toilet talk

so this toilet is parading around the internet as "the scariest toilet" 

or something like that.

and while it certainly gives you something to think about... or perhaps scares the poop out of you...

doesn't this?!

ok, i haven't actually seen THAT in china, but the feeling i get from some "toilets" around here is the same.

people say you get used to it. i've been here 11 months and i'm not at all.

by the way, the scariest thing in that picture is the toilet paper bin - which are usually overflowing and REEEEEKING with nauseatingly multicolored used tissues.

 some westerners have jerry-rigged their toilets in order to feel more comfortable while pooing

maybe more uncomfortable is the limited privacy you find in some places (urinal-trough pictured on the left)

speaking of "troughs"... see that ditch running under each 'stall'? that's where you should go. luckily i've only encountered this kind once. i decided to hold it.

in an ironic twist, asians often have anxiety over using western toilets too!

their solution is to squat on the seat... leaving muddy/crappy footprints...

and leading to mind-boggling signs like these:

our toilets are also jerry-rigged for crapping convenience:

and of course the rationale is that 'their' way is better for you (it is)

and 'our' way is more comfortable (it is) 

*disclaimer* chinese people squat when waiting for a bus, reading a newspaper, or doing anything that some other people would kneel or sit on the floor to do, 

so i'm sure there would be some to argue that squatting IS comfortable

 some somewhere someone invented this, which i think could be the ultimate compromise:

use like this and pray you don't fall off

or maybe this freakshow thing:

use like this: START AT 2:15 or you'll gross yourself out!!

and i thought the poop-shelf toilets in hungary were bad!!