Brilliant Engineering

I can't say I ever spent much time thinking about light switches until I moved to a country/continent that placed the bathroom light switch on the OUTSIDE of the bathroom. Yes, here in Mongolia and it seems much of Asia that bathroom switches are on the wall outside of the room. This was true in hotels I visited in China. I mean, come on! I want to soak in a tub and relax by candlelight, but once the water is lukewarm I want to flip on the switch and shower off. That is not possible here unless you text your partner in the other room to offer an assist by hitting the switch. So frustrating. And then there's also the chance that someone forgets or doesn't know you are IN the bathroom and while walking by flips the light OFF in an attempt to save electricity. Again--not a problem to yelp out that "hey, I'm in here," but really, WHAT is the point of the switch on the outside?

I guess you could say this plight of misplaced lavatory light switches has increasingly made me sensitive to the placement of light switches in general. In the US they are usually inside the room, just around on the wall, generally within a foot or 18 inches of the door frame. For the most part these are fairly easy to locate. However, on occasion one can find themselves feeling up the wall in the dark in search of the switch. 

I can undoubtedly say that Aussies have this situation engineered EXACTLY right. The light switch is ON the door frame and just near where the door knob or latch is. It's brilliant! Pun intended. 

Additionally, I was impressed by all the outlets in the kitchen and bathrooms. These are the outlets that are often used for additional electrical appliances--blow dryer, deep fryer, electric skillet, crockpot, etc. Where you find these outlets you will find both a switch to make the outlet HOT and then the outlet to plug into. I also thought this was a nifty safety feature. I observed my friends plugging their appliance into the outlet, then turning the outlet on; once finished cooking/using the appliance, they would turn the switch off. Again, I don't know why the rest of the world doesn't have switches and outlets such as these. My friend Kendall and her mother can confirm just how much I marveled at these devices. I really couldn't get over them. So practical, safe, and useful. 

So yes, why doesn't the rest of the world have electrical engineering like this? Talk about intuitive design and comfort of ease and access! No feeling around in the dark, no guessing where it might be. Just open the door and bam, there it is!

Thanks for entertaining this random and short blog post. This is one of the joys of travel--learning how different countries or places address a commonplace need. Who knew!