They’ve always reminded me of my camping trips. You know, the part where you have to run out in the middle of no where , dig a hole and either bring a big leaf(inspecting it first for poisonous tendencies) or a roll of toilet paper. The only difference between the two that I can really think of is that the Chinese squatter comes with plumbing – everything else remains the same. You still have to squat praying you don’t miss-fire and you have to always make sure you have a pack of tissues on hand because 9 times out of 10, they don’t come equipped with any free toilet paper for the masses.

When I first got here, I was too afraid to use one, so I’d wait ’til I got home to use the bathroom. That lasted about two weeks, when China finally had her way with my digestive track, and I no longer could wait until I got home. Thankfully, for the most part, those are times of the past, and I now have(well, mostly) mastered the squatting toilet. However, I still can’t seem to understand how old Chinese ladies do it or how easily any Chinese person can get so perfectly flat footed. I mean, I’m only 25, and I have some problems getting down and up with out falling in. Speaking of falling in – the daughter(who’s 11) of one of the American teachers here fell in a Wal-mart squatter. I laughed for a good long while when I heard that story.

The one thing that really bothers me about the squatters is how filthy some of them can be. I know that public restrooms in America can get bad – but not so bad that everyone waiting in the queue is covering up their mouths and nose as well as rolling up their pants leg in fear of what they may be stepping in. The worst toilet I think I’ve used was at the Hangzhou Train Station. I think I would have been better off peeing on myself than actually using the bathroom there. My mother would have fainted had she seen it. It was that bad. Not all of the restrooms are like this however. Some are very clean and even come with toilet paper. They are just harder to come buy.

Ah, China.