TOILET TALES

Taking care of business varies widely around the world. In Guatemala (and a few other places) we used "regular" toilets, but threw the used toilet tissue in the garbage, since the sewage system is in no shape to handle such foreign objects.

In the Mongolian "outback" we used this type of toilet:


In Italy, we encountered our first porcelain hole, which had Grace completely bamboozled. These are also common in China and many other places in the world. Frankly, this is my favorite kind of toilet; squatting is a healthier way to do it. And most of these flush.

We used our first Japanese toilet in our London exchange house (the wife is Japanese) but because it was acting up, we frequently got squirted in the face with the "clean your butt" sprayer. We loved the heated toilet seat but we were scared to actually use the toilet.

In Gordon and Aya's Tokyo apartment, we got another chance to try the fanciest toilets on earth, apparently adored by all Japanese. The lid lifted automatically when we opened the door to the "throne room". There were so many incomprehensible (to us) buttons for cleaning your rear in various ways that it brought on test anxiety every time we went to the bathroom. Water would pour out of a faucet on top of the tank when we flushed, so we could rinse our hands. The contrast to our recent experiences of hole-and-plank toilets was actually a little disconcerting. (The others might report, however, that it was more like sitting on a heavenly throne.)

Next time you use the bathroom, don't take anything for granted!