We need to discuss something important here

Note:  This entire blog post is about going to the bathroom.  Everyone does it but some people don’t feel comfortable talking/reading about it.  So you’ve been warned.  Read at your own risk.

Let’s talk about toilets in Korea for a bit, shall we?  I feel like this topic is the single more important thing to know about before coming to Asia and the fact that I had to find out some of it the hard way just indicates that America is not talking about this issue enough. 

There are two kinds of toilets in Korea.  Western toilets and squat toilets.  Western toilets look and function just like the toilets at your home in the US.  You should already know how to use this device and if you do not, then step away from this blog and immediately find someone else to help you.  I am not going to do it here. 

A squat toilet looks like this.  

The front faces the flusher, in case you were wondering.

What you do is pull down your pants, squat down over it, urinate, wipe, stand up, pull up your pants, flush by stepping on the handle, then wash your hands and leave.  I realize that the previous sentence made going the bathroom sound like a simple process but there are issues.  I will address them now by posing questions you may have. 

(Note:  Most of these things apply to girls because I am a girl and go to the bathroom as a girl.  Boys may or may not have the same issues.  I don’t know.  But I’m not going to explore all of that here mostly because I don’t want to and because going to the bathroom never seems to be as much of a process for men, so you can all figure it out for yourselves when you get here.)

1.      Won’t I accidentally urinate on my pants by doing this?

A.     Miraculously no.  I am still a little amazed by the physics of it all but everything goes in the toilet like it’s supposed to.

2.     Isn’t it hard to just squat down?

A.     Yes.  Being limber is a benefit here.  I tend to hold on to the wall but if I’m feeling super adventurous I just squat while holding nothing.  Living life on the edge, there.

3.     Do you flush the toilet paper in a squat toilet?

A.     Nope.  You do not.

4.     What do you do with it then?

A.     You kind of fold it over and then throw it away in a trash can that will be placed in the stall.  This means that there is a trash can full of people’s used toilet paper just sitting around.  It’s a little gross but this is Korea so you just kind of roll with it. 

5.     Is there toilet paper in the stall?

A.     Not always.  Sometimes it’s in the stall, sometimes it’s on a master roll outside the stalls that you take some from as needed, and sometimes there is no toilet paper at all.  It is recommended to carry tissues with you at all times.

6.     What about soap?  Is bathroom soap the same?

A.     Usually, although sometimes the bathroom has a bar of soap that is attached to the wall with a metal bar.  It’s a little weird but no weirder than using a bar of soap in someone’s home.

7.     Ok, back to the toilet paper thing.  Can you flush toilet paper in a Western style toilet?

A.     You’re not supposed to.

8.     But do you?

A.     Stop asking so many questions.

I've asked other foreigners what they think of the toilet situation here and I get mixed reactions.  Some people like it because it's supposedly easier on your body to go this way.  And some people like it because supposedly it's "faster" (get what I'm saying here?) to go to the bathroom this way.  I can't really say that I know 100% for sure that squat toilets are healthier or faster, but I do know that I've gotten used to it.  Just one of those things you do when you come to Asia.