Bathroom Business In Korea

It's inevitable. You will have to use a toilet and a shower. 

When I first got to Korea one of the things that really shocked me, or actually there is two things, are the weird bathrooms and the weird toilets. 

Back in High school I used to join my parents on 4x4 off road trips we used to stop and set up camp on the beaches of the West coast. In these areas where we camped out and actually the whole route we drove there was never a single building in sight with the possibility of a toilet. With a roll of toilet paper in the one hand and a spade in the other, oh and a lighter, you would walk away from the camp site in search of a bush big enough to hide your body. We called this a "veldie". And if you took a "veldie" before you would know that you need to squad, keep your balance and it's really uncomfortable. 

In Korea it's not much different. 

The Public Bathroom Business: 

In Korea majority of the time when you want to go to the bathroom you will most probably get a hole in the ground. Yes, in Korea you squad. I tried this a few times but I really find this quite unpleasant and uncomfortable. Nonetheless you have to get used to it. It's a bit of a culture shock though. 

Most of the bathrooms you will use in public will not give you the option of the American styled toilet and the Korean styled toilets. You get public bathrooms with the option of both but it's not that common. There is normally only one of them and usually it's the Korean styled toilet of course. Now after a while of suppressing your need to go to the toilet and avoiding the uncomfortable squad nature calls. 

Take note: You will squad a lot in South Korea. So start practising that so long. 

Most of the public bathrooms you will find is also Unisex bathrooms. AWKWARD!!!!

These really small bathrooms normally has a Korean styled toilet with a door in the corner and then right next to that a crib for the men with a teeny tiny basin somewhere else. I went to the toilet once and at the time I didn't know there was something like Unisex bathrooms. I went to sit on the toilet and as I was about to flush the toilet two men came in to pee. I was so embarrassed thinking I'm in the men's bathroom that I patiently sat down on the toilet again and waited for the men to finish before flushing the toilet and moving out. But as it turns out it's completely normal in Korea. So moral of the story don't forget to lock the stall door as you might just be surprised by who is trying to open it. 

There isn't much privacy between the people of Korea. It's actually quite a culture shock in a sense as there is this constant interference of your personal space. And for me that stretching as far as bathroom duties was and still is a little too much. This extends to the guys as well. Don't be too surprised by a female janitor watching you finish your business if you visit the urinals. 

#TIP: Get a sense of human and just go with it. This is quite an innocent thing in South Korea as the stigma surrounding privacy is just way more relaxed than in South Africa.  

The other thing to remember when you are in Korea and I'm going to EMPHASISE this because this could potentially become a bathroom nightmare. Check your stall if there is toilet paper BEFORE closing the door and letting nature take its course. Most Korean bathroom stalls do not have toilet paper inside them. You have to collect it before going into the stall. And they are normally close to hand dryers or basins or actually close to the entrance of the bathroom.

#TIP: Make sure you take enough toilet paper with you to the stall just in case you need to make an unexpected NR.2. Or always make sure you carry tissues in your handbag. You don't want to get stuck in the toilet. 

So now you have your toilet paper in your stall and you see this nasty bin with everybody who went to that stall toilet paper in it. It's nasty. Ladies you might also occasionally see more in your bins than just the normal wet patch or brick marks on the toilet paper. Just Warning you. The main reason for this is that the sewer system in the whole of Korea is quite old and it gets blocks really quickly. So please don't throw the toilet paper or anything else in the toilets doesn't matter how nasty it is. 

Blue soap on a stick is also a common phenomenon. I don't really want to spoil this one but the act of soaping up my hands before leaving the bathroom made me laugh a couple of times. In South Korea they make sure a woman knows what's she's doing. (wink)

#TIP: sanitise your hands and actually, carry hand sanitiser with you in your handbag. You are using public transport and public spaces more regularly than in South Africa. 

If you are lucky in your hostel or hotel you might even find a toilet with a remote and one of the functions is warming up your seat. Don't press too many buttons though you might regret this. But in winter these seat warmers makes a not so pleasant cold toilet seat quite pleasant. I hate going to the bathroom in winter. Leave the korean buttons to somebody else and stop yourself from walking out of the toilet as if you just took a shower.

My Private Bathroom Business:

Just so we are clear on this I have a normal American toilet in my apartment. It's not fancy or anything. It's just normal. I don't squad as much.  But I want to actually tell you something cool and rather irritating about most bathrooms in South Korea. That would be a bathroom with a shower, bath, toilet etc. in it. 

The bathrooms in apartments or in hostels as well as in hotels are usually lower than the floor of the rest of the apartment. The whole bathroom is tiled from the floor up to the roof. There is usually no shower curtains or shower doors and the shower normally has a little shower head hose that can reach every corner of your bathroom. The upside to this bathroom is that it's super easy to clean the whole bathroom in one go and wash away the soap after scrubbing. Everything can get wet and there is no better way to clean a bathroom and then while you at it take your morning shower afterwards. The downside to this however is that your bathroom floor and toilet seat is wet afterwards and if you aren't careful you might loose a roll of toilet paper. In South Korea you would find a lot of the time that there is a pair of slippers or plastic shoes at the entrance of bathroom so that you can walk the bathroom floor without getting your feet wet. Yet another downside to the plastic shoes is that other people also use them when you are in public spaces or in hostels and shower with them so they end up also being wet. 

One other thing. The shower hose and your basin tap is normally connected. It was a little knob you need to turn to get water in either the shower hose or the basin tap. Never forget to turn the knob after you have showered since you might soak yourself whilst trying to brush your teeth. I'm speaking from experience here. It's really not cool when your own stupidity or forgetfulness catches up with you. Especially not in the mornings.