I realise this isn't weather-related, but it is water-related.
Dual-flush toilets are standard here. Some people haven't encountered them before. One of the buttons does a Little Flush, to be generally used when you only need a Little Flush. The other button does a Big Flush, only to be used when one really NEEDS a Big Flush. Straightforward, no?
The other thing is that our toilets don't fill up very far. I never understood the 'dog drinking out of the toilet' joke until someone explained that US toilets fill waaaaaaay up.
Nicer, because you don't have to worry about water splashing back up at you; on the other hand, make sure you own a good toilet brush.
Oh, and I don't think we usually talk about needing to go to the bathroom. I reckon my visitors are more likely to say, "May I use your loo / toilet?" mean, people won't care if you use the word 'bathroom' or anything - the point is more, don't be shocked by the way they talk about it.
(I could start going on about the importance of recognising the distinctions between the way US English and AustEng use the words 'fanny', 'ass' (cf 'arse' - same meaning but seen as more vulgar than in AE) and 'root' - but I'm guessing Mez will be doing a post about this, or possibly linking back to a previous post, because I'm sure she's written about it before...)
Toilets
Dual-flush toilets are standard here. Some people haven't encountered them before.
One of the buttons does a Little Flush, to be generally used when you only need a Little Flush.
The other button does a Big Flush, only to be used when one really NEEDS a Big Flush.
Straightforward, no?
The other thing is that our toilets don't fill up very far. I never understood the 'dog drinking out of the toilet' joke until someone explained that US toilets fill waaaaaaay up.
Nicer, because you don't have to worry about water splashing back up at you; on the other hand, make sure you own a good toilet brush.
Oh, and I don't think we usually talk about needing to go to the bathroom. I reckon my visitors are more likely to say, "May I use your loo / toilet?" mean, people won't care if you use the word 'bathroom' or anything - the point is more, don't be shocked by the way they talk about it.
(I could start going on about the importance of recognising the distinctions between the way US English and AustEng use the words 'fanny', 'ass' (cf 'arse' - same meaning but seen as more vulgar than in AE) and 'root' - but I'm guessing Mez will be doing a post about this, or possibly linking back to a previous post, because I'm sure she's written about it before...)