> There's cultural differences the other direction. German toilets catch feces on what we called a "shit shelf" instead letting it fall and submerge in water. Which, of course, made for a pretty bad odor situation.

You get the odor anyway, that difference is quite negligible, but the "shit shelf" also serves a purpose: It "breaks up" the log by curling it and thus prevents clogging the toilet/the log getting stuck. Which, depending on the size and consistency of it, can happen quite often.

These toilets also ain't universal in Germany, the one in my flat sadly doesn't have a "shit shelf", which leads to the situation that I sometimes (after eating too much for a while) have to flush several times until it's gone. That's not just a waste of water, it's a rather nasty process having to go through.

Squatting toilets also ain't reserved to Turkey, many Asian countries have them. Using them depends a lot on technique, here's a rather humorous tutorial [0].

I can see the advantage of them as minimizing skin contact with the toilet's surface, which depending on the hygienic state of the toilet might be quite preferable.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCTKDn3Q8xQ

Appreciate the details, but disagree strongly with "You get the odor anyway, that difference is quite negligible".

Submerging it in water made a huge difference. Maybe some chemical engineer can confirm my layman observation.

Native German who has lived in the U.S. for many decades here. I agree with you, tyingq.

Also, when I try to squat with my feet flat on the floor as shown in that video, I invariably fall over backwards.

People who need to squat multiple times per day to poop throughout their lives have much better ankle flexibility than western office workers who spend their lives sitting on chairs, car seats, and chair-style toilets and never squat ever.

I also fall over when I try to squat flat on my heels. Friends who do yoga and friends from countries with squat toilets have no trouble with it though. All children under about 10 years old can squat just fine. Lesson: get your kids a squat toilet if you want them to have standard human levels of ankle flexibility when they grow up (also very helpful for improving jumping skill, if they plan to ever play sports). ;)

Probably more confidence from a native German confirmation than a chemical engineer :). You guys aren't much into pandering.

I'm sure submerging it in water makes some difference, but I'm not sure it's really that big of a difference. The odor is there whether submerged or not because the odor doesn't just come from the "product" itself.

Considering the kind of odor we are talking about here, I just don't think the difference is really that huge because when it stinks it stinks, and it pretty much always stinks.

Tho, how to quantify odor sounds like an interesting question.

> but I'm not sure it's really that big of a difference

Isn't filtering volatiles through water part of the logic of a water pipe/bong/hookah?

It’s mainly about cooling the smoke.

Not all diets produce such odoriferous feces. When I'm eating mostly plain raw produce like a vegetarian, a typical western flush toilet is pretty successful in minimizing poop odor. Meat in my diet makes odor suppression a whole lot more challenging.

For the last few months I've been using a urine-diverting style waterless toilet, where the solids land in a bucket with dirt. This means the solids are uncovered until completion, when more dirt gets poured over. The dietary feedback in this arrangement can be brutal, odor being a significant component until covered.

The "shit shelf" allows a large shit to adhere vertically, temporarily becoming a pillar. The shit may then tip over, with the lower part acting as a joint. If it tips forward and the shitter is male, then it smacks the scrotum.

It's a weird surprise, suddenly getting touched there when not expecting it. Then there is an additional body part that needs cleaning.

Lol. I skipped that part, fearing downvotes. That was also part of why I was mystified about these toilets.

When I was in Guangzhou squat toilets were the norm.

You also had to bring your own toilet paper too which I found out much too late in the process

0/10 Experience for sure

Been there...done that. It doesn't help that the cuisine is so delicious.

I've always found the shit shelf so bizarre, but they seem to be on their way out. On recent trips to Germany it was quite uncommon to see one-- in fact, I don't think I saw one last time at all; I think the last time I saw one was in Vienna.

Was it maybe a water conservation thing? That was always my best guess. Did seem bizarre. Happy to hear perhaps they've been phased out.

I think I remember reading somewhere that it was for self-inspection. E.g. after your paperwork you can ensure you have a healthy colon, no blood, half digested food, etc.

I read somewhere that the shelf was there so people could examine their crap for health reasons (is there blood in my stool? has the consistency changed? etc.) I have no idea if that is true, but it makes more sense that it exists to break up the poop before it's flushed.

When I lived in France in ‘98 a good 30% of the toilets were the porcelaine hole. My guess is they are less expensive and easier to clean.

That's surprising. All the times I've been to Turkey, I've only seen a couple of squat toilets. I saw far more in Japan.

Hmm. Lived in Izmir for a couple of years, and the gilded hole in the floor was specifically the (otherwise posh) Izmir Hilton and the toilet in my apartment, at Kushadasi beach, friends house's etc. It was early 90's, so maybe something changed?

I did end up buying a normal toilet and mounting it over the hole in my apartment.

Only premium toilets have this shit shelf here in Germany. The advantage is to prevent a big splash making your butt wet ;)

Perhaps, maybe you can also explain "Dusch Das, das dusch, ass...ahh" to me :)

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1481387945255625...

Ass (pronounced with a short A, rather than the long A as in english) means Ace in German. (Before 1996 it was spelled As I believe)

Dusch Das is the brand name of the shower gel, Dusch means shower, Das is one of the three articles, so by turning the words around and into a rhyme, and says: "Dusch Das, the shower ace."

Perfect. Though, for a native English speaker, this commercial (and others of the same genre) left me with hard to resolve giggles. I still remember them fondly 20 years later. Also the German TV show Tutti Frutti (https://youtu.be/RZeQ-b1z_6c)