Over Food: Culture shocks

Posted by penneigh on Jan 24, 2009 in Misc... | 9 comments

We often hear stories about the strange, funny and sometimes downright shocking things that we come across during overseas travel. I think that by far, bathroom oddities make the most amusing topics of conversations, but hey, that might be just me. I thought I’d share a few of these stories.

While visiting South Korea, my travel companions and I were staying in a hotel, and we looked around and realized that there were no bath towels. As we spoke no Korean, and were part of a tour group, we called up our tour guide and asked him to help us get some towels sent up. When the staff at the hotel gave us the towels, our ever reliable SOUTH KOREAN tour guide (I had to make that clear first) came to our door to help translate for us.

When they gave us the towels, my first thought was that the towels aren’t very thick… then the towel on the top tipped over, so I went to catch it, and realized that the towels they got us were hand towels. So I told our tour guide that they got us the wrong towels. The hotel staff and the tour guide looked at us weirdly and said: “You want towels. This is the towels.” I explained to him that I wanted bath towels… for the body. He said to me: “Yes. Towel. For body. After bathing.” It took a few minutes for it to sink in to my room mates and myself that in many parts of the world, they do not use the large bath towels. While we are use to the large towels in which we can wrap ourselves up in, many places towels are only large enough for you to dry yourself off.

Many times we have heard horror stories about toilet facilities in other countries. I think one of the most notorious places is China. When I was in China a few years ago, I learnt that going in winter was possibly a fluke that turned out for the best. One the one hand, it was freezing cold, on the other hand, after experiencing the toilets, I was so relieved that I went then rather than in the summer! I’m one of those people that can be easily grossed out but the cleanliness of the toilets. However I do believe that I have a higher tolerance than many others.

In China, I discovered that toilets do not only consist of the “hole in the ground” squatters that many of us have seen in Asia, and the more common place “throne” toilets. I discovered that they also have this thing, which looks more like a gutter… with walls. First time I came across this I had no idea how to use it. I stood there for a few minutes staring at it, trying to work out how I was suppose to use it. After I heard some people waiting in line outside complaining I was taking too long, I shouted out to my mother that I didn’t know how to use this toilet. It was followed by a few loud giggles from the other people in our tour group.

Unlike me, many of them have been to China before and have experienced such a facility. I was very much reassured when another girl in our tour group also called out to the more experienced group members, also saying she did not know how it works. When we got back on the coach, they started telling those of us new to the facilities, about the other places where there were no toilet doors. My first reaction was then how do you get privacy?! They told us they would carry an umbrella with them where ever they go, and when there were no doors, you could shield yourself from the public gaze. I thought it was just talk by the older ladies to scare us young travelers, only at the next toilet stop, I was confronted by what they had just told me.

The locals who were used to it, just strolled right in, pulled down their pants and went about their business. I took one look and myself and the other girl just turned and walked back out onto the bus and told our group members we didn’t need to go that badly. During my holiday there, I realized the need for a strong bladder… and a stronger stomach.

Oh and if you are still wondering about the gutter toilet, you straddle it, so that your feet are on either sides of the gutter. Happy Travels!