toilets in korea are awesome. most public bathrooms are clean and beautiful and many even have bidets. i confess i have never actually used a bidet myself, but the most amazing thing about these bidets is that the seats are heated. and if you happen to be in seoul during the most murderously bitter winter, setting your bum onto a toasty warm seat can be a very welcome surprise. just trust me on this one.

but maybe some toilets in korea are a little too awesome. my mom told me an embarrassing story about how she used the bathroom in a state-of-the-art concert hall (i don’t remember which) in Seoul, and it took her 20 minutes to figure out how to flush the toilet. she was pressing every button and water was shooting out in every direction, but the toilet would not flush. she started swinging the door, waving her arms around, looking under, over, around the toilet bowl to no avail. she then saw a tiny button on the wall and pressed it. voila, flush. when she got back to her friend and told her what happened, the friend said, “you managed to figure it out? i couldn’t, so i just left it!”

conclusion: toilets in seoul are not old people-friendly, either.