Bathrooms Abroad

One of the assumptions I got disabused of from an early age was that the whole world uses Western-style toilets, the clean, comfy kind that you just sit down on and go while reading a book that some poor friend will borrow later and never realize that it spent most of its time with you sitting on top of the place you relieve yourself. (Not that I think that's gross or anything of

A "natural position" toilet.

course!) The funny thing about this assumption is that it doesn't even match the reality in the West, where all too often I've found it easier to wait till I'm home than to use some of the rarely (never?) cleaned restrooms one can find at rest stops and restaurants.

Even so, many people move abroad without even thinking that the changes to their life could be as basic as how they use the restroom. Pictured is what I'm told is the norm here in China, was the norm where I grew up in Africa, and is often the norm in Eastern Europe as well. (I've found in Eastern Europe that even in places with Western-style toilets people often use them they way they would the 'toilet' in the picture.) And the 'Turkish toilet' pictured is one of the nicest versions I've encountered in my many years living outside the West!

All that being said, I'm fortunate enough to have a Western-style toilet in my apartment here. (It was a relief to see, I can assure you!) But when you're preparing for a move always remember to work on those leg muscles just in case how you make a move becomes drastically different!