I figured having been here almost two months, it was about that time. It’s a fact: come to Asia and at one point or another, you’ll have to squat while going to the bathroom. I’m fortunate enough to live in a Western styled dorm, so I rarely have to use that “other kind of toilet”, but I do use them and with a good amount of success. I realize I’m not the first person to write on the subject – Marco Polo probably did back during Mongol rule when squat toilets were just dirt holes (still primitive when compared to the outhouse). However, his description didn’t have the colorful pictures, translated signs, and detailed diagrams like mine does. There’s more to it than just the perfect squat angle you know. Take a read, you won’t regret it when your bowels are relieved and pants are dry. And in case you were worried, it’s relatively clean for a post about toilets. So here’s Everything You Need To Know Before Going To The Bathroom In China.
If you didn’t catch that, BYOTP is “Bring Your Own Toilet Paper” – 卫生纸 “weishengzhi”. In some of the more upscale, fancy, or international places, toilet paper is provided. But on the whole, if you don’t bring your own, your two options are to A) ask the guy in the stall next to you to borrow some, or B) walk home with a little extra something in your underwear. You can buy single rolls of toilet paper in just about any small store for less than a quarter, and I would suggest keeping a pack of pocket tissues with you at all times.
I haven’t been able to get a definitive answer on this, but in most places in Beijing, flushing toilet paper is a no-no. The sewage system in Beijing (and I’m pretty sure all of China) is old and worn out, and while you might be okay flushing one piece by accident, two is pretty much a sin. That’s right, no need to hesitate, you can just throw it right in with all of the other brown and white tie-dyed toilet paper wads. I like to think that those cans get emptied once a day, but I know that’s a little optimistic. On the positive side, there’s never a need to ask where a bathroom is…the constant stench of festering dirty toilet paper (or toilet paper composting if you will) is a dead giveaway.
Squat toilet
Squatty potty
Pit toilet . . . .
Interesting article and debate . . . what do you think dear readers? Should you have free access to government documents that govern and convict you? How should this be resolved? **DB
Last week, we wrote about the fact that the State of Georgia is suing Carl Malamud for posting PDFs of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, and sending them around. I’ve been discussing this with a number of lawyers and other experts over the weekend and have to say that I made a significant error in the original post, which I apologize for. I said that courts frequently rely on theannotations of the law, thus effectively making them a part of the law. This was wrong and it was poor reporting on my part based on incomplete understanding of the situation. Having discussed this with multiple people and checked into it further myself, I really regret the error and will be adding a link to this story as soon as it is published. I was told otherwise originally, but that’s no excuse. I should have checked it out and I did not.
The situation is, admittedly, more complicated. I still believe that the State of Georgia is incorrect both legally and morally in deciding to go down this path, but it is at least slightly more nuanced than the original article suggested, so let’s dig in and explore the thinking. The state of Georgia hired LexisNexis to create these annotations, and LexisNexis then assigns the copyright that it receives on those annotations over to the state of Georgia. Part of the deal between Georgia and LexisNexis is that LexisNexis does the work and the state gets the copyright, but then LexisNexis gets to host the “official” copies of the laws of the state, while selling that annotated version (in both digital and paper versions). The state argues that this arrangement is actually more beneficial to consumers, because rather than relying on taxpayer funds to do this, LexisNexis gets to recoup the costs in the form of customer fees.
The annotations include things such as the names and a brief paragraph summary of relevant caselaw concerning the specific law being annotated. So, the first question is can this be covered by copyright? Most likely the answer is yes, if a limited kind of copyright. There is some creative choice in selecting what to cover and how to cover it, though significant parts of it are factual (names of cases and whatnot). As some pointed out, LexisNexis competitor WestLaw also offers its own annotated code of the state and sells it itself, and pretty much everyone is comfortable with the copyright there.
So, what’s different here? Well, for one, part of the deal with LexisNexis is that after writing the work, the company transfers the copyright to the state itself. Some have pointed to the fact that under federal copyright law the federal government cannot get copyright on works of its own creation, but that does not really apply here in two separate ways. First, there’s some dispute over whether or not those same rules apply to state governments as well — with many arguing that without it being explicit, states can copyright their own creative works. The second issue, though, is that even under federal copyright law, if a third party/contractor creates the work and then assigns the copyright to the government, then even the federal government can keep and use that copyright. And, that’s clearly the situation here. . . .
