Some tasteless humour

© David Mullineaux

The above photo was featured in the The Telegraph's Sign Language special photo gallery on toilet humour with the caption 'The world is your urinal'. 'Sign Language' is a picture gallery where readers send in amusing photos of strange signs and bizarre translations in the UK and around the world which are published each week. Pisse en l'air is a small waterfall on Reunion, in the cirque (natural amphitheatre) of Salazie, but ironically it's not the waterfall shown, which is actually 640m-high Cascade Blanche. Pisse en l'air literally means 'piss in the air' and it is another smaller waterfall renowned for falling from a cliff onto the road - and onto your car if you happen to be driving by underneath (make sure you keep your car windows closed!).

Something else that frequently amuses non-French visitors to Reunion is Le Tampon - this is the name of a town and municipality in the south of the island, not far from the volcano.

Le Tampon logo

While 'tampon' only has one meaning in English, in French it has several meanings,  including 'buffer' or 'stamp', however in this particular case no one is exactly sure of the town name's origin. There are several theories:

- Tampony is a Malagasy word which means 'viewpoint', or 'summit that can be seen from afar';

- it could come from tampon de combat, or 'shot plug', a type of stopper used to seal a projectile hole in a ship's hull during combat, and/or tampon d'écubier, which was a 'hawse-plug' or 'buckler' (a block used to stop up a hawse hole at sea);

- documents dating from 1727 mention a small river gully known as the Ravine du Tampon, so known because a tampon de hublot, or 'porthole stopper', had been placed there as a landmark. 

Keeping with the theme of toilet humour, I saw this sign in the lavatory on an Air Koryo flight when I was flying back to Beijing from Pyongyang (it also featured in The Telegraph’s ‘Sign Language’ photo gallery):

Hips don't fly

 Still on matters of taste, what about this on a Delhi restaurant drinks menu:

Name your poison - toxic or tonic?

Back in Reunion a restaurant in Saint Denis has these offerings on its menu:

Drop in for dinner?

For those that don’t speak French the Crotin [sic] de Chèvre Chaud should be ‘Warm Goat’s Cheese’ in English and not ‘dung’! (These photos were also featured in The Telegraph’s ‘Sign Language’ ‘Best of January 2014′ photo gallery).

Here Souris [d'agneau] (knuckle of lamb) has been translated literally as ‘mouse’:

Puts a ro-dent in your appetite?

Things have improved however, as a few years ago filet was translated thoughout as ‘net’ instead of ‘fillet’, and cabot de fond (a type of fish) was translated as ‘dog bottom’!

Related links:

• Tourist office of Le Tampon (in English)
• Translation Troubles
• Just the tonic!
• Toad of Road Hall?

Related articles:

• 'Hybrid' toilet - seen in India
• How not to go to the toilet - seen in Java, Indonesia
• Etiquette Bell - in South Korea
• Life in South Korea - includes a visit to the Toilet House

• Back to Salazie

'Hybrid' toilet

This was an original sort of toilet that we came across twice in India. Although it's not easy to tell from my picture this is actually a normal sit-down toilet, but the edge of the bowl has footpads. 

not your average toilet

If I used it like that personally I'd be rather worried about keeling over!

How not to go to the toilet

Funny photo I came across yesterday in a public toilet in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia.

 

Not as stupid as it looks, as on another occasion on the same trip I did go into another public toilet and find dirty shoemarks on the toilet seat!

For more on our trip to Indonesia please click here.

To see a Korean toilet etiquette bell click here.

Here's a picture of the Korean 'toilet house', and another amusing toilet picture I took on the Koryo Air flight back from North Korea (scroll to the end).

North of the Border

"Why are you going to North Korea ?"

"Why not ?" 

This was an exchange I had frequently before I made my trip to Pyongyang in August. Truth be said, I had an insatiable curiosity about the country on the other side of the DMZ. Books, articles and documentaries had only fuelled my curiosity even more. Knowing that I would have to travel to the DPRK via Beijing I took advantage of being in China over the summer to organise my trip from there.

After attending a briefing at the tour operator's headquarters the day before the trip, the next morning we took a bus to the airport for our Koryo Air flight. My companions were a mixture of Brits, Australians, Irish, German, Dutch, Swiss, Japanese and Americans (yes, Americans are allowed to visit the DPRK !). A short flight on a rather creaky plane with somewhat abrupt hostesses left us the time to peruse the only inflight reading material available : a copy of the weekly English-language "Pyongyang Times" which headlined "Kim Jong Il sees light comedy".

on board Koryo Air flight JS252

On arrival at Pyongyang our plane shared the tarmac with that of Jimmy Carter, who was in the country to secure the release of an imprisoned American.

Arrival at Pyongyang airport

Security officials checked our luggage before we could leave the airport, and while my copy of "The Woman In White" (written in 1859) passed muster, a friend was told that her copy of "Elle" magazine must absolutely leave the country with her. 

