1) the restrooms here are called toilets. so if you say, where's the bathroom, it sounds kind of funny. so you just say, "where are the toilets?"
2) the stalls themselves have some unique characteristics, which EVERY stall i've been in has had. so overall the toilets are more uniform from place to place than in the US.
3) the locks on the public toilet stalls are not the side-to-side slide locks like in most US bathrooms. you instead turn them clockwise or counter-clockwise to lock or unlock. may seem like a silly thing to say, but they are ALL like this - and i noticed...
4) each stall also has 2 things - a feminine disposal bin of a specific brand, "pink," which is only significant because EVERY stall has the exact same type and brand in the whole country. they also all have syringe disposals for people to put their used needles in once they shoot up - UM - is this weird to anyone else!??!
5) the water goes straight down when you flush; it does not spin around clockwise or counter-clockwise - just goes straight down.
6) you have choices about how much water you wish to use to flush - a half flush button or a whole flush button. and they are always buttons. i always use the half flush, unless, well...you know.
7) many toilets are two separate pieces. you know the part that the water collects in on the back of the toilet? well this piece often is much higher on the wall, not really attached to the bowl at all. and the bowl is often just that - you really feel like you're going in a porter-potty or something.
8) there are often not public toilets in places you feel like there should be. so you better go before you leave home - or else! for reference, you could go to the National Public Toilet Mapto find one, though.
9) on a side note about toilets, i fear that this will happen every day when i go to the toilet. that a giant snake will come out of it - and when i googled aussie toilets of course i find an article about a 6 ft python coming out of an apartment building's toilet - AHHH!
10) i found this too...why on earth would someone create this!??!
i hope you all now feel more educated about Aussie toilets. :)
haha, this post is hilarious! that syringe thing is very strange... and i can't believe there's a toilet map. i've noticed that other countries just don't cherish their toilets like we do in the US. Every. Single. Store. has a toilet here!
ReplyDeleteit's so fun reading stories about australia! I hope you're loving it.