toilet 3

One of the joys of visiting other countries is discovering all the strange and weird things you will see that don’t exist where you live. It might seem like common sense to any Westerner how to use a Western-style toilet, but then again, that’s why the word “Western” is in the description. For many Asian countries, the most common toilet available is “affectionately” called the squat toilet, so when some guests were using their fancy Western-style toilets wrong, the hotel posted some instructions in the bathrooms. It just goes to show, nothing is ever absolutely foolproof. Don’t believe us? Join us on the other side.

It’s certainly true for Westerners that a little instruction is necessary when using a squat toilet for the very first time. Questions like “Which direction should I face?” and “How should I position my body?” are easily answered with a few simple pictures. It must seem pretty silly to need to be told how to use a Western-style toilet. It looks like a chair so…essentially, you sit on it, right?

toilet 1Image: Xinhua

When faced with this poster from a Chinese hotel in Changde in the Hunan Province, a traveler couldn’t help but burst out laughing and decided to share it on the Internet. He said, “I thought this was so funny and was cracking up, I had to hold my stomach for 3 minutes.”

Perhaps the best part of the story is what happened next. The hotel responded to the guest’s comment saying, “There are certainly people that would use the toilet by putting their feet on the toilet seat. So, while laughing to your heart’s content, be sure to follow the rules on how to use the toilet.” Top marks for their “cheeky” response!

These aren’t the only amusing “how to” signs found for using Western toilets.

If anyone can tell us what is going on in the bottom right picture, we’d greatly appreciate it.

toilet 2Image: Xinhua

And just so Japanese people don’t think they are excluded from ridiculous signs, the following sign was spotted in Japan by yours truly.

toilet 4Image: RocketNews24

Source: Toychan
Top Image: Flickr (Nemo’s great uncle)