On the drive from the airport to our hotel I was surprised by how green the countryside was, and realised that I had been expecting unalleviated grey everywhere. Our hotel (one of only a handful in Pyongyang where foreigners are allowed to stay) stood on an island in the middle of the Taedong river. We were free to wander around the island but not any further.

view from our hotel

However the next thirty-six hours did not leave us with much time for wandering as we were launched into a whirlwind of sight-seeing. Our first, and symbolically most important, stop was to the Mansudae Grand Monument – the larger than life bronze statue of Kim Il Sung, where we had to lay flowers and bow.

Mansudae Grand Monument

Our next visit was to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum:

the Triumphal Arch (three metres higher than its French inspiration):

the Tower of the Juche Idea, Kim Il Sung's birthplace:

Juche Tower

We even found time to visit a stamp shop and bookshop. New releases advertised at the latter included "Kim Il Sung – the great man of the century" and "On the building of the Worker's Party Of Korea"; I don't know if books on other subjects are available in the DPRK, in any case if they are I never saw them.

We also visited the "USS Pueblo", a US surveillance vessel captured by the North Koreans in 1968:

USS Pueblo

and Kim Il Sung square – the place probably familiar to you from TV footage of soldiers marching in front of a saluting Kim Jong Il:

We were also given a ride on the Pyongyang Metro:

where, as is the case for all foreign visitors, we were shepherded on at 'Rehabilitation' station:

and alighted one stop later at 'Glory' station:

In the carriage we travelled under stern photographic portraits of father and son Kim.

The two stations were impressively decorated with chandeliers, marble platforms and vast murals depicting the heroic activities of Kim Il Sung.

While unfortunately we had few chances to talk to ordinary North Koreans, trips between our sights on foot or in our tour bus allowed us glimpses of everyday Pyongyang life.

By the way, the irony of travelling to the DPRK is that most people who go there are independent travellers – the sort of people who never normally take group coach tours, yet that is the only way a foreign visitor can travel in the country ! Our group of twenty was flanked at all times by three guides, a cameraman and the bus driver.

our bus driver and cameraman

one of our guides

Bright propaganda posters occasionally brightened the grey, brutalist architecture of Pyongyang, but the urban colour normally found in shopfronts, plastic bags, billboards and even petrol stations was noticeably missing.

propaganda poster

Neither did I see any pets. Most men wore identical charcoal-coloured suits, and women sported mainly plain, unpatterned clothes or hanboks (known in the DPRK as joseonot), some of which were knee-length. And due to the rain everyone seemed to be wearing wellington boots ! I saw more cars than I was expecting, but also long queues at bus stops waiting for crowded buses. However our guide informed us of the advantages of what was apparently the latest addition to Pyongyang's public transport system – double decker buses. As there are few traffic lights impeccably-clad baton-wielding traffic ladies directed the traffic at every major intersection with military precision.

traffic lady (in skirt and peaked cap)

Night-time was extremely dark, with few cars, minimum street-lighting and no neon signs. As evening occupations outside of the home are presumably few and far between, I saw that most apartments were lit, but dingily so.

Pyongyang by night

The high point of our stay was probably the chance to see the Mass Games.

poster advertising Mass Games

Cancelled the first night due to the rain, we were able to attend the following evening. Held in one of the world's largest stadiums:

Mayday stadium

This highly regimented gymnastic performance emphasizes group dynamics rather than individual skill, and participants number tens of thousands, many more than the audience in fact. The complex and highly choreographed group routines took place in front of a backdrop of card stunts – huge mosaic pictures created by schoolchildren each holding up coloured flip-book cards.

a scene from the Mass Games

A trip to the DRPK is on its government's terms and you have no real independence while there. The history you are told is very one-sided or even false (we were told how the USA started the Korean war for example), and total obedience to the state seems to be unquestioned. Internet does not exist and you are not allowed to use the country's currency. At times I felt I was part of a 1950s propaganda movie, or in George Orwell's "1984". But if you are ready to accept these terms you will find yourself visiting a fascinating country like no other on Earth.

Koryo flight plane back to Beijing

sign in airplane toilet during trip back

This article was originally published in SIWA's "Discovery" magazine (December 2010-January 2011 issue).

If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

• July & August 2010 trip itinerary - Mongolia, China, Tibet 
• Steppe-ing Through Mongolia - our trip to Mongolia - this is the most visited post on my blog 
• Jolting through the Mongolian steppe - a short video 
• China, Part 1 - Beijing, Xian, Xining - the first part of our trip to China
• The Highest Railway in the World - the train journey from Xining to Lhassa 
• On The Roof Of The World - our trip to Tibet 
• The Tibetan way of working - a short video we filmed at Jokhang temple
• Vladivostok To Moscow : Travelling Across A Quarter Of The Globe by Train - the previous summer (2009) we travelled on the Transsiberian across Russia & Siberia.

Recommended DPRK reading:

• A Corpse in the Koryo (Inspector O Novels), by James Church follows Inspector O, an investigator in North Korea's internal security bureau. Written by a veteran Western intelligence official.
• The Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol-Hwan and Pierre Rigoulot an account of Kang's 10-year imprisonment in a North Korean concentration camp.
• Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick is a look at the daily lives of six defectors before they left North Korea.
• Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle is a graphic novel documenting the two months French-Canadian animator Delisle spent overseeing cartoon production in North Korea.

