Facing the high-tech toilet in Jeju
The magnificent Island Jeju was my chosen destiny. Jeju is part of South Korea. However what it makes so special is that it is an island, which enjoys partial autonomy within the state. Besides, the island is very popular in terms of honeymoon. My friends, I got to know them in Seoul, had planned a trip to Jeju. We wanted to spend several days there and visit some places across the island. So we took the plane to Jeju City (제주시). When we arrived, we had to wait for two of our guys who took a later flight. As we were finally complete, it had already become dark and we had to take the bus to the east of the island.
So we left the capital city in the north behind us for Seongsalli (성산리). Seongsalli was well known for its volcanic cone called Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak). It was covered with green grass located by the coast. Since the island was just 2,000 km² big, we arrived there within an hour. Now we had to wait for our tonight’s host, who had promised us to pick us up. The hostel was located between the beautiful green fields, yet, was not easy to find.
We hadn’t to wait for long until he arrived and we got in his small transporter. His appearance strongly reminded me of a reincarnation of John Lennon and if I hadn’t known that Yoko Ono was still alive, I would have assumed the same for his wife. The hostel had a lot of charm and we luckily had generous space. The hostel owner offered us to go up the hill the next day in the morning where we could see the volcanic tone at sunrise.
It was high time I went to the toilets so I rushed to our room and as I closed the bathroom door, I found myself in front of a high-tech toilet. There were numerous button on it and I had no clue what they said since all of which were labelled in Korean. I sat down on it and after feeling relieved, I sought for the flush. Unfortunately, my Korean wasn’t good enough and I was really regretting not having been more diligent. I was looking for the flush with such a vigour, while thinking: Where is the “f*cking” ordinary obvious old-fashioned button”.
After a while, I made a brave decision: I would press any button until I have found the flush. I hoped for an auspicious moment and started my very own operation… I thought: “What could go wrong?” I knelt in front of the toilet to have a better vision of all these colourful buttons and after having pressed some of them, suddenly an awkward sound was coming out of the toilet. A small metal pipe appeared. By the time I realised what it was for a strong water stream spewed into my face and I fell back while trying to cover my face that had already been saturated. The stream kept running like a fountain turning the floor into an ocean. I was sitting on the other side of the room stunned by the toilet’s crafty ambush. So much for “ what could go wrong…” I stood up and wiped the water off my face. I was determined to stop it. As I came up to the toilet, it turned off. I had just encountered new technology on a different way and went to my friends without sharing this embarrassing experience.
— Yes, I eventually found the correct button.
