Of toilet stuff & international idiosyncrasies

Ancient Athens = Ancient infrastructure and unusual toilet habits.

It turns out our president isn’t the only person talking about toilet stuff these days.

During a recent nice dinner with friends, I — as delicately as possible — discussed, in hushed tones, proper toilet paper use and flushing in foreign lands.

Some details: The Weed and I met our friends with the mission of sharing tips about visiting Greece. Our friends are planning to celebrate their 2020 birthdays with a visit to Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini. The Weed and I immediately endorsed their plans and then spent the night reminiscing about our September 2018 trip.

We spent, likely too much time, that night talking about the historic sights in Athens; the generosity of the Greek people; the convenient flights between islands; the need for carrying a lot of cash; the strict (And, I mean STRICT) ferry schedules; the glory of Greek food; and, of all things, toilet paper.

Yep.

During our trip to Greece, The Weed and I were introduced to the practice of putting used toilet paper in the trash rather than flushing it out of sight and mind.

Due to aged/ancient infrastructure throughout Greece, people are encouraged to not flush toilet paper. Instead, there are small trashcans or covered bins beside toilets in hotels, churches, beach clubs, restaurants … Everywhere.

This was the first time The Weed and I had encountered this routine. And, in all honesty, it was a surprise.

We had done our research before setting off for Greece but neglected to perform a Google search seeking information about ‘Toilet habits of the Greeks.’

Fortunately, as our trip continued from Athens to Hydra to Mykonos to Paros to Santorini, we learned a lot about a beautiful land and it became common practice to simply dispose of our soiled toilet paper in the nearby trashcans.

So, as we talked with our friends about their plans for Greece, I thought it only fair to mention this practice. In truth, there really isn’t a good time or place to talk about toilet habits.

That discussion, however, got me thinking about other practices, everyday occurrences that surprised me while traveling.

To name a few:

• In Scandinavia, high school graduates go right off the rails with their celebrations.

The newly sprung students spend days after their graduation ceremonies in rented vans/buses being chauffeured throughout large cities, drinking, playing loud music, singing, blowing ear-splitting whistles, wearing matching hats, and, generally, making as much merriment as they can before diving into the next chapters of their lives. Speaking of diving, while in Copenhagen, The Weed and I watched as a van filled with graduates drove into a main square and the students got out and dove into a fountain to dance and strip out of most of their clothing. Coincidentally, it was not the first time we saw naked Danes that day.

• In Scotland, it is pretty well known that people working service jobs — like waiters, waitresses, bartenders — do not receive gratuities or tips.

Sadly, I did not know this and royally embarrassed myself at a pub in Edinburgh. After ordering, paying for, and drinking a frothy beverage, I put down some coins on the counter and readied myself to leave. The kind lady who had poured my beer, looked at me with the most sinister of side-eye glances and used a rubber gloved hand to sweep the coins onto the floor. Lesson learned. No tips.

When dining in restaurants while globetrotting, be sure to know local practices for offering gratuities to the wait staff. Otherwise, you might get photobombed or simply shamed. (This photo was taken during a late-night of ouzo drinking in Athens. The waiter was awesome and a real character. We left a gratuity.)

According to a 2014 Buzzfeed story, the world is filled with international idiosyncrasies.

—In Iceland, many people believe elves walk among them.

—In Bulgaria, nodding your head means ‘No.’ Shaking your head means ‘Yes.’

—In Brazil, voting is mandatory.

—And, Switzerland has one of the highest gun-ownership rates in the world, due to the country’s conscripted militia. Men between 20 and 30 years old keep government-issued weapons in their homes. Even with the gun-ownership rate, Switzerland sees far fewer firearms-related deaths than the U.S., according to this 2013 story by NPR, npr.org/2013/03/19/174758723/facing-switzerland-gun-culture

In researching travel tidbits other people have come across, I found Benny Lewis, an author and founder of Fluent in 3 Months. Lewis has compiled his own list of unusual habits he’s seen while globetrotting and it’s pretty epic, including:

—In the Philippines and Colombia, it’s rude to point with an index finger. Instead, people use their lips to point. ‘You need to pout [with] them as if you are making a kissy-face and do so in the direction of the thing that requires the attention of the conversation,’ Lewis writes.

—In Egypt, people running into traffic is routine and pretty much the only way for Egyptians to cross streets because there are limited traffic lights, especially for pedestrian crossings. ‘Your only option to get where you need to go is to run across five or more lanes of very rapidly approaching traffic to cross the road. At first, you are as scared as hell but then you get used to it,’ Lewis writes.

—In Rio de Janeiro, people use ketchup to cover a certain food. Wait for it: Pizza! ‘So, you’ll take a sachet of ketchup (since it rarely comes in bottles there) per slice and drown your pizza with it. The thing is, I spent almost four months in Rio, most of the time trying to blend in as a Carioca. So, I picked up this and many other habits. Now, no matter where I am, I apply this whenever I’m eating pizza and ketchup is handy. It gets me endless raised eyebrows,’ Lewis writes.

Ketchup on pizza aside, Lewis has a wealth of experiences to share about his travels and what he’s learned along the way. You can check them out here: fluentin3months.com/strange-habits

So, there you have it. We live in a wacky, wonderful world, where even the proper disposal of toilet paper is a surprise.

Have you encountered any practices or habits that left a lasting impression while traveling? If so, I’d love to hear from you and add to my list of international idiosyncrasies.

#TwiceBitten #Travel #ToiletPaper #ToiletStuff #InternationalIdiosyncrasies