Culture

This week, we have been talking a lot about culture. This is one of my favorite topics because of the trip that I took to Japan in 2009. While there, I experienced Japanese culture 100%. One of my favorite topics in class was when we talked about the toilets. That sounds funny to say "My favorite topic is toilets" but I thought it was very interesting to see and think about different toilets from around the world. While there, I remember thinking about the toilets being different, but never thought that much into it. The sociology behind it is a lot more obvious now that I think about it. There are reasons that cultures do the things they do. Each culture thinks differently about things, and this is truly reflected in their toilets. In Japan, they are small, and water efficient. Often times the toilets are in the ground. And they have urinals for women. This would be almost unthinkable in America!

It's funny to think about how the girls reacted to these toilets when I was there. Our first experience was one day when we went to a lunch buffet. We decided that we needed to go to the bathroom, so being American girls, we all went to the bathroom together. When we walked in, they were immaculate. They were the cleaniest, freshest smelling bathrooms that i have ever been in. Then we opened the stalls to go in, and there were sideways urinals in the ground!!! We were in shock. We walked out in shock. We had no idea what to do! So we thought it through, and decided it was something that we needed to try to fully experience Japanese culture. It's so interesting to think that this isn't weird to them! This all has to do with culture, and how different Americans and Japanese are. Every culture is different in their own way. After thinking about this a lot more in class, it makes me appreciate it more. I think it is really cool to think about how everyone does everything different. Culture is a huge part of everyone, and all of our cultures are different!