The Russian Bathroom

My Russian students often have difficulty, at first, with the English-Russian cognate "toilet." In American English, bathrooms are everywhere, though in public places without showers or bathtubs, we would say "restroom." In Russia, the toilet is the device, as well as the place where it is located. In public places, it's more euphamistically (and European-ly) called a "water closet." In an apartment, the toilet may be in its own little tiny (and I mean tiny) room, separate from the bathroom. In Katya's apartment, there is an actual bathroom (lexically, I mean)... The picture below doesn't quite to the dimensions justice, but in one room there is a bathtub, water heater, toilet, and small washing machine (and plenty of other odds and ends); in fact, it is so small that I can stand in the center and just about touch all four walls.

Next time you get in your shower and turn on the hot water that you take for granted, be grateful. Not everybody has it so good...