i'v mentioned in a couple of posts that i've been working a book that is part memoir and part travel guide of my time in asia. i'm desperate for some feedback so i'm going to take a break from the norm and post a rough draft of something i've been working on. as part of the book, i'm going to put in several short essays entitled "thriving & surviving" which are observations and musings on cultural differences that exist only in asia. i would greatly appreciate some comments on this....the material isn't exactly sensitive, but i'm mostly afraid of the tone being misinterpreted. i want to tweak foibles here, not create hate literature (although i think i'm pretty far off the mark)

anyway, here goes...

Thriving + Surviving – The Squat Toilet

Spend any amount of time in Asia and you’re sure to come across the squat toilet. It’s a trough-shaped fixture, seated in the middle of the floor in a bathroom stall. The water tank is in the top corner and features a pull chain to flush. There isn’t a seat and you need to position yourself over top of the trough, with your pants pulled away from your bum, while trying to maintain your balance. I like to push my hand against one wall for support, while using my other to ensure I don’t poop all over my pants.

While most homes and businesses have converted to the western-style toilet, the squatter remains in many public bathrooms throughout. If you’re like me, you only encounter the squatter when the situation is dire. It will likely be shortly after you’ve made a questionable food choice that will result in a mad dash to the nearest public toilet. It’s a 50/50 chance of it being a squat toilet. Of course, in a blind panic to use the toilet lest you unload in your pants, you take whatever comes your way.

I still prefer to use a western-style toilet whenever I can. This is due to a couple of reasons. A) Sanitation and B) Less-stress. I know that some would disagree about it western-style toilets being more sanitary (various bums touching the toilet seat, fear of crabs, herpes, etc) but squatters don’t seem that clean to me. There can be (and often is) leftovers that haven’t been washed away, not to mention a garbage pail full of used toilet paper about a foot away. I tend to feel stressed out whenever I have to use a squatter. I’m afraid that I’ll crap on my clothes, or that I’ll slip and fall into the trough. Worst of all, the fact is that there isn’t a water dampening effect from the usual bowl, so the smell is unholy. I’m always worried that the smell might cling to my clothing for the rest of the day. All in all, I poop so I can relieve my body of undue stress, not to create more.

There are a few advantages to the squat toilet that I would be failing in my duty if I didn’t report on them. It is good for your digestive system because there is no grunting or pushing involved. You just simply let go and boom! A nice quick crap. I suppose it can be considered more sanitary because you aren’t touching anything (once you’ve mastering the balancing act). But, isn’t it nice to just sit down and take a break sometimes? To have a little “me” time?

I think I’ve gotten somewhat used to the squat toilet over time, although I will still wait in line for the western-style toilet as long as it’s not go time.

thoughts? comments? concerns? i'd love to hear 'em.

the bubble

the bubble (n) - the area which encompasses an individual's life.

i realized the other day while sitting on my building's rooftop garden, that i really live in a bubble. and i can see most of the areas where i either work, shop, have friends, or generally spend time in. what makes it even more interesting is that i am pretty much smack dab in the middle of this bubble. taipei may have a lot of people, but metro taipei isn't really that big. at least, square footage-wise. my life inhabits an even smaller portion of metro taipei...minchuan to the north, guangfu to the east, zhongshan to the west and keelung to the south...these 4 roads make up the boundaries of my life in taiwan. not that's a bad thing, but it sure doesn't look like much.

within this small window exist all a man needs or wants. no shortage exists for food...among the favoured are yong kang street or shi da road...busy, but delicious areas to break bread. getting to work is easy thanks to the subway and bus system which are clean, cheap and efficient. shopping is never a problem and one of the easiest things to do just about anywhere in the bubble. i tend to be flexible about my shopping and like to spread it around...101, dunhua/fuxing for the more urbane and fashionable, gonguan + shi da for the latest in street wear. the same rules apply for activities as well...clubs, pubs, lounges, arenas, theatres, art performances, ampitheaters all survive and thrive inside my bubble.

of course, there are reasons to leave your bubble now and then, but i'm sure it's safe to say that some people seldom do. i tend not to unless i specifically have a reason to go to a certain area. for example, the department of foreign affairs is a place i have to visit about once a year for bureaucratic reasons and exists in a part of the city that i really have no need to visit, except for this once a year a trip. definitely outside the bubble. another reason might be to visit a friend or relative who lives outside your bubble, but for the most part, most of us like to stick to our own bubble.

bubble can change over time. if your job changes, you mght move or at least have a different commute to work. perhaps you meet a new friend who lives in an entirely unknown region of the city. hence, the bubble shifts to encompass this new aspect of your life. this has happened to me often (likely 'cos i move so much) but even staying put in taipei has meant a lot of bubble shifting. i've moved house 4 times, have had 6 different jobs ranging from nearly across the street to being over an hour away and have had friends who have lived near and far. all of these factors have shaped and re-shaped my bubble many times over.

funny enough, i actually decided to revist some familiar places that made up my bubble when i first arrived in taiwan. i was living in neihu, a sort of satellite city to taipei. at the time i lived there, neihu was pretty, quiet and a bit of a wasteland for things to do and see. the mrt didn't service this section of the city like it does today and things have changed. neihu seems to have sprung up over night...hotels, shopping centres, restaurants and clean, efficient public transport have replaced the neihu i remember. giant fields of grass and dirt being overturned (in preparation for what stands there today), long and lonely, temporary roads which appear to head nowhere. a lack of good places to eat, with only noodle stands lining the sidestreets and no matter where you were, there was always construction. i can remember trying to search for the bus stop, which was temporary and often moved due to construction, only to climb onboard some old, rattletrap bus that should've been de-commissioned about 10 years earlier. i'd take it through the wastelands for about 25 minutes to the closest mrt station (by closest, i mean the once-end of the blue line) to take the MRT another 20 minutes into the main station and civilization. so, my bubble was actually quite large in those early days...not to mention my first teaching job was in taipei county, in the city of xizhi, which meant a bus ride to the mrt station, transfer buses and head to xi zhi for about another 30 minutes. then, from xizhi i would take the train into the main station and then go to chinese classes for about 2 hours, then another hour trip home. life sucked. about 3 hours everyday spent in transit. that bubble was too big.

how life has changed since those days which feel very faraway now. revisting the old neighb didn't really give me the sense of nostalgia that i had expected. in its place, i felt relief and a sense of accomplishment about how far i've come from those days. how naive and uncertain i was of everything here...i feel much happier , much more settled and comfortable now than i did in those days, but at the same time everything was exciting when i was living in such a huge bubble. it likely felt that way 'cos so much could and often did go wrong. i get lost. i'd have a strange encounter. i'd see something interesting. i'd eat somewhere different. fun, but scary at times when you don't speak the language. scary and frustrating, but all part of the fun. yes, there's definitely something to be said for getting out of the bubble every now and then. maybe we just need a good reason to 'pop' our bubble once in a while.