Rebecca A. Foster

According to Mexican tradition, brought to San Antonio by its large Mexican expat population, the color of panties you are wearing when the clock strikes midnight determines what you will find in the new year. So, you should wear red panties for passion, yellow panties for prosperity, and rose colored panties for true love. I love this tradition, because how easy is it to find rose colored panties vs. red ones?  RIGHT. The Mexicans are onto something. I always wondered about yellow vs. green for prosperity, but green panties are hard to find too. I guess this one is just about practicality. I have also heard you should wear yellow to find true friendship. 

My students had to do a presentation on a holiday for their final project. One girl was giving her presentation and started talking about how Santa Claus was famous on Christmas because he died for peoples' sins so they could live again and could bring people back to life by magic. Uh...I think someone got her Christmas stories confused!  I didn't laugh, but I wanted to!  I have the flu and/on food poisoning again, so I am spending New Year's Even trying not to ralph. Happy New Year everyone! 

I'm not a hypochondriac, I'm just pretty sure every time I get sick I might die. A headache?  A likely brain tumor. Stomach cramps?  Uh oh, stomach cancer in the making! My mom says I get this from my Aunt Olga, who also leaps to the worst possible conclusions.  So I love taking my temperature, because it proves I really am sick, dammit! I even brought my favorite thermometer to China. And thank goodness I did, because I have come down with the flu/food poisoning (again!) and have taken my temperature approximately every hour in the last 24 hours. The highest it got was 102.7. I was simultaneously shaking under the covers and sweating like a lying pig, but thank goodness I had something to confirm my sickness. (You can't buy a thermometer here, btw, they don't use them.)  If I ever have kids, guaranteed they will tell their therapist about their crazy mom taking their temperature all the time.  Also, I love Andrew because he got me Sprite without being asked. What a nic...

I got hooked on MadMen  (short for Madison Avenue Men) after downloading seasons 1 and 2 online and watching them during an especially stressful couple of weeks; they became my visual Xanax. And how!  Two things I love about it:  1. The little stabs of shock at overt displays of sexism in the workplace. As bad as I sometimes thought my job was, I wasn't dealing with anything on this scale. Makes me grateful for those that came before me and took the brunt of this crap.  2. The slices of life in 1960's surburban America: desperate housewives, indeed!  But I also love the scene where a mother catches her daughter encased head to toe in a plastic dry cleaning bag, the kind now covered in warnings about suffocation. She says to her daughter, "Young lady...." and your 2008 ears think she is going to chastise her for toying with her life, but she follows it up with "...if my dry cleaning is on the ground, you are in big trouble!" And goes back to her cigarrette. A...

I'm an alto, a part I always thought was just a poor man's soprano until my high school choir director gave the altos a talk about how we provide the yang to the soprano's ying, the dischord that makes the harmony that much sweeter. It takes a strong ear not to let a strong soprano knock you off key, or overpower you. Ever since then, I relish singing the cream-in-the-oreo part of alto.  But I like being the support system, not the star.  I WILL NOT sing alone in front of an audience. No way, no how. My mother is the solo performer in our family, not me. But I love singing with a group of other voices, or alone at home or in my car. One of my favorite songs to sing is O Divine Redeemer ; it just plain has an awesome alto part. And for anyone who has ever felt troubled and alone, this song is a plea for mercy and comfort. It's quite beautiful. A lady I knew years ago asked me to sing the alto part as part of a four-voice performance. It remains one of my favorite singing...

Here's how I know the Chinese don't eat sandwiches: bakeries sell Western-style sliced bread in packages of five slices. 

Here I am in JeiFangBei square with two other PC volunteers and a random little Chinese lady who wanted her picture taken with the "laowai" (foreigners). What did I tell ya about how tiny the older people here are?  (Note to self: wearing your hair like that makes your face look REALLY round. Yikes. I promise, I haven't gained 20 lbs since you last saw me.)

These are not pictures I took, I found them on the internet. But, they are what I saw. The local paper reported about 180,000 people came to the main square for the beating festivities. And, I think this a regional event, not China-wide. Can you see why I just wanted to get home safely?! 

W is a high fashion and society magazine, with interesting photography and a cataloguing of all the beautiful jewelry, clothes, accessories and beauty treatments I'll never be able to afford. It's my little piece of cotton candy Neverland, the equivilant of playing Halo all day long.  I've had a subscription for over a decade. W forever! But I canceled it when I came to China. Big mistake! I really miss it. I just bought the monthly issues I've missed on Amazon, to be shipped to my mom's house for me to read while I am home on vacation. And I renewed my subscription. They'll pile up at my mom's house while I am gone, but I am going to read each and every one at some point when I return.  There are very few non-essential material things I really miss about my old life in America. W is a big one. What this says about me, I am not sure. (Another? My boots!)

Here in Chongqing, the Chinese treat Christmas Eve like New Years Eve in Times Square: tens of thousands of people fill the city center well into the night. But instead of watching a ball drop, they beat each other with blow up plastic bats and shoot silly string at each other. It is very bizarre. I was out tonight having dinner with some of the other volunteers, and I raced home to avoid the large crowds. And to avoid being hit or sprayed. I first knew something was up when I arrived at the place where we were going to have dinner and there were about a thousand policeman and soldiers standing in formation at various points. And when I came back to the plaza near where I live, they had riot police, in full-on riot gear, keeping the peace! I guess they want to ensure nothing gets out of hand by offering an intimidating presence. I was glad to know if anyone bothered me, I could just go over to the police. They make sure foreigners aren't treated badly, as it reflects badly on Chin...

