Toilet Seats in China

A  reposting of our FB timeline last spring while we lived in Taian, China. I just thought it would be interesting to reflect on our struggles a year ago. Haha

March 14, 2017

I have a confession to make and one that needs prayer. I keep forgetting and put the toilet paper into the toilet rather than into the waste can beside the toilet. How many toilets have I already stopped up? Of course it does not help that the tp in our town is half the size of paper towels and rather sturdy. In fact there is some in my kitchen to use as paper towels

Ap. 4

So should we discuss toilets? I have looked at toilets in lots of cultures, because, after all, everyone needs one. The Chinese solution is a mixture of many ideas. For one thing our toilet in our apartment is more like a British W.C. (Water closet). It is the size of a small hallway, with a toilet sitting at the end of it. And a door at the other end. You leave the toilet to go to an adjacent room to wash your hands. In our case it is an enamel bathroom sink sitting 10 inches away from our aluminum sink in the kitchen. (I can't quite figure that one out.) However, the toilet-hallway is also completely tiled from floor to ceiling and has a shower head above the toilet. There is no shower stall. You just spray it all over the "bathroom" and down a drain in the floor. It works.

I am deeply thankful for a Western toilet. Many toilets here are "squatty potties" which are enamel holes in the floor that you squat over. Doable, but a bit of a stretch for my old legs. They really find it horrifying to sit on a place where someone else's bum has been. In Taiwan we used to see footprints on the Western toilet seats where they had stood on the toilet seat and used it like a squatty potty. Let that picture sink in.

Apr. 26

We have broken two, yes two, TOILET SEATS since being here. How embarrassing! The first one was when Rick sat on the toilet seat cover to take a shower, and it cracked. (We now stand beside the toilet to shower.) The second one is the actual seat that we have been nursing along with tape for a few weeks, as it cracks more and more. Finally, it was increasingly uncomfortable to sit on and we asked for a new one. Of course, we did not have the words, so had to go down, get the guard, drag her up to the third floor and point. They quickly replaced it, but seriously how does one need to replace 2 toilet seats in less than 6 weeks? We are not small people, but not huge either.

May 15
We broke another toilet seat.

May 17Bottom of Form

Got a toilet seat. It only cost about $3.70 so maybe it won't last long either, but it looks a little sturdier. Rick is going to try to install it himself. Different than a US seat. Talked our way through a huge outdoor market to find one lonely toilet seat. Hot and I was cranky because I had not eaten, but it is DONE. Rick says if we sit on the "outside" of the toilet seat it is supported underneath better and it won't crack. For the life of me I can't decide how to sit on the "outside " of the toilet seat.