Up until 20 years ago, western or throne style toilets were not very common in Korea. The most common type of toilet that used to be found in Korea is what many Westerns refer to as a “squatty potty” or “a hole in the floor.” For many foreigners the act of squatting over what amounts to be a large hole in the floor can be anywhere from annoying to absolutely uncomfy.
A few years ago there was a very serious campaign to not only beautify Korean toilets, but also bring Korean toilets up to speed…so to speak. The result is/was an amazing transformation: Korean public bathrooms are extremely clean and quite modern, except in the late evenings when some dude has just missed the bowl and puked all over the floor, but that’s a different entry.
One of the drawbacks of the old squatty pottys/Korean plumbing systems was a lack of adequate pipe space to allow for toilet paper to be flushed with the rest of the….well shit. This resulted in a very unusual practice: after using toilet in the bathroom, most Koreans will not toss toilet paper into the toilet, instead they will toss it in to the waste bin. This sometimes results in a waste bin full…of paper…with shit on it.
To be fair, this is a pretty disgusting practice, esp if it’s at the end of the night and the waste bin hasn’t been emptied. However, I’d like to point out one very small advantage of this system.
Situation: Let’s suppose that it’s late…you’ve been drinking and you need to use the bathroom(Dropping a deuce). I know that’s a stretch, but work with me. Now, let’s further suppose that much to your horror, you realize that the public roll of toilet paper is out of stock. Since it’s late and you’re drunk, you have probably waited til the LAST possible moment to use the bathroom…IE “holy shit, i gotta shit now or I’m gonna shit my pants” At this point, you’re probably thinking “wow it really sucks that there is no toilet paper”, but the overwhelming sensation to empty your bowels has superseded any other logical thoughts. What does this mean? It means that instead of walking back outside to find a vending machine to purchase some toilet paper, you’re probably going to make a beeline towards the closest stall in order to prevent any kind of accident. Thankfully, there is an open stall and you’re able to give yourself..and your bowels peace of mind, only to come to one very horrible realization: I have no TOILET PAPER! Strangely enough, many people do not enjoy this sensation. Now you have two choices, neither which are very appealing: 1. pull up your pants, leave a shitload of skidmarks and exit the bathroom in hopes that you can find a vending machine to buy some toilet paper. There are two potential problems with this solution and both come in the form of the vending machine: the vending machine is no longer accepting bills and/or you do not have the requisite change in your pocket to purchase some much need toilet paper. This leaves you with one very, disgusting, unfortunate choice: pray to god that someone was OCD enough to use enough TP to start his own Charmin factory so that you can attempt to use one of the unused portions of someone else’s TP!
If this situation were to occur in any other part of the world, you’d be shit out of luck, but because it’s Korea, you’re able to walk out of that stall with a little less dignity and fewer skidmarks, but a whole lot cleaner ass.
Foreigners really can’t complain about the toilet situation anymore in Korea. A lot of public toilets in the Kangnam area now have bidets!
Note: The above noted ”situation” is based on a true story.
