By: Savannah Lagmay When I was four, squatting came so naturally, as much as reaching my toes to the back of my head. My mom tells me that back when we visited the Philippines in 2001, I squatted my little feet down, nibbling on a cob of corn, with my relatives. Ironically, it was one of the distinctive memories of the trip where I really “looked Asian.” Sixteen years later, I have lost this flexibility, as I haven’t had many opportunities to squat. (No cheating, I mean both feet flat on the ground). However I am now in a country that mostly uses squat toilets.
It’s not that I’ve never used a squat toilet, prior to coming to Taiwan. I just didn’t use them that often. None exist in the United States, but when I visited Japan for two weeks last summer, I would occasionally use one. Occasionally. On Vacation. It’s hard to imagine that I used to try and voluntarily find one, fascinated by its use. But now, I am in school, and when you’re rushing between classes and squatting on a daily basis it’s different. I can’t squat with my two feet flat on the ground without falling. Using my hand as suction cups, I sandwich myself between the thin walls to stay balanced. It’s like I’m on a mission, hovering over the object of my inquiry. If I miss my target, mission failed. Like everyone I have these moments on the toilet where I feel like an Aristotelian thinker. When I’m not in class (or rushing to one), sometimes I just take a few moments to ponder after number one or two. I think about my day, mapping out my next move or I imagine myself in other places. What next, what next? What if I were underwater right now? What if I wrote for a magazine? For the past few weeks, I really missed that about western toilets. It’s a given, that you always have to be aware of your surroundings, especially when in a new environment. Ultimately, I had taken the familiar for granted. When you’re more concerned about soiling your feet or falling, it’s hard. Sometimes I just use the toilets for the disabled persons but I try not to, because what if someone else actually needs it? The cliché saying goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” and I am doing just that. From fashion down to pooping. Maybe it is because I am the kind of person who can easily entertain herself, but recently I’ve been having a lot of fun with it. Once, I was a secret agent in the narrow Xiaofu bathroom stall, waiting patiently for the release of number two. I forgot to bring toilet paper, so I sneakily tiptoed out of the stall and torpedoed back. No one saw me. Fun fact I discovered myself: you can learn certain hip hop dance moves if you learn how to squat. So these days, when I’m feeling particularly energetic, I do just that. Perhaps the next time I’m at the club or a school dance, I can finally “drop it low.” Even when I’m not in the bathroom, I take every opportunity to squat: last Sunday I visited Nanmen park and, at same eye level with the toddler next to me, we both watched the goldfish circle around the pool. There are actually health benefits to using this style of toilet, and is arguably the the better, more natural way. A few weeks ago, I told a friend about my toilet woes: “But I really like to just sit on the toilet and ponder.” She told me flatly, “Well, you can ponder on a squat toilet, too.” And she’s right. It just didn’t occur to me that I was pondering the whole time. That’s how I came up with writing about squat toilets! **Benefits and History http://www.naturesplatform.com/health_benefits.html How to use for my Western folks ( I found this in a stall in Japan, but the same applies to Taiwan) a
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May 2024
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