The Men's Room

In general, Korea has many more public restrooms than the USA. Virtually every other building has a public restroom in it in Korea.

One interesting thing you will notice about restrooms here is that people smoke cigarettes in them. Another interesting thing you will notice is the horrendous smell. Also, that most men's rooms have urinals that are visible to people as they walk by.

The photo below is a great example of that. In the USA, there would be some kind of wall or false wall blocking the view of the urinal and of the person standing there using the urinal.

The next three photos are of restrooms that have doors. This is a step up from the doorless type above, however it is a small step. These restrooms are in the buildings where I work.

Many times I will be using the urinal and a middle school student will come in and leave the door wide open, leaving me feeling a little uncomfortable. I just find it strange to be using the restroom in public. At that point you could say I am using a urinal in public.







Part of the strangeness is that people consistently neglect to shut the door while someone is using the urinal. So, there must be some cultural thing that makes it okay for men to urinate in the view of the public.