By: Ted Dehmlow World Regional Geography

1. Alfred's Great Adventure Hi, I’m Alfred By: Ted Dehmlow World Regional Geography

2. TheAdventure • Alfred who was a family man from Seattle, Washington, was sitting on the toilet one morning, going about his daily routine and thought to himself, “I wonder what toilets are like in other countries”? Pondering to himself, deep in thought, he then made a big decision to book several plane tickets around the world to find out what kind of toilets were used in different places. After booking his plane tickets he then packed for his adventure. Alfred called a taxi to take him to the airport and while on the way he told the taxi driver about the adventure he was about to embark on. The taxi driver suggested he also compare the taxis throughout the same regions he was going to visit. Alfred liked the taxi driver’s idea and was going to look at both toilets and taxis through out his adventure.

3. North America • The standard white porcelain toilet in North America that Alfred is so used to is called a flush toilet. The function of this toilet like any other around the world is to dispose of waste matter. When done using the toilet you push the lever and the water in the bowl flushes the waste away or the toilet may sense you getting up and flush on its own.

4. North America • The taxi that Alfred took to the airport was a Ford Crown Victoria, very similar to the standard U.S. cop car. The taxi was painted a golden yellow color and had four doors with dull aluminum hub caps, not to mention plenty of room for his luggage.

5. Middle America • The first stop in Alfred’s journey brought him to Mexico City, Mexico. Not really knowing what to expect, he quickly got off the plane and called his first taxi outside of North America. Alfred was astonished at the brightly colored 1980’s Volkswagen Bug that rolled up to the curb. The taxi was painted bright green below the windows and painted white around the windows all the way to the roof of the taxi. The taxi was much smaller than what he was used to in Seattle, but he liked the color much better than the standard golden yellow taxis in the United States.

6. Middle America • When Alfred arrived at the place he was staying for the night he proceeded to the bathroom not sure of what he was going to find. Alfred found a toilet that looked identical to the flush toilet in the U.S. only a little less clean.

7. South America • When Alfred got off the plane he was excited to see if there were different toilets used in South America. However, he also was wondering what the next taxi would look like. Surely he didn’t think it could beat the bright green bug that he rode in Mexico City. When he got outside he found a 1980’s four-door Honda sitting by the curb. It had a black stripe down the side and was painted bright yellow. He was kind of disappointed by the taxi after riding in the bug.

8. South America • Once again he found out that the normal flush toilet was used in Brazil as well. Alfred started to feel that this journey that he embarked on was a waste of his time. He once again got back on the plane in hopes of discovering a different toilet somewhere in the world. His next stop on his journey was South Africa.

9. Africa • Once Alfred landed in South Africa, he made his way to the doors of the airport where he was going to find his next taxi. He went out the doors and found an old van sitting outside the airport. The van was painted white, but had a lot of dents in it and looked like it was from the 1980’s. He thought, “This can’t be” it didn’t look a thing like the taxis he was used to. However, this was his taxi, or also known as a “mini bus taxi” in South Africa.

10. Africa • While walking through the city he noticed a hole made into a couple pieces of wood. He then found out from a local that this was one of the toilets used by them, known as a squatting toilet and was used throughout a normal day. Alfred also found another squatting toilet, looking similar to a portable bathroom in the United States. The only differences was that there was no seat in the inside and only a hole in the ground. This was similar to the wooden squatting toilet, although this one was made out of porcelain.

11. Europe • The next stop was Berlin, Germany and Alfred felt a little better about his journey, due to his findings in Africa. When Alfred was on the plane he was talking with another passenger about his adventure. They told him to go to a café where they had a different type of toilet called a poo-shelf toilet. Alfred exited the plane and was walking to the doors with anticipation to what the taxi would look like in Europe. He walked out the doors to find that the taxi was a late 1990’s four-door Mercedes Benz. Alfred was extremely impressed with this cream colored taxi, since in the U.S. they are thought of as luxury cars, not mentioning that the last taxi he took in South Africa was an old, beat-up van.

12. Europe • When Alfred was on the ground he listened to the passenger and visited this café where they told him about this weird toilet. The poo-shelf toilet is designed a little different than the flush toilet in that there is no water sitting with in the whole toilet, but only a small hole full of water located in the front of the toilet. The toilets were designed to let the person’s waste sit at the bottom of the toilet until the stink got so bad that they had to pull the lever in which they hoped it would flush it down, but sometimes not removing the waste very well at all. Alfred found it very interesting, but had no time to waste because his next flight was leaving to go to Moscow.