I'm away from family this year for Christmas, so I've been thinking about the stuff I miss. At the top of my list? My sister's Christmas "negotiations", which go something like this: open presents. Look at what everyone body else got. Decide if you want something of theirs. Start offering tradesies and haggling for whatever it is you liked better. Usually I end up trading something because my mom likes to give me and my sister identical gifts but in different colors, i.e. sweaters, socks, blankets, etc. (My brother gets off the hook, the perk of being the only boy.) My family sent me a box of presents for Christmas. I assume not everything in the box was originally intended for me. Uncontested negotiations!  We also enjoy playing the present fakout game, which is where you give a truly awful gift but pretend like it's sincere, forcing the recipient to offer false oohs, aahs, and other fake gushing until finally you let them off the hook by bursting into laught...

Do you love reading about diseases and germs as much as I do? Then you must read the book A Field Guide to Germs, one of my favorite books. It gives a brief description of the history and symptoms of all kinds of critters we run across that can make us sick. Or dead.  I have a morbid curiosity with what can go wrong. (I get this from my mother's side; Hispanics love a good tragedy.) I took a class called Parasites and Man when I was in college, and that was it: I was hooked. In our training here we had a class on STIs, complete with pictures of diseased wangs and hoo-hahs. It was pretty much my favorite training class we took. Better than talking about germs? Seeing pictures of germs!  Maybe I have this morbid fascination because I think if you know what can hurt you, you can avoid it. Maybe not. But reading about the black plague and the mysterious British sweating sickness (still unindentified 600 years later) is a great way to fill a slow Sunday afternoon.  A Field Guide to Ge...

This past week the new york times website became blocked here.  I was used to reading it everyday to get my news, so it was a big loss. I can always get around the block with a proxy server, but those get blocked too. I am constantly having to find new ways to get around the censorship here. And some days, nothing really seems to work. Of course the local government denies having anything to do with it. They said it must be a technical issue on the nytimes side.  Of all the things that are difficult here, this the hardest ideologically: having decisions made for me about what I can and cannot read and see.   I have learned that forcing people to make the decisions you want them to make by not giving them any other options is one way to keep order and harmony. But not the way I would choose.  I look forward to the day I get to choose again. 

FloJo gave me a target.com gift card for Christmas and I found this cute and warm car coat in my favorite color, red. I had it shipped to my mom's house, who then forwarded to me in my Christmas box. I pretty much live in it these days. It's part wool and matches everything, and who doesn't love a warm, cute winter hoodie?  Target.com, 23.99

Yes, I mean exactly what it sounds like.  In China the buildings are usually not heated, and our classroom building gets very, very cold. The other day I was in the bathroom, squat toilet, and my pee hitting the cold porcelein created steam. Which normally would not be a big deal, but it's a squat toilet. Worst facial ever!  Yes, I disinfected myself as soon as possible! 

Jon Hamm from Mad Men  (a great show, watch it!). I want to pretend his middle name is "honeybaked" and eat him for dinner. And breakfast. Rawwr! A rugged man in a suit in NYC? Soooo my thing. 

T he best spot for dancing in a bar? On the bar. Especially on Halloween night in China, when the bars are packed with thousands of people celebrating this Western holiday (read: all the cool kids). Here was my view for most of the night.  This was one of two bars I danced on that night; the other had a metal beam running the length of the ceiling above it, suitable for grasping while dancing. Someone thought ahead!  Alas, I was too busy dancing to take any pictures. (But we did get videotaped by several patrons.) Austin was the one who got us onto the bar, I gladly followed  Coyote Ugly style. Here we are around 3:30 AM, self-portrait. Very fun night!

I like wearing hats to bed. No, wait. I LOVE it.  I picked up the habit in San Antonio, where I had no heat in my bedroom and six very large, drafty windows. (It's pretty warm in San Antonio, except those few winter weeks when it's not.) I've picked up the habit again here in China, where indoor heating is not so efficient, i.e. no wall insulation, big drafty windows, and a heater located about a foot from the ceiling. (Side note to China: heat rises.) Also, I hate sleeping with my ears uncovered*. Usually I pull the blanket high up over my head so my ears are well covered, but with a hat, I can just pull it down over my ears and eyes. Right now I am using a furry, soft hat my mom sent me for Christmas. I couldn't tell if it was a really soft bag, or a hat. So I might be sleeping with a bag on my head. Who cares, I love it.  And, I think I need to find an adult version of the hat in this picture.  *I always thought this was just me, but my grandma said she hates it too!...

I've been Amazon shopping for my 2009 weekly planning calendar, a very important decision . I get the same one every year, but I am a calendar dork at heart and like perusing all of my options. Also, there are some really weird calendars out there and I like making fun of them.  I found a wonderful weekly calendar put out by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts illustrated with artwork of women reading. I collect artwork depicting women reading, but unfortunately this version is hard cover and I need something soft cover I can throw easily in my bag to and from school. So I won't be buying it, I'll stick to my soft cover  National Gallery of Art version , but if you like artwork depicting women reading, it's worth checking out.   The Reading Women, Amazon.com, $10.99

This picture immediately reminded me of A Christmas Story : "I can't put my arms down!"  He was so cute. The picture does not do him justice. 

My mom and dad used to make manjar (also known as dulce de leche) at Christmas for our neighbors, and save a bit for us to eat on a spoon or with ice cream on Christmas Eve. I remember also rolling little balls of it in rice crispies before eating. In any case, it is sweet and fattening, and therefore delicious.  There are several different ways to make it, but it all starts with sweetened condensed milk boiled into a caramel. The easiest way to make it is put the can in a very deep pot or pressure cooker and keep it submerged in boiling water continously for 4 hours (3 hours if you want it more syrupy).  KEEP IT SUBMERGED OR IT MIGHT EXPLODE. (And take the label off first.) Let it cool in the fridge for several hours before opening. (We left it in overnight.)  We used a pressure cooker and made several cans at once, then kept one for ourselves. It makes a great large-quantity gift. You can even add your own can label after it has cooled. I have also made it for coworkers.  1100 calori...

