Toilet talk

Maybe this is a gross topic, but I think it's actually interesting, and something I didn't give much thought to before I left the US. There were the automatic toilets that first appeared in Pennsylvania when I was little and especially scared my sister ;), but otherwise all toilets I'd seen looked pretty much the same, and were used the same way. I have since truly learned not to take for granted the pleasant omnipresence of bathrooms (free, clean ones at that) in the US. In at least some other countries, it is not so. From my first experience with 'female urinals' and paying for the use of public restrooms in France, to the lack of any plumbing in many places in Madagascar, I thought maybe I'd seen it all. Not so.

First, China takes the 'female urinal' - which I use to refer to a bathroom stall with no toilet, just a place to stand (or rather squat) and a built-in basin which can be flushed - to a new level. Usually in France, it was just an option alongside 'normal' toilets. Here, it's frequently the only choice. Next, you always have to bring your own toilet paper. I've gotten used to always having some in my pocket, and to squirreling away the paper napkin packs given at many restaurants for future use. What's more, you're not supposed to flush your toilet paper. To be frank, the first thing I did when I arrived in my room at the university was stuff the toilet and have to call in the janitorial staff - I didn't know you were supposed to deposit the used toilet paper in a trash bin next to the toilet. Apparently the plumbing can't take the paper. Once the bin gets full, you take it to the garbage chute yourself. Doesn't it smell? Strangely, not really. It gets emptied farely frequently.

I'm in fact quite spoiled, living where I do. I have an actual toilet, a shower with hot water, and only one roommate. Chinese students generally have shared toilets, no shower, and at least 5 roommates. They have to go to another building which has large public showers in order to bathe. I just have to wait until 6pm.

The toilets in the building where I have class are similar to what what they have in their dorms. There's basically a tiled trough sectioned off to make 'stalls' with no doors:View walking into the women's bathroom down the hall from where I have class. There's a sink with cold water and no soap on the left, and six or so 'stalls' on the right.

Here's what the 'stalls' look like - no doors... you put one foot on either side of the 'trough' and squat... the red basket is for your toilet paper.

It's not the cleanest or most pleasant situation, but when this is what you have, you deal with it. I already don't even blink twice when confronted with a dirty, un-private, squatting bathroom. Just don't touch anything, go fast, and use your chopsticks to eat, not your hands :)