Other sights included the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum :

See also:

• Frogs in a Well: Literary Life in North Korea - February 9, 2010 article at Publishing Perspectives.
• The Capture of USS Pueblo - Radio 4 Witness Programme about the American spy ship that was captured by North Korean forces in 1968.

Etiquette Bell

If you're female, travel in Korea and use a public toilet you might see one of these on the wall :

If you press the button it doesn't chime but makes the sound of flushing water to cover any unladylike noises you might be making ! I took a photo of this one at Incheon airport en route for the Philippines, but you can see them in many public toilets. Here's another style found in a motorway service station

Life in South Korea

We've now been living in South Korea for about 4 months.  We’re coping OK with the weather but so far but we’ve only had a few days of very cold weather. I chatted with someone from Siberia recently who told me she actually prefers winters in Siberia because there’s less wind there ... (I told her they must be sending it all over here to SK). Of course we’ve had to buy everything from scratch (coats, gloves, scarves, footwear, hats etc) as we never needed them in Reunion.

Seoul by night, from our flat

Language-wise we've both been having Korean lessons, but my (French) husband in French and me in English.  We’re both only at the “What is this ? This is a pen” stage.  We know how to read the alphabet but when you decipher a word you don’t necessarily know what it means as most vocabulary is completely different to English, although you can sometimes use your imagination – the Korean words for ‘glass’ and ‘door’ put together mean ‘window’. ‘Han-deupon’ is a cellphone (‘handphone’) for example.  So day-to-day activity is carried out in basic English and/or basic Korean and/or sign language.  I’m actually worried that next time I’m back in the UK I’ll be speaking pidgin English to everyone !  V. managed to have his hair cut at a hairdresser’s where they don’t speak a word of English.  Women being fussier about haircuts, I went to one where I knew they spoke some English.   

not as complicated as it looks actually (image from www.hapkidoselfdefense.com)

 I’ve managed to take the bus a couple of times as well – not as simple as it sounds because unlike the subway system it’s not very non-Korean speaker friendly.  Also the bus drivers, like the taxi drivers, tend to have a whiplash-inducing style of driving.  I’ve actually seen a woman standing in a bus fall over because the driver braked so hard ...  V. got his Korean driving license too, be interesting to see the reaction of a French or British policeman if he has to show it if he gets stopped.  He needed the Korean driving license (I’ve got an international one) for when we hired a car and did our road trip round the peninsula at the end of October.  It was interesting to get out of Seoul, to see that are lots of tower blocks everywhere (just like Seoul) but also a lot less English spoken and less foreigners – although in Seoul there aren’t that many foreigners really.  So when we were sight-seeing if our paths crossed that of a bunch of school children they’d all be shouting “hello, how are you” 60 times to us !  Anyway around the country there are some remarkable and less remarkable sights, you realise how old the country’s history is, but also how much it has suffered from repeated foreign invasions.

Other interesting experiences were V. tasting silk-worm pupa (a great delicacy here) and having a violent allergic reaction to them.  He’s not an allergic person and often ate wasp larvae in Reunion so we were surprised.  I can just imagine him seeing a European doctor for the first time who asks him if he’s allergic to anything “Oh yes, just silk worm larva ...”.   

silk worm larva, known as beondegi in Korean

Also on the health front I found out that only 0.5% of Koreans have my blood group (A-), the same goes for all negative blood groups (in Europe its about 6% per negative blood group) , so basically if you’re Rhesus negative and you ever need a lot of blood you’re unlikely to get it here.  So if you were wondering what to send me for Christmas now you know – some A- blood !  

In October during one of my Korean tea ceremony classes we heard a very loud siren going off everywhere.  Apparently every so often there are drills in case of an attack by North Korea.  In fact an armistice was never signed at the end of the Korean war, there was just a ceasefire.  I’d like to go on a trip to North Korea, but about 2 weeks ago they tightened security and it’s currently not possible.

Korean tea ceremony (photo Wikiepdia)

We did a temple stay last month. A group of us went on an organised trip to a Buddhist temple in Ganghwado – I wanted to go not so much for the religious side of things but cultural as Buddhism and Buddhist thinking is an important part of life here even though Korea is the most Christian country in this part of Asia.  So we participated in meditation, chanting, ‘work’ (chrysanthemum flower picking) and calligraphy.

calligraphy

tea with the head monk

during a service

This being Asia everything takes place sitting on the floor, including eating meals (you sleep on the floor too).  But the ‘high’ point was getting up at 3:45am to do 108 salutations at 4am in the temple during morning service ...!   A monk who misses morning service would have to do 3000 salutations to make up for it; apparently this takes about 8 hours.

Less spiritual was the visit I made to the world’s one and only toilet shaped house built by a Korean to raise awareness of all the people without toilets.  It really is a lived-in house (see my picture below). 

I also recently visited the House of Sharing and museum for former “comfort women” from WWII – not an easy visit, but eye-opening all the same.

Suggested reading :
Comfort Woman by Nora Okja Keller