I am taller than most of the Chinese people around me, so when it rained I was constantly trying to avoid having my eyes gouged out by passing umbrella spokes. My dear friend FloJo sent me this umbrella and now not only am I safe from eye gouging, but I get constant compliments and admiring looks when I use it. Everyone wishes it were their umbrella too once they see it in action. It's easy to see through and keeps your back and shoulders very dry too.  The only caution is that it has to be left open while it dries, or the plastic sections might stick together. And it doesn't fold small, so it has to be carried indoors too. BUT these things are minor compared to how great this umbrella is. It also comes with cute borders, but I hate cutsey stuff, so I prefer the plain one. GET ONE.  Target.com, about $16.00 

Two Celestial Seasonings teas I love: Sleepytime Tea and Tension Tamer Tea.  Both with honey, and a little lemon in the Tension Tamer. Even the smells of these teas bring back a lot of nostalgia for me, because my mom would often make them for us growing up. She shipped some to me in China, it was a mom thing. Even though tea is everywhere here, I still love drinking these teas before bed. Good stuff. 

Well, I hope all you Americans had a nice Thanksgiving. I had dinner (not Thanksgiving dinner, just dinner) with some of the other volunteers in the area. It was fun, but no Thanksgiving like at home. I had to work that day too, which seemed all wrong. But I got a few messages from students wishing me Merry Thankgiving, it was very cute. My students are the reason I am still here. And my family called me at 1:30 AM and again at 7 AM, which was fun. I'll be posting a short lesson about time changes shortly.  Just kidding, I love you guys, I am glad you called. Even if I was half-asleep both times.  Here a few pics I thought you might like. The first one is how a cloth napkin (rare here) is used. Instead of laying it flat in your lap, you make it into a little catcher cloth. Kind of nifty, I think, and more practical. Just don't slide your plate into your lap!  The second is a quick snap of the lunch puppy. He was hanging out by the grill this day. Actually there are three puppie...

My apartment in China does not have central heat, so it gets quite chilly in here. I bought an electric blanket (which I pray doesn't catch on fire--products here are not known for their reliability and safety) but follow the Chinese tradition of placing the blanket underneath the bottom sheet and cotton mattress pad, not over the top comforter.  I turn it on about an hour before I am going to go to bed, and it is delicious crawling into the bottom-up warmed sheets.  I'll probably die in a fire for keeping an electric blanket under a cotton pad and sheet, but it sure is nice while it lasts.  I also love the heat lamps someone installed in the bathroom ceiling, the only heat source in there. Brightest light ever, but very nice when you step out of the shower. 

I've heard humor is a good antidote to discouragement, so here are two funny things that happened today:  1. Every Monday I have lunch with another foreign teacher at my school. Today the place we went had a cat roaming around. (Usually we go to the puppy place.)  There was a cardboard box sitting in the corner. He said, "Look in that box." I said, "Why, is there a cat in there?"  Sure enough, another kitty was curled up asleep in the box. I love that now my first guess is an animal of some sort sleeping in a box where I eat lunch.  2. My friend Rebecca sent me some measuring cups and spoons, since I can't find them here. I opened the box in front of my Chinese tutor and she was amazed by them, kept picking them up and flipping through them. Finally she asked me, "Why do Americans need so many spoons?" Good question. We just do. (Chinese cooking doesn't involve any measuring, you just throw in 'enough.') 

What I did today (Saturday): Woke up around 9 AM. Read emails, caught up on news, used my sun lamp Ate breakfast Took a shower Misc. grooming, i.e. plucked my eyebrows Put in a load of laundry Worked on lesson plans for next week Ate lunch More internet reading Cleaned the kitchen Went to the bakery for sliced bread Watched a movie while I hung up the laundry in my room to dry Wrote Christmas cards Fretted about my airline reservations home (all messed up) Ate dinner Studied Chinese Answered some emails Wrote a final exam Now it is 9 PM, I am going to bed because I have nothing else to do. There, now you know the details of my very exciting life in China.

I have been really angry and upset this week, due to some things happening in the educational system here. Angry and upset enough to make me want to throw in the towel and come home, to feel that being here is a waste of time. I have talked to a few other volunteers, they feel the same way. It's nice to know I am not alone in how I feel. None of us really have a solution. I don't want to say more right now, but just so you know, that is why the lack of posts.

I am experiencing a big old wave of culture shock (again) and pretty much hate everything right now. Sorry for the lack of posts.

My smart little brother asked me one time, when I was having a really bad day, what I was learning about myself by being here. It took me a few days to come up with an answer. I don't think everything I am learning is apparent to me right now, hard to see the forest for the trees, but one thing is certain: I can't imagine what will still be intimidating to me upon returning to the U.S. If I can survive this culture, this language, this country, this political system, this food, etc, what can really be scary to me? So for those that know me, you know that I am often high-strung and worrisome and prone to anxiety. I just plain worry a lot, due to a lack of confidence. But maybe that will change.

I sent an email to a colleague at school and the attachment was too large. This is the error message I received from the school's email system: I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following address. This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out. This is more than some men will tell you. Go computer!

Rootbeer Floats are my secret favorite dessert in the same way that Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle is my secret favorite movie. I ran across some Chinese canned rootbeer, a semi-miracle, so I sought out some vanilla ice cream to make my first Chinese rootbeer float. It was terrible. The ice cream was more like frozen Cool Whip (which I enjoy, but not with rootbeer), and the rootbeer had a strange aftertaste. But it was a rootbeer float. And when I ate it, I remembered all the great ones I've had. So it was still worth it.

