Making life more pleasant
The Japanese have come up with a computer-aided device designed to "make going to the toilet more pleasant". The device, can produce sprays of perfume and play various bits of music. Personally, I hadn't noticed that goign to toilet was particularly unpleasant, though if I were at the home of a new lover for the first time, I'd probably prefer not to produce a smelly, noisy performance in their toilet.
I find it interesting that it is the Japanese who have come up with this, as I used to teach English to Japanese students. They asked me some interesting questions at times. On one occasion, a young woman said, "Lois, is it OK to wash our underwear in the bath?". Every other student sitting nearby turned and looked almost imploringly at me. It seemed this had been on their minds too, and it was important. I told them it was OK, but their host families might think it a little strange. That seemed to make them happy enough. I later found out from a Japanese lady that many Japanese prefer not to use washing machines, which seems bizarre in that Japan is a country almost in love with technology of all kinds. I actually feel as though this love of technology is driven by a need to embrace the artificial and the 'not natural' as much as possible.
Going to the toilet, urinating and defaecating are normal, natural things to do. Everyone has to do them, as our bodies would be poisoned by our waste products if we didn't. Imagine if this device became a normal part of Japanese life, and then my homestay students had to go on a camping trip. The experience of producing smells and noise could cause considerable upset. If this sounds far-fetched, let me tell you a little story related to me by one of the bus drivers I worked with on one of my cultural outings with students.
With that particular group of students, there was to be a short weekend trip up England's 'Lake District' with an overnight hotel stay. When we arrived at the hotel, and met up for dinner, the cutural liaison lady (Japanese), Bob the bus driver, and I, had to help the students to understand what was on the menu. Bob had been the driver for the trip the year before, and warned me that we needed to explain very clearly what each dish would be. The reason for this was because, on the trip the year before, one student had ordered pan-fried fish. When the fish duly arrived, the student burst into tears. This was because, Bob explained, the student was shocked to see a whole fish, that looked like an animal to her, staring up from the plate. Apparently, in her mind, fish looked like what is put on the top of sushi, which looks nothing like a creature that could have been alive. Our lovely cultural liaison lady told us that she had met students who thought sushi topping of fish came in plastic bags, so removed were they (the students) from the real production of food.
The amazement of students over the origins of food also extended to our trips into the countryside. I once saw a student who appeared to be pointing her camera at the ground to take a photo. She was taking a photo of a strawberry plant.