I get lots of questions about living in Florence and emails asking for tips for traveling in Italy. So I finally decided to put all of my tips and advice together in one place! I hope you find them useful and please share any tips you have.
1. Plan and Pre-Book major sights and attractions whenever possible, especially if you are traveling in mid-March (spring break) or between May and July.
2. Don’t use third party booking websites or companies.
Companies like TickItaly will charge you an arm and a leg for a reservation you could easily make on the official museum website (or officially sponsored website) yourself. Here is a list of official museum/gallery websites:
Vatican Museums
Roman Forum and Colosseum (combo ticket)
Borghese Gallery (Rome)
The David (Accademia, Florence)
Uffizi (Florence)
Last Supper (Milan)
Doge’s Palace (Venice)
St. Mark’s (Venice)
3. Avoid restaurants with pictures of the food.
You can read more of my tips for selecting restaurants in Italy here.
4. Make the most of the high-speed train.
It is only takes an hour and a half to get from Florence to Rome or Florence to Venice, and only thirty minutes to get to Bologna! Plus the trains are comfortable and reliable. They are my preferred way to travel around Italy. You can purchase tickets online or through a local travel agent in Italy. If you are in Florence, the lovely staff at FlorenceForFun can help you get great discounts!
5. Don’t let anyone help you put your luggage on the train or take it off.
This is a scam (mostly by gypsies) to force you to tip. If you are fine tipping, go for it, but be warned they are not the most upstanding characters.
6. Watch your bags as the train arrives and departs the station.
Just incase somebody tries to hop on and steal something at the last minute.
7. Be prepared to lug all of your luggage down cobblestone streets and up stairs (and on and off trains).
If your bag is too heavy or large to do this yourself, you need to rethink what you have packed! There are lots of streets and squares taxis can’t go down, so even if you cab it, you still might have another block or two to haul your stuff. Elevators can also be a rarity and you will often find random small sets of steps you have to navigate.
8. Bring a portable luggage scale, especially if you are traveling via discount European airlines.
They are serious about bag weight.
9. Get up early every once and a while.
Many cities, like Rome and Venice, have a completely different feel without the hoards of tourists. It is worth it to get an early start (especially in the hot summer) to get a different perspective of the city and to see many of the monuments not littered with people.
10. Always carry cash.
Most places will not let you use your debit or credit card for smaller purchases and restaurants don’t split bills.
12. Look up if your bank has any affiliations in Italy (i.e. Bank of America and BNL) to avoid service charges and fees.
13. Unlock your phone and pop in an Italian SIM card.
If you have an iPhone that is out of contract (i.e. over two years old) this is fairly easy to do and Italian SIMs are inexpensive.
14. Don’t forget sunscreen.
15. Don’t put cheese on seafood pasta.
Despite how delicious the cheese is here, Italians do not put it on everything. . . . .
Climb Liaojieling Mountain in Henan, and you get the opportunity to check out this sweet marble slide! It goes about 3 city blocks down and immediately dead ends on a 2ft platform leading to a major 20 ft+ drop off. The only thing between you and the fall is a unreliable large net. FUN! 😛 It was tons of fun actually, pretty awesome!
Travel and photography seem to go hand in hand. A month before my 2007 trip to New Zealand I wanted to take better photos than what my point and shoot had been taking.
Fortunately, my ex (you know the one I left to travel) is a great photographer and gave me an old Canon film SLR from the 1970s and a crash course on how to take photos.
I had never considered myself a creative person before that but I fell in love with photography. When I returned from New Zealand I bought a used DSLR. Ten thousand photos later I travel with a Canon 60D with three lenses.
I spend a lot of time reading about how to take better photos and my frustration is that most sites list the basics or get too technical there seems to be no in between– I get that we’re supposed to shoot in the golden hour but what next?
Well Beth from Beers and Beans has finally told me.
Bethany is an amazing photographer. She isn’t the kind where you look at it and think wow that is a technically perfect photo she is the kind that makes you feel something and think wow I wish I could do that.
She just launched an ebook called Getting out of Auto and I cannot express how amazing this guide is.
Part One includes all the basics, the stuff that seems complicated like f stops and aperture. But instead of just stating what they are, she actually explains them in a way you can understand with lots of photos. . . .
“She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city” ~ Roman Payne
Language Translation
Deceptively Blonde 