I'm getting over my antiseptic fear of germs here. Not food poisoning germs, which are still evil, but the everyday type of germs we try so hard to eradicate with

The other day I was having lunch at the little hole in the wall place off campus, the one where the cook has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth at all times. Well, they have gotten a puppy, a cute little bugger. He kept wandering out where the tables were, begging for food from the patrons, and the owner kept shooing him back where he belonged: in the kitchen. Now, my Western mind thinks a public restaurant kitchen is no place for a dog, but the living-in-China part of me knows the food is cooked at such high temperature, there's little chance of me getting sick. I wonder if I will miss dogs in the kitchen when I return to America. Really, he is a cute puppy. By the way, many of these places are family owned and children stay with their parents all day before they start school, so the children spend their early years surrounded by the dirt and grease and grime and germs. I have a theory that if we ever do have a plague, cockroaches and Chinese kids are going to survive. They have...

Last week there was a taxi strike in my city, 10,000 taxis taken off the streets. If you are like me, you are wondering, "How can there be a taxi strike in a Communist country?" I don't know. I couldn't find anyone who could tell me, either. No one knows. It just happened. As my Chinese colleagues put it, "Who organized this?" And, "Is this a new day for China?" I didn't answer, as I have no idea. And it isn't my place to say. It wasn't in the newspapers, though. I only knew because I couldn't catch any taxis, and then I heard rumors of taxi drivers telling patrons a few days before to prepare for a taxi strike coming soon. But it wasn't reported on. I doubt anyone outside the city knew about it.

Two things I understand more about China, and feel guilty about judging harshly: 1. The clothing. It is, to a Westerner's eyes, bright and fancy and sometimes even a little gaudy. I didn't understand why all the girls want to wear such bright colors, so many embellishments and fancy accouterments on their clothes. But I have been learning that in decades past, all clothing was dull, dark grays and blues, very little color. Now people can have color and beauty in their life, and they want as much of it as possible. So when I see people on the street wearing such fancy and bright clothes, instead of being judgmental about the high level of ornamentation, I understand where it is coming from. It's actually a sign of their hope and prosperity. 2. Tomatoes. In China, tomatoes are a fruit like berries. Small grape tomatoes are even used as a topping on ice cream! Of course, I always looked on this as gross and weird. How could you eat tomatoes as a fruit topping on sweets? The...

Cooking: in my apartment I have a toaster oven, a hot plate, and a microwave. So I am learning to cook Chinese food using these three things. It is slow going. Full size ovens are rare and most of the food here is fried or steamed, not baked. Oh yeah, I also have a rice cooker, indispensable to Chinese cooks for both rice cooking and food steaming, but I don't use mine. I don't think rice is very healthy, and I just steam my veggies in the microwave. Timing: Enjoy your extra hour of sleep! No daylight savings here, and furthermore, the entire country is one time zone: Beijing Time. So my clock in Western China follows the same clock as Eastern Beijing. On the plus side, daylight does end later here. (I probably live in the equivalent of Western Time.) Chinese people are always surprised to learn the U.S. and Canada are split up into different time zones.

I hate being scared, but I love historical ghost walks or "haunted walks". Several U.S. cities have them (Boston, New Orleans) and I went on a great haunted walk in Ottawa when I was there last year. On a haunted walk, a guide takes a group on a walking tour of buildings and places that have haunted ghost stories. It's a great way to see the city you are visiting, as well as hear history about the buildings and people. Next time you are traveling to a major city, check and see if they offer a haunted walk. Really fun! Also, the Bowery Boys ( my favorite podcasters) have several podcasts about haunted and creepy places in NYC. Check them out on iTunes the next time you are there.

Last night I had a dream Prince William (yes, THAT Prince William) proposed to me. He abdicated the throne, then handed me a half million dollar diamond ring. Hey, at least I didn't expect to be Queen! I love when my brain dreams up these kinds of scenarios. I mean really, it was the happiest dream I've had in a while. Thanks, brain! You made me smile today.

1. Amazon.com 2. Target 3. iTunes 4. Google

It started raining here last Friday. And hasn't stopped since. I feel like I am living in Ray Bradbury's short story 'There Will Come Soft Rains."

It started raining here last Friday and hasn't stopped since. I feel like I am living in Ray Bradbury's short story "There Will Come Soft Rains." And here is the forecast for the rest of the week: Chongqing 59°F Current:Rain Wind: N at 2 mph Humidity: 94% Today 62° | 53° Thu 60° | 55° Fri 62° | 57° Sat 64° | 57°

A Chinese person told me something I thought was worth passing along, for those of you who are interested in Chinese culture: In China, people do not have a lot of respect for laws, but they deeply respect their leaders and do not question them or criticize them (at least, not openly). The leader of the country is like the father at the head of the family: you do what the leader tells you to do because he is the leader. But in the West, people often criticize, question, and make fun of their leaders. Leaders are people just like everyone else. But laws are taken very seriously (usually) and people keep the laws outside of getting caught. They follow rules because because it is the right thing to do. For what it's worth, I think this is an accurate summary of some of the differences between China and the West, based on my observations here.

It has been raining for five days straight in Chongqing. Now I know how to feels to live in Seattle. And there are no doors on the stores here so water gets trudged in everywhere, except for a nice mall I went to (to catch the subway in the basement, not to shop!) and they had a doorman wrapping umbrellas in plastic wrap so no water dripped on the floor. Great idea! When I come home for my winter break visit, I am definitely bringing back my wellies.