13. Russia • Alfred had good findings in Germany and was now feeling like his journey was leading to a lot of interesting discoveries about other regions of the world. Once again Alfred exited off the plane and made his way out of the airport. He found a car that he was not familiar with that he later found out was called a Volga. This car is not that well known due to the appearance and lack of performance. The Volga looked like a 1970’s Mercedes and was also painted the standard golden yellow like other taxis around the world.

14. Russia • Just like any other country, Alfred made his way to his place where he was staying for the night and went directly to the bathroom where he discovered a plain old flush toilet just like in the U.S., but very dirty. Alfred found out that Russians are know for their disgusting toilets. Just seeing the toilet made Alfred book for the door leaving a day earlier than scheduled with his next stop being Istanbul, Turkey.

15. Middle East • Alfred made his way to his next taxi where he found another 1980’s four-door car, that was very boxy and painted golden yellow. Alfred was not very impressed with car, but was interested to what he would find they used for a toilet.

16. Middle East • On the way to Alfred’s motel he stopped at a place on the edge of the city and went to the bathroom discovering the most disgusting squatting toilet he has ever seen. It was made out of wood and had a rectangle hole in the bottom filled with waste and garbage. Also in Turkey, the normal toilet seen throughout the country was the flushing toilet. His next stop was Shanghai, China.

17. Southeast Asia • Once Alfred landed in Shanghai, he exited out to the street to find a bright green taxi, which was a very similar color to the Mexico City taxi. However, this taxi was a Volkswagen Jetta and was a little more roomy than the Bug.

18. Southeast Asia • Heading to his motel once again to stay the night, Alfred was beginning to feel a little ill from all his travel. This time Alfred was not excited to see what the toilet looked like, but instead needed to use the toilet for other purposes. He had a choice in his motel room unlike any other he previously stayed in. His choice being either a squatting toilet or the standard flush toilet. The difference was that this flush toilet had no back on it, just the wall behind him. Also, the squatting toilet was made out of steel, rather than the usual porcelain. Alfred was going to rest for the night and regain his strength for his flight tomorrow heading to Delhi, India.

19. South Asia • Alfred just landing in India feeling slightly better than yesterday, was ready to continue on with his adventure. Walking out of the airport, Alfred felt the warm breeze of India. He looked out to the street, in which he spotted this bazaar three wheeled vehicle, slightly resembling a motor bike, but covered by metal. He then realized that they were used as taxis throughout Dehli. Alfred found out from a local that the taxi painted bright yellow and black, was called an Auto-rickshaw. He called this weird looking taxi, which had a lot of different stickers all over it and headed to the place he was staying for the night.

20. South Asia • Alfred was extremely happy to get off the Auto-rickshaw because it was very unstable when turning corners, which unfortunately brought back Alfred’s sickness. Alfred quickly hurried to the bathroom and saw another squatting toilet, but this time made from a white plastic. Alfred was feeling ill still and rested for the rest of the night so he would be ready to travel to the last place of his adventure, Tokyo, Japan.

21. East Asia • When Alfred arrived in Tokyo he was kind of relieved that this was his last stop on his adventure. Just as usual, he got off the plane and headed for the gate to get on a taxi. When he came out the door he came across a Toyota Crown, which Japan commonly uses as taxis, especially in the city of Tokyo. This car was painted bright green and had a white strip down the side with Japanese writing. Alfred continued on his way to see his last toilet.

22. East Asia • When Alfred arrived at his motel he went to his room and walked in the bathroom to see the most amazing toilet he has ever seen. This toilet had a seat warmer, a fan, a shower for when your done, and a bidet, which closely resembles the shower option. Not to mention it had a stop switch with a courtesy flush option. Alfred thought to himself, “now this is a toilet” and was just amazed in his findings in Japan.

23. Alfred’s Great Adventure • Alfred got on his plane after spending the night in Japan and headed back home to Seattle. While on his long flight, he thought to himself about all the great things he had seen over the course of less than two weeks and was happy he took the time to discover something new. The End