La fameuse toilette
** there is a short English version of my justification at the end of this post, for potential non-French-reading visitors **
Doppelganger, l'auteure du (fabuleux) blog littéraire 50 Books, s'est lancée dans une énumération de "8 Choses à propos de Moi" (à propos d'elle, dans ce cas-ci) qu'elle s'est permis de transformer en "9 Choses..." avec ce petit post scriptum:
BONUS: Random thing #9. I never stop being incredulous when I go into people's bathrooms and discover that they keep no reading material there. What if I need to be in there for a while? What if I need to make a snap judgment of your character? You've given me NOTHING.
Le jeux des "8 (ou 9) Choses..." se poursuit généralement en partageant à notre tour des morceaux de notre petite vie mais, comme je crois plusieurs de ses lecteurs, j'ai plutôt accroché sur le #9.
Il n'y a rien à lire dans la super toilette du 122 Nursery Road. Je l'écris et je me rends compte de l'énormité de la chose.
Il y a TOUJOURS eu de la lecture dans mes salles de bain, de magazines Glamour à la Revue de droit de McGill, en passant par divers romans et l'encyclopédie Penguin History of New Zealand, de Québec à Melbourne en passant par Tunis et Hamilton(NZ), de la (les) maison(s) familiale(s) à la vie de coloc. Mais à Christchurch, RIEN.
Je sens le besoin de me justifier - dans ce cas-ci, une image vaut vraiment 1000 mots, alors voici: (photo prise par ma soeurette adorée)
J'ajoute que malgré l'automne unseasonably warm, il fait quand même 12C ou moins la nuit, rarement plus que 18C le jour. S'il fait 12C à l'extérieur, il fait 12C dans la toilette...
Comme le disait Anaïs, ça va être le fun cet hiver!
** That, up there on the picture, is our outhouse. We're pretty much downtown in the 3rd largest city in New Zealand, but somehow modernity went right by us and the toilet was left outside. It does look rather nice, for an outhouse, so here's why there is NOTHING to read in there:
1) the walls stop a good 4-5" short of the corrugated plastic roofing + the door's about 3" off the floor when closed
2) New Zealand is a windy place
3) 1+2= this is the draftiest toilet I've ever been on - I'd say on par with squatting in the woods when camping, only you're actually sitting on a proper toilet
4) New Zealand isn't the warmest of places either
5) 1+4=when it's 12 degrees Celsius in the back yard, it's 12 degrees Celsius in there, too, which brings us to
6) having to wear outerwear to "do your business" means quick business. No lounging, no taking your time and apparently, no having digestion problems - 3 months, 10 flatmates here on average 2 months each, not one case of 'needing to be in there for long'. And of course, no reading.
Anyone contesting the reasonableness of my excuse is welcome to try it themselves - outhouses aside, NZ is a beautiful and comfy place.**
3 commentaires:
After your comment on 50 Books, I had to come over and learn more about your outhouse. I'm getting by on my high school French here, but I think I got the jist of your post. Your outhouse really doesn't look half bad. I think I could read in there. Of course, I pretty much think I could read anywhere, anytime.
Anita: Looks can be deceiving... well, actually, you're quite right. As far as outhouses go, it's a very decent outhouse. But there's a reason people in cold climates started putting plumbing INSIDE their houses. Why New Zealanders couldn't do it too is beyond me - but then again, it snows in winter and they don't have proper heating or insulation in their houses either.
My point: it is cold. And drafty. And some days downright windy in there (no pun intended) - the walls don't go all the way up to the corrugated plastic roofing, the door doesn't go all the way to the floor. Believe you me when I say you do not want to sit and read when you need to wear a winter jacket and a scarf to sit in the first place...
Ah-ha!
La vérité c'est qu'il y a un complexe poster qui explique les détails du recyclage à Christchurch, et qui donne assez de lecture pour ce qu'on en a besoin. Après l'avoir lu quelques fois, on peut s'attarder au graphisme, à l'esprit pédagogique, et revenir au texte, essayer de le traduire en français, en espagnol, etc.
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