Uncle John's Facts to Go: International Affairs

By Bathroom Readers' Institute

Starting from the depths of the Bathroom Reader archives, you’ll be transported to exotic lands where you’ll learn the local customs and sample the curious cuisine (without those annoying stomach cramps). You’ll also meet some of the strangest people in the world, and you might even learn a new word or two. So hang on tight as you read about… • Why time travel movies were banned in China, and other fun things forbidden in foreign countries• How to give your business card to a Japanese businessman, and other handy travel tips• Uncle John's Stall of Fame• Racing sled dogs in the Arctic, running a marathon across the Moroccan desert, and floating a raft across the Atlantic• What’s all the buzz about in Amsterdam?• How to find your antipodes—the exact opposite side of the planet from you• The world's biggest blunders, best inventions, and worst disasters• Ronnie Biggs—Brazil’s most famous English fugitive• Worldly wisdom, including this from Charles Schulz: “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”And much, much more!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781626862456

Bathroom Readers' Institute

The Bathroom Readers' Institute is a tight-knit group of loyal and skilled writers, researchers, and editors who have been working as a team for years. The BRI understands the habits of a very special market—Throne Sitters—and devotes itself to providing amazing facts and conversation pieces.

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GOING PLACES?

Start planning your vacation with these strange tips from real travel agencies.

Come to Colombia!

Anywhere that illicit drugs are cultivated in Colombia is a dangerous zone. To get to any of these areas, you’d have to go off the beaten track and avoid everyone’s local advice. You’re unlikely to just stumble across a coca field. So forget about that point.

—Paisatours.com

Come to Russia!

In most parts of Russia, a tourist is a great rarity, and speaking to one is not always that easy psychologically.

—Svezhy Veter Agency

Come to Cameroon!

Cameroon is a real paradise for animals in the wild. Forests and rivers full of funny gorillas are waiting for your visits.

—Globalbushtratour.com

Come to Mongolia!

It is better to avoid dogs, even ones which appear tame, and take caution if offered marmot meat.

—Blue Mongolia Tour

Come to Nepal!

Public demonstrations and strikes are popular forms of political expression in Nepal and may occur on short notice. Travelers are requested to stay at the most prominent areas where no untoward incidents have taken place, so far.

—India Invites

Come to Iran!

Do you want to travel to Iran but doubt it?

—UpPersia.com

Come to the USA!

Many parts of the United States are subject to earthquakes, wildfires, floods, extreme heat, hurricanes, mudslides, landslides, thunderstorms and lightning, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes, freezing rain, heavy snow and blizzards, and extreme cold.

—Smartraveller.gov.au

Number of countries that call soccer soccer: 4. Countries that call it football: 188.

WHY DON’T WE HAVE A

WORD FOR THAT?

Americans excel at inventing colorful expressions and slang, but it turns out other countries are pretty good at it, too.

Attaccabottoni (Italy): A buttonholer—someone who corners casual acquaintances or even complete strangers for the purpose of telling them their miserable life stories.

Kummerspeck (Germany): Grief bacon—the weight you gain by overeating when you’re worried about something.

Modré Pondeli (Czech Republic): Blue Monday—When you skip coming in to work to give yourself a three-day weekend.

Razbliuto (Russia): The feeling you have for a person you used to love, but don’t anymore.

Shitta (Iran): Leftover dinner that’s eaten for breakfast.

Tartle (Scotland): To momentarily forget the name of the person you’re talking to. The word helps reduce the social embarrassment of such situations: I’m sorry, I tartled there for a moment.

Pana po’o (Hawaii): To scratch your head in an attempt to remember something you’ve forgotten.

Ngaobera (Easter Island): A sore throat caused by too much screaming.

Backpfeifengesicht (Germany): A face that’s just begging for somebody to put a fist in it.

Papierkrieg (Germany): Paper war—bureaucratic paperwork whose only purpose is to block you from getting the refund, insurance payment, or other benefit that you have coming.

Rujuk (Indonesia): To remarry your ex-wife.

Mokita (New Guinea): The truth that everyone knows, but no one will speak about.

Gorrero (Spain, Central America): Someone who never picks up the check.

Fucha (Poland): Using your employer’s time and resources for your own purposes. (Uncle John had never heard of such a thing and wanted to ask around the office if anyone else had, but everyone is still out to lunch.)

Europe is the only continent without a desert.

WHAT A VERY STRANGE

PERSON

You may consider yourself a strange and unusual person. If so, see how you measure up against these oddballs.

Strange Person: Nileen Namita of Brighton, England

Background: In the late 1980s, Namita became convinced that she was a reincarnation of the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti.

Very Strange: Namita decided that being a reincarnation of Nefertiti wasn’t enough; she also had to look like her. So she started having plastic surgeries. Using the famous 3,300-year-old bust of Nefertiti, which sits in Berlin’s Neues Museum, as a model, Namita has had eight nose jobs, three chin implants, nine facelifts, two lip surgeries, five eye surgeries, and several other facial procedures—adding up to 51 operations in all. She turned 53 in 2013, and so far has spent more than $330,000 in her quest to look like the ancient queen. Did it work? By all accounts, no. She looks like…well, someone who’s had a lot of plastic surgery.

Strange Person: Japanese truck driver Yuuki Oshima

Background: One day in August 2009, 22-year-old Oshima was driving through the city of Noda when he saw a woman walking…and instantly fell in love with her. He discreetly followed her to her apartment, and over the next couple of months, tried to drum up the courage to tell her his feelings but was just too shy to do it face to face. Then he got an idea.

Very Strange: Oshima went to the woman’s house in the middle of the night…and peed through the mail slot in her door. That, not surprisingly, didn’t cause the woman to fall in love with him. She called police. Oshima was arrested, and explained, I absolutely went crazy for her the first time I saw her, and just did it. He was charged with property damage.

Strange Person: Rick Murray of Montreal, Canada

Background: "When I was a kid, I