Doorsteps

One pervasive difference between the US and Taiwan is that rooms in Taiwan are separated by a doorstep that is raised above the level of the two rooms on either side of the door. There are not too many carpeted rooms in Taiwan, as the humidity is too high and the carpet would just be a environment for fungus, mold, all kind of growths. So tiles are the way to go, they can be easily mopped. With the raised member at the door entrance mopping the room or mopping the hall is two separate operations.  There is a separation of responsibilities, the public and the private.




















So if you are not careful in moving from room to room you stumble  over the doorstep. The doorsteps at the historical sites are the tallest, sometimes as big as 8 inches. Here we are at the Chilkan Shrine, I think there is some cultural background behind this difference, but I've never heard it explained.

I remember there was a study in the US about the how often old people got hip fractures as a function of the step up they had to make to take a shower. There was a direct statistical correlation between the number of hip fractures and the height of the step up into the shower. Of course taking a shower in a bathtub is the most problematic. It seems we all think our own situation is different but statistics makes each of us an incident waiting to happen.

























Even the most modern buildings have this have this vertical separation between rooms. Eventually you get use to thinking "step up".  So the mopping routine works it way into how you think about the mundane event of just moving from room to room.