIRC, in one of the dramas, one guy tells another to go to HK as there are many tall buildings (so that he can kill himself easily by jumping from the top).

[self-taught-mba]

this does, however, allow more space for stacking numerous shoes and slippers inside the door though. maybe they have more shoes and not enough shelf space?

Maybe not so crazy theory.

This hotel/dorm has a lot of Koreans and they all stack their shoes outside the door; often quite many (like a rack of them). Japanese the same.

[geraldc]

In HK don't lots of people still have 2 doors on their apartment. The barred outer metal security doors that either open outwards or slide to the side, and the second door that opens inwards?

[skylee]

In HK don't lots of people still have 2 doors on their apartment. The barred outer metal security doors that either open outwards or slide to the side, and the second door that opens inwards?

We don't call the outer door "door". We call it "gate" "閘".

[Quest]

In guangzhou, we call the sliding ones 闸, and the outward ones 铁门.

They use different measure words: 一道闸，一栋铁门。

拉闸删门

Many Chinese people in the US also put their shoes outside their doors.

[bhchao]

In some wealthy communities in the US where there is a large percentage of Asian residents, it is not uncommon to see Asian households put their shoes inside.

The reason for this is because robbers eyeing a house know that that house belongs to an Asian family when they see shoes lined up outside the door.

[skylee]

拉闸删门

I think it is 閂/栓, not 刪.

[Quest]

I think it is 閂/栓, not 刪.

我都知删肯定唔啱，不过閂唔係读"sut"咩？"sut"又唔同"saan"喎....

[skylee]

不过閂唔係读"sut"咩？"sut"又唔同"saan"喎....

I have consulted my favourite dictionary. The Cantonese pronunciation of both 栓 and 閂 is san1 (山). They are shuan1 in Putonghua.

[Ian_Lee]

I am used to just leave my slipper outside the door while keep my shoes amd sneakers inside the house.

Since there are plenty of geckos in Hawaii, you don't know what is inside your shoes if you leave them outside your house overnite

In HK, I think it is a custom that you have both the gate and the door even though you live in an apartment.

And interestingly in summer time, some households leave their doors open but the gates shut to improve ventilation.

If you go to the public housing estate in HK, at least 1/3 do that in the summer time.

And if you watch those old "Huang Fei Xiong" movies that portrayed old time Guangzhou, those big houses always just leave only their big wooden gates shut.

[Ian_Lee]

I am just watching another Korean comedy drama which is called "Secret Love".

One thing amazed me is the nature of the temporary job the actress held after she was laid off.

She worked as a part-time chauffeur. In late evening, she was called to drive. Whenever somebody gets drunk in a restaurant or Karaoke and could not drive his/her car home, she was called by the manager of the restaurant or Karaoke to drive the drunkard home.

Maybe Korean girls are deemed more reliable. I think in most other cities, you will not rely on a stranger to drive your Mercedes or BMW home when you are completely unconsciously lying on the back seat.

[Quest]

I have consulted my favourite dictionary. The Cantonese pronunciation of both 栓 and 閂 is san1 (山). They are shuan1 in Putonghua.

咁个"sut"字点写？

And if you watch those old "Huang Fei Xiong" movies that portrayed old time Guangzhou, those big houses always just leave only their big wooden gates shut.

The wooden gates are called 趟笼2（门）.

[skylee]

咁个"sut"字点写？

I am not sure which word you are talking about. Do you mean 塞 as in 栓塞?

[Quest]

"sut"(同“恤”音) as in locking the door with the old style dash-through-hole metal stick.