My apartment building. It is the school's hotel on the 1st three floors, and teacher's apartments on the top two floors. I live on the 4th floor. This is the front gate of my school. The cross street at the end of my block. I cross this street several times a day. You can see the escalator I referenced in another post. (click pictures to enlarge)

When I lived in Utah this past winter, I used a SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) sun lamp at my work desk. I bought this one on Amazon, a bit pricey, but the light projected really well at any angle. I set it up next to my laptop and I turned it on for about an hour in the morning and again in the afternoon. If you have a tendency toward SAD, I cannot underestimate the difference a SAD lamp can make. The only bad side affect was coworkers asking me what I was growing at my desk. ;) Our medical office here in China (they are awesome and give us anything we need) gives SAD lamps to people living in high pollution cities because the sunlight doesn't reach us very often. I have been feeling so down in the dumps the last few weeks and duh, I remembered my SAD lamp. It is on my desk right now, I hope it makes a difference. (This one is small and has to be angled toward eye level. I miss my big desk version.) You can also get standing SAD lamps for rooms, but these are even pricier. I...

I don't know what causes it, but I love the day that your head and heart finally clear and you can say to yourself with confidence and clarity: that guy is a jerk and treated/treats me badly and I am worth more than that. And you see the small bones he throws at you for what they are. And then you have the liberating confidence and self-esteem to not ever want to speak to him again. This short speech nails it. For the past year I've been able to relate to this character far too well. A movie can't change my life, but it sure can open your eyes a bit.

I bought black satin fabric to have made into a qipao (chee-pow), the traditional Chinese style dress. I chose this length and collar style, but mine will have little cap sleeves. I got the fabric at the wholesale market for about $8.00, and it'll probably cost another $10-15 for the tailoring. All in all, still a pretty good deal for a formal custom-tailored dress! My fabric is black with a subtle black cherry-blossom pattern embroidered/embossed into it. If I like the dress enough perhaps I will get a red or pink version made as well.

An article from 1968 , predicting what daily life in 2008 would be like. 4 hours a day of actual work? That sounds about right. The stuff about the computers? Prescient. But I still want my car I don't have to actually drive. via gawker.com

Hot, spicy and oh so delicious. One of the things I'll miss when I leave.

Here is a picture of a Chinese bbq stand on the sidewalk. These are very common, especially after 7:00 to 8:00 PM. Sometimes they will stay out all night near bars and such. You choose sticks of meat and/or veggies and they put them on the grill to cook, then fry them lightly in the wok with various spices, peppers and oils (all the stuff in those bowls and spice containers). So delicious! I bought some bbq after taking their picture: potatos, lotus, and veggie dumplings. Here is what it looks like after it is cooked: (Click pics to enlarge)

Remember Martha Stewart Living ? She always had a section called "Good Things." So as part of my effort to enjoy the present, here are some "Good Things": 1. Technology! I can keep in touch with friends and family. I don't have 24/7 internet access, but when I get on and see emails and updates, nothing makes me happier. 2. Really cheap cell phone service. My cell phone costs me about $3.00 a month to use. Eat that, Verizon! And no contracts. 3. Delicious bottled tea. Jasmine tea is very popular here as a cold drink, and you can buy it bottled just about everywhere. Light and refreshing and just slightly sweet, it's my favorite tea drink. 4. Dim Sum on the street. There are street vendors selling dim sum and Chinese BBQ all over the place. (Pics soon!) It isn't cheap or healthy, but it is plentiful and readily available, if you want it. And it makes your walk anywhere quite an adventure, all the smells and smoke. Occasionally I do treat myself to veggie ...

A quick language update: I have a tutor I meet with twice a week, for one hour each time. Her name is Cassie and she works for the school and she is really nice. We work on speaking Mandarin and writing Chinese characters. The plan is for me to continue studying with a tutor for the full two years I am here. (The Peace Corps pays for it, hooray!) Next week I start a Chinese calligraphy class here at the school. It's something I am really looking forward to. Maybe when I get back to the U.S., I can earn some side money drawing Chinese tattoos! haha. I passed my language test with the Peace Corps, I scored an Intermediate Low (the bare minimum they expected from us). Some people scored much higher, but whatever, I can dance better than they can!

One of the hardest things about being here is accepting that my Peace Corps service will be nothing like I imagined. I always thought of Peace Corps as living in a hut, helping people with their daily needs, making people happy, etc etc. And my experience is nothing like that. There are three goals of the Peace Corps: providing trained men and women to train other men and women, promote understanding of Americans abroad, and promote understanding of other cultures in America. So as I sit in my apt., surrounded by millions of people, most of whom couldn't care less I am here, watching other teachers getting paid and living well for what I am doing for free while struggling financially, I have to focus on the benefits of being here. They are not what I thought they would be. In the meantime, I cry a lot. I get really lonely. I get really frustrated. So bear with me, my peeps. I'll be happy here. It's just going to take some time.

A couple of days ago the Dean of my department at school took us out to dinner

A couple of days ago the Dean of my department took us (the foreign teachers and a few Chinese staff) out to dinner. One of the specialties at this restaurant is a soup that is served with the meat bones broken in half, sticking up out of the pot. It is tradition to drink the marrow from the bones with a straw when the meal is over. I tried not to smile too big at the other foreign teachers when the Dean declined on my behalf because I am a vegetarian. Not that there's anything wrong with drinking marrow from bones with a straw but...I'll stick to Diet Coke with my dinner, thanks! Also, one way to gauge how nice a restaurant is is by the type and availability of ashtrays at the table. This place had little individual glass ashtrays at every place setting. Very nice!

In Chinese culture, you don't say thank you to friends, family, or people who are helping you as part of their job, because they are just fulfilling their role like they should. For example, you don't thank parents for anything because they're your parents, they're SUPPOSED to help you. If you DO thank them, it is insulting to them. it means you don't think very highly of them. You only thank strangers or people who help you when it is NOT their job (such as when someone gives you directions on the street or something). They think it's weird that Westerners say thank you so much. It is one of the hardest things I have remembering here, I am always biting my tongue a second too late. And I always know if I have committed a "thank you" faux pas because they get really embarrassed and stammer out a "you're welcome." (In Chinese, of course.) Oh yeah, this is also why you don't tip: they are paid to do their job, to give them a tip would b...

