On the continent the bumwad is more like what we wrap sandwiches in, kinda like wax paper.
Yes wax paper, that’s what I remember!
When I traveled through Europe, including the former Iron Curtain countries, for my amusement, I took samples of spare toilet paper for a collection. Not only was it bad, textured and meager, it was also frequently not available.
My husband used to only buy cheap toilet paper. Then I had him do a sample test of various brands. Now he only buys the top two. And when he visits bachelor friends, he notices how abrasive or thin, the type of TP they stock.
AS a prepper, I have stored toilet paper. My husband actually looked up the word for a person who is afraid of running out of TP.
Now it looks like we will be living abroad in Panama, and I mentioned that I wanted to bring toilet paper. He squashed that notion. We shall see...