Hey Ya’ll! I love sharing my experiences with you. As I relive these moments I find myself laughing at my reactions to all the new things I encountered upon moving to China.
When we moved to China we only had one day of cultural training and in hindsight it didn’t really apply much to me. The company doing the training was focusing more on Tractor Man and his job here in China and the things he needed to know.
So I learned more by getting out and figuring life out on my own. I’m sure you have read all about my experience learning about split pants, so this story should be amusing to you as well.
Tractor Man knew about the toilets here, but he “must have forgot” to mention the difference to me. Granted, when I think back I remember him talking about some crazy toilets on his journeys around the world, but I didn’t put two and two together. Until........we went out Papa Johns for the first time.
We were there with a group of people we had recently met and were enjoying a wonderful lunch that made me feel like I was back at home. One of our new friend’s little girl had to go to the bathroom and her mom was busy with their youngest child, so I volunteered to take her. Needless to say, when she and I opened the stall door I about had a heart attack. It was really just a hole in the floor....what on earth do you do with this. The little girl I was assisting impressed me so much, she (unlike me) had seen this already in her time in China and knew exactly what to do. Yes, a 3 year old taught me all about squatty potties!
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| This is a squatty potty. Don't you just love them? Ha! |
For the longest time I refused to use one and did my best to not have to use the restroom out in public. I did well for about a year and a half...then I finally succumbed. It is definitely a different experience as you really have to squat (hence the name) very low.
This is the type of restroom you will find in most everyplace out in public in China. But at times, you can find a western style restroom...and believe me, once you have been in Wuxi for a bit, you can practically find every one of them very easily.
One thing you do need to know and plan for in advance is that most of the public restrooms in China do not have soap and some do not have toilet paper. Since I have Pickle with me all the time, I always have baby wipes on hand so that solves the toilet paper issue. As for the soap, I have started carrying a travel container with me filled with hand soap. This has made most everything a bit easier and “cleaner” for me.
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| This was taken in Hangzhou...the tourism bureau rated this bathroom 3 stars. So what does that look like? |
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| This! Ha! This is a 3 star China potty...now you know! |
So come on over and learn to laugh with us all about the many differences over here. It really makes you stronger when you learn to laugh at the days to come. Laughter makes most things easier.
Always,
Belle
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