You often see very small, elderly people here. And when I say small, I mean small: sometimes only 4 feet tall or so, most likely because of malnutrition they suffered as children. And when I see them, I never fail to feel a combination of sadness and awe: an estimated 30-70 million people died of starvation (and other reasons) between 1945 and the 1970's in China. These are the survivors. They might be tiny, but they have more strength than I hope I ever have to find out I have.

In China, you don't tip anyone. Not restaurant staff, not taxi drivers, not the hotel bellman. I still feel bad when I leave the table or the taxi without tipping, and I carried my own suitcases to the lobby rather than ask someone to do it whom I couldn't tip. I'm sure I'll get over it before I leave. And then feel grouchy when I return to America and have to leave tips again. Also, I realized I didn't come here to be happy or enjoy myself, I came here to learn and help people. And ironically, I feel much better now that I don't expect to be happy here. I hope that will come, but if not, it will still be a good experience. Maybe people say their first year sucked, and the second year was really fun. So, perhaps that will be the case with me.

I've been waiting for the day Olivia Newton-John's Let's Get Physical would make an appearance on The Office . Friends, that day has come, and with it the return of The Office I know and love. We're only two episodes in, but so far this season is Killing It. 4th Season wasn't bad, it had some funny moments, but overall, I have to confess I don't even remember very much about it. But two episodes in, the 5th season is reminding me of seasons 2 and 3. Which is a very good thing. (Especially season 2, the high point I think.) And the best part of course, Jim...making jokes, playing pranks, taking a stand with Pam. Here is my favorite Jim moment from Episode 2. If I could find a man like this...I would no longer be single.

This pic was taken on the skytrain bridge a block from my apartment. It is a pretty good representation of my neighborhood. Very busy and full of neon lights. I am with another PC volunteer here. We were in a larger group going downtown. But PCVs are the best so we stick together!

Before I got to China, I heard many times that everything here functions off of relationships, the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" theory x 1000. Here is one example of how it works: My lovely coworkers in San Antonio sent me a care package by Fedex. It arrives in China, but doesn't get delivered for 3 days because Fedex can't figure out the address. Hmmm....but I have received boxes from my mother sent to this address through the post office with no problem. Weird. So I look into it further... It turns out the boxes my mom sent me also don't have a complete address, but didn't matter because when the mail arrives at the local post office, they just deliver it to the general post office for my school, who then calls the secretary of my dept., who then calls me and tells me I have a package and to go collect it. My school has a relationship with the post office, no complete address needed. Fedex doesn't have this relationship. (In fact, when I...

Take a drinking glass, fill it with broken (not crushed) pieces of graham crackers, pour in cold milk and eat it with a spoon. (My dad taught me to make this long before Golden Grahams hijacked it.) One of my favorite treats, and an awesome bedtime snack. I also love graham crackers and cream cheese frosting sandwiches. Basically you can never go wrong with graham crackers. I think it tastes best with plain grahams, not the cinnamon or chocolate variety. Other yummy snacks my parents would make us: -a smashed banana, sugar and milk in a glass, eaten with a spoon -maple snow (fresh snow mixed with maple syrup and cream)

A couple of random things: 1. You can't flush toilet paper in China, the sewer system is not built for it. So every bathroom has a little garbage can next to the toilet to dispose of used tissue. You throw the bag away every few days. In a related note, no, there is no Lysol here. I know. 2. You can smoke anywhere. I still get surprised at people smoking indoors. Today I had lunch at this little hole in the wall (the best food is at the hole in the walls) and the cook came out of the kitchen with a cigarette dangling from his lip. I love that my cook was dropping ashes while cooking my food. Seriously, it is so China! (They cook the food to boiling so I know it is germ free.) 3. You have to shove your way to the front to get on a bus, train, or light rail car. Foreigners are often shy about this at first, but I have become fearless. Today I squeezed a girl like a watermelon seed when she tried to cut in front of me. Haha, she thought I would be an easy target I am sure. NOT SO M...

Last night I went on a boat trip on the Yangtze River to celebrate the birthday of one of the guys here. I was able to take some pictures of shore from the boat. Here are two of my favorites views from the river.

Last night I took a boat ride up the Yangtze River. Here is a picture I took while passing underneath one of the many bridges that connect the districts (boroughs) of Chongqing.

I always say there are two kinds of friends: 1. The ones you hang out with because it's convenient: you have the same job, or live in the same place, or share some common activity. You like them and enjoy their company and remember fondly your time spent together when you move on. But when it is no longer convenient to be together, you drift apart. 2. The ones that are still your cherished friends no matter where you live, what your job is, what new adventures you pursue, how much your tastes change or how you choose to live your life. When you move on, you take each other along. Your friendship shifts and adjusts to the new person you are becoming, but it doesn't falter or weaken. You still have the same affection, love and respect for them that you had when you first met them. Today is a friend's birthday from the 2nd category. Our lives are wildly divergent, but I still like her more than most people I have ever met. Knowing her is still a joy, even after 20 years of fri...

One thing I am still getting used to is people following my every move in the store. Not in a malicious way, but in a "we have different standards of closeness and you're a foreigner so I want to make sure you are taken care of so I will follow you at a 2 foot length every step you take" kind of way. Literally, they are two feet away, watching everything you look at, trying to sell you the most expensive thing. I love shopping, but sometimes I am just not up to "The Shadow." I have learned to tune them out, but then I feel rude. The other thing I am still getting used to is people being so interested in what you are buying. They will unabashedly stare at your items, and if you have a cart, sometimes even reach their hand in and pick up your stuff to get a closer look. They are just very curious about what foreigners like, and they have basically no personal territorial limits. One of the other girls here jokes we should get paid for shopping, because whatever we...

