A Newcomer Called Out Canada's Toilets & Said They're The 'Biggest Cultural Adjustment'
From bagged milk to food portion sizes, there are number of things that almost always surprise newcomers to Canada when they first move.
And, according to one TikToker, washrooms in the country can actually be a major culture shock too — because of one gaping detail.
Michaela Jessie, a TikToker who moved from the U.K. to Vancouver, recently shared a video calling out washrooms in Canada, while also demonstrating her makeup routine.
In a video, posted via the handle @michaelajessie_, she starts by saying, "I like a lot of things about Canada but I do not like [...] the toilets."
She goes on to say that one of her biggest cultural adjustments in Canada has been what she describes as the "humongous, gigantic, ginormous craters on either side of the door of the toilet."
"So you can literally see in while someone is peeing. Excuse me sir, but what is that about?" she asks.
@michaelajessie_ LETS TALK TOILETS 😂 #grwmmakeup #livinginvancouver🇨🇦 #newtocanada #fyp
Jessie also admitted that she often forgets that people don’t call it a toilet here in Canada, and that asking where one is often leads to really confused looks from servers at restaurants.
"Is it washroom? Or restroom? Lavatory?" she asks in the video, although she later admits that washroom actually sounds better as it's more polite and discreet.
"So, all in all it's just an ordeal. If someone can explain why they design the toilets so badly I would appreciate it as I don't understand it," she added.
"I think you can judge a place by its toilets," she continues. "Like any kind of restaurant, any place you go to. You can tell whether somewhere is nice just by the toilets."
"And I make a judgement on a place based on the lavatories," she adds, which probably means Canada is being judged hard on its washroom situation... and not coming out looking too good in this one aspect either.
The video, which has racked up over 11,700 views in less than a month, had loads of people commenting on how normal this is in Canada.
"Oh yup the Canadian spirt," one TikToker said.
"Much the same in Australian public toilets," another person stated, while a couple of others added that similar designs are common in parts of the U.S. too.
Some even shared what sound like washroom horror stories. One person said that when she was at school "there were little girls looking into my stall. One literally crawled under." Yikes.
This isn’t the first time Canada’s washroom cubicles have been called out, either.
People who moved to Canada recently shared what surprised them most, and Canada's cubicle door gaps got mentioned there, too!
