Aussie tourist's hilarious toilet request while visiting China
Samantha Harrison was in Beijing with a friend when they realised they didn't know how to 'squat properly' to use the toilet.
Travelling to a new country can present many learning curves — but Aussie woman Samantha Harrison didn't expect to be shown how to use a toilet during her recent trip overseas.
The business owner from Queensland flew to China with a group last week, and while enjoying lunch in Beijing, found herself engaged in a "tutorial" on how best to use the nation's squat toilets, which are commonly found in many parts of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Harrison detailed the hilarious encounter to Yahoo News Australia from abroad, admitting the whole thing was "so funny" and "wholesome". She was with her friend using the bathroom at a restaurant when they realised "we don't know how to do it properly" without "getting backsplash".
Aussies receive 'toilet tutorial' from local woman
A viral video on Harrison's TikTok page shows the pair laughing hysterically with a local woman who they'd asked to show them the correct way to use the loo. The Queenslander told Yahoo they'd asked the woman — who had been cleaning the toilets — what to do to ensure they didn't make a mess or wet their clothes, but the language barrier meant they had to demonstrate instead.
"We were trying to ask by using actions how she uses the toilet," Harrison said. "And so we brought her into the toilet cubicle with us and were showing her how we could hold a squat, and asked if we were doing it right.
"She was like, 'No, no' and was [showing us how to] squat but with her knees together. It was so funny because I can't squat like she can, apparently, the way we were squatting was wrong.
"We couldn't figure out how to squat without getting it all over the floor."
Toilet request goes viral on social media
The video showing the toilet "tutorial" has since racked up over five million views on TikTok. Harrison said she "definitely didn't think it was going to go viral".
"I feel like laughter is the universal language. Everyone's laughing and can relate," she said. "You can really hear the happiness and the laughter from [the local woman]. It feels like a wholesome video."
Many in the comments admitted they too struggled to get used to squat or drop toilets while travelling overseas."Omg this was SO HARD when I was in China," one person said.
"I stopped wearing pants altogether because I couldn't understand how they peed with their pants down and it not going all over their jeans," they added.
While others commented on the "genuine laughter" in the video.
"The way they laugh at each other is like they have known each other a long time," one observed. "My new goal in life is to make someone laugh this hard when we don't even speak the same language," said another.
Others were baffled by the style of the toilet admitting they'd never seen it before and also questioned how they work.
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