I live in a cool city. Just in the past week or so have I really felt comfortable enough to explore. I am still always the first one to come home, but finally having a bit of fun here. Tonight I danced my heiny off in a club that switches to Western music when foreigners are there. I never expected to be dancing to reggaeton in China, but it was a blast! (Here I am with one of the other volunteers, you can see my neighborhood in the background. Click to enlarge.)

So last night I was standing under an umbrella with a male friend when we see a girl in a short skirt and tall-ish boots standing on the curb. So of course he had to ogle her. My assessment? Her boots should have been taller, with a higher heel. They were 1 1/2 inch heeled boots and hit mid-calf. What is the point of those? I told him about my super-awesome four inch red leather boots, which I unfortunately had to leave at home. And then later that night I got a Facebook message from an old college friend I haven't seen in years who said, "Please tell me you still have the red leather boots??" Isn't that so weird how that happens? I don't talk about the boots in years, and then they come up twice in one day, on two different continents. Weird. But they ARE basically the most awesome red boots ever*. I bought them at 6 AM with my boss Krista during the Nordstrom half-yearly sale. I feel like Wonder Woman in those boots. I become very aggressive. It's not a ba...

Last night we went further into downtown by SkyTrain

Last night we went by SkyTrain to hang out at an outdoor pub. The SkyTrain is very clean and efficient and inexpensive (about $.10 to ride each way) and one of my favorite things about living in this massive city. The only bad thing is that it only runs until 10:30 or so, which means we have to take a taxi home, but it's great to live in a city with such convenient public transport. (This is Chris and Ryan, two volunteers who have been here for a year and live near me. They know all the ins and outs so they are teaching us newbies the good hang out spots. It was really rainy and humid last night, hence the umbrellas and pulled up pants.)

Sometimes, you don't know how much you love something until it's gone. For me, that thing is corn tortillas. In China you can find some Western products, but Hispanic? No. So my sweet mother sent me some corn tortillas. I grated a little bit of my precious cheese (also hard to find in China, but I found some) on top, heated them up, added some sliced tomato and Tabasco sauce, and had the best lunch I've had in weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love Chinese food, but sometimes your tongue craves something familiar. There isn't really anything in China similar to corn tortillas, in either flavor or texture. I find that Spanish culture and cuisine is what I miss most about being in China, because it just plain doesn't exist here in any capacity. Except for Tabasco sauce.

You know how at Macaroni Grill they play Italian lessons instead of music in the bathroom? My school plays English lessons over the outdoor public address system every morning, campus wide. Sometimes they are lessons about working for a western company, or how to find a job after graduation. They seem to be geared toward Business English. I always wonder who decides what lessons to play. At other times of the day they play music or dialogue in Chinese. I always hope the Chinese broadcast is not some kind of evacuation order. So far, so good. In public shopping areas music is also played over the public address system. No one seems phased by this in the least. I always try to imagine what would happen if in Times Square, the government suddenly started playing music a couple of times a day. Or Chinese lessons.

Here is a picture of my new haircut. When in Rome... :) Bangs are very popular here, so I thought I'd give them a try for old time's sake. Not sure if I'll keep them, but fun to try. AND, I got my patch in the mail! So now I am official. It doesn't mean anything in China, of course, but it's nice to have it here with me.

The past few weeks have been very humbling for me. Food where I live is very expensive, so I have been able to afford mostly vegetables. This is not a bad thing, veggies are very good for you, but days full of only veggies start to make you feel rather hungry. I also had a few fruits, and some crackers, but I had to eat these sparingly. Rice noodles are very abundant and cheap, but they have no nutrition so I don't eat them. In the Peace Corps we are given an allotment of money, and we are not allowed to have 2nd jobs or accept any money. We are supposed to live on what we have. A lot of people in the world experience hunger. It has been very humbling to be hungry. My mom stepped in and sent me some protein bars, as well as some money so I could buy a large bag of beans and some other basics. You know you are living sparingly when you get very excited to buy a bag of black beans!

"Instead of worrying so much about who you should be, why don't you just...be? No guilt. Just you." Gio, on Ugly Betty . Yes, it has come to that. Mind altering drugs might be involved, but this is the most profound thing I've heard in weeks.

Girls here don't carry their own stuff. I often get looks of shock that I am prepared to carry my own groceries, household goods, luggage etc. Sometimes it makes me feel like an Amazonian freak; not only am I a good half foot taller than most women around me, I also lift and carry heavy things all alone! It's very '1850's in Atlanta' here sometimes. There are men you can pay to carry heavy things for you, the 'bang bang men.' ('Bang' means 'help' in Mandarin.) They hang out near the store registers and exits waiting for people who look like they need help, or who look like they will pay for help. I'm a girl and (in their eyes) a wealthy foreigner, so every time I got to the store I get targeted by a bang bang man. And at the train station. And the bus station. It gets very old. But it also makes me feel happy to have a chance to show Chinese girls it IS possible to be self-sufficient and do things for yourself, without the bang bang m...

Our table at the Chinese banquet: So much food comes to the table, they just stack dishes on top of dishes. About four deep is as high as I've seen them go. Banquets are very noisy, boisterous, drawn out affairs. People who don't know each other talk between tables and share a shot of Chinese beer or vodka. It's like a family reunion, but you met at the front door.

NBC came back to iTunes, which means I can watch 30 Rock and The Office this season after all! (Although I am sad to say I am more excited about 30 Rock than The Office .) Hulu turned out to be a bust over here, even with an IP bouncer my internet connection is too slow to stream. Shows that are popular here: Lost, Prison Break, Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City, Ugly Betty and Friends . You can buy these DVDs on the street easily. I can see why the humor of 30 Rock and The Office doesn't translate well, but if only they'd get on The Daily Show bandwagon, I'd be set!

The Peace Corps doesn't fill prescriptions for Ambien. I have started rationing my remaining supply. Goodbye, sweet sleep. It's been nice knowing you.

I bought a bag of salt at the grocery store and was looking for a salt shaker. No luck at all, nothing even remotely like a salt shaker. I was so confused as to how there could be salt but no salt shakers. How do people get their salt evenly and cleanly onto their food? Then I opened the bag of salt. It has the consistency and texture of brown sugar, there's no way it would pour out of a salt shaker like the granulated salt I am used to. It's eye-opening to realize how many of these cultural biases I have. The big ones you can try to prepare yourself for; these small ones catch you off guard, and I think it is the small ones that most contribute to culture shock over the long-term. As we (Peace Corps Volunteers) like to say, "Everything's the same, except it's all different."

So my food poisoning got better, not worse. I have never been in so much pain! And I couldn't keep anything down for 4 days, so our Peace Corps doctor put me on Cipro, a drug to treat bacteria. I am finally getting better. And I had to teach the last two days, so I just didn't eat anything and drank only Sprite and water with rehydration enzymes. The thought of food repulsed me anyway. On the plus side, it's a great diet! I kept thinking of that quotation, "I'm just one stomach flu away from my target weight." I am still supposed to eat only bland and easy-to-digest foods until I am fully better. Not easy to find here, everything is so spicy, but luckily I do have saltines.

So it turns out I didn't have the flu, I had my first case of Chinese food poisoning. Basically all food here is contaminated, either because it is not refrigerated or it is grown using human waste as fertilizer. So you have to cook it or sterilize it. I ate some raw onions in a dish at a restaurant on Friday night. Usually restaurants are very good about sterilizing food so their patrons don't get sick, but I got a bad deal. And, let me tell you, I have not experienced pain like I did today. I felt like my insides were going through a meat grinder for hours, and I had a fever of 101. Luckily feeling better tonight. Our Peace Corps doctor told me to eat only bland food for the next day or two, just to be safe. Never eating raw foods in public again!

My mom sent me some Clif Bars. HEAVEN. Is there anything better than the Peanut Toffee Clif Bar? Only the Mint Chocolate and Gingerbread versions! They don't sell anything like this in China. Clif Bars are my new version of Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled into one. I am rationing them until I get the next shipment.

I am getting settled into my new apartment. It's very strange to be alone, I am used to having the other Peace Corps volunteers I came with close by. I have been spoken to very rapidly and loudly in Chinese several times over the past few days as I try to figure out how things work here. (That thing where you talk more loudly when someone doesn't understand you? Not just a Western thing.) For example, if you buy produce in the grocery store, you have to have it weighed at a special weigh station before you get to the counter. Guess when I found that out? At the counter. Okay, back to the produce section. And certain household items have to be purchased at a special counter. Everyone just seems to know this, there are no signs or anything. I am often in the wrong line, at the wrong place, saying the wrong thing. But I am still having fun here! I start classes on Monday. I am teaching four different classes: Oral English, Intercultural Communication, American Culture and Educat...

I cut my hair today, it now looks like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. It took two hours, it was the most meticulous haircut I have ever received. He was amazing. I wish I could take him with me to Chongqing. Tomorrow I move into a hotel with the other volunteers in downtown Chengdu. We have a few days of meetings and then I move to Chongqing on Wednesday. It's about 4 hours away by train. Our new school helps us move, I am crossing my fingers they bring a car or some strong men to help! My suitcases are hella heavy. We had a banquet last night for our host families. The power went out so we ate in the dark, and then we decided to move to a restaurant next door where dinner started all over again. It was a very China evening. I will post pics asap.

One of the Peace Corps volunteers is named Holly. About 18 times a day I want to call her "Horry." I know it's wrong, but I still want to. But we do say (to each other), "It's dericious!"

I have a sad heart right now. I know the quality of this blog isn't high right now and the sad heart is why. I'll get over it, we always do, but in the meantime to those that read this blog, I'm sorry! I will hopefully have something fun to say soon.

One of the most striking differences between Western and Chinese culture is the way in which we get information. For example, in the West we take the initiative to seek out information from qualified sources. In China, most people do not think it is necessary to seek out information from experts because whatever is important for them to know, they will be told. As a result, information is not made public, without major complaints. (Our Peace Corps country director tells the story of consulting the USGS after the earthquake because it was difficult to find information locally. I often seek out Western resources that have no counterpart here.) This has a huge impact on teaching because our students are used to being told information and repeating it back. This is what they consider learning. Asking them to research a topic and report on their findings, or come up with their own unique ideas, is unheard of. That process just does not exist here. I never realized before the general sense ...

I love musicals in general, but especially the tenor part. This man's voice when he sings "How can I leave her? Where would I start?" never fails to send a chill through me. One of my all-time favorite pieces of recorded music. ( Anthem , from Chess. )

Chongqing (pronounced 'chongching'), China: home to 32 million people (around 10 million in the city proper). The city straddles the Yangtze River, with several bridges connecting the two sides. I live in a thriving neighborhood of skyscrapers, restaurants and shops, only a few stops from the city center by metro. I look forward to exploring my new city and taking pictures along the way. I love bridges! (These pics are not mine, they are from the city tourism site.)

Chongqing (pronounced 'chongching'), China: home to 32 million people (around 10 million in the city proper). The city straddles the Yangtze River, with several bridges connecting the two sides. I live in a thriving neighborhood of skyscrapers, restaurants and shops, only a few stops from the city center by metro. I look forward to exploring my new city and taking pictures along the way. And I love bridges! (These pics are not mine, they are from the city tourism site.)

Here are some things that the Chinese have a hard time understanding about Americans: 1. Our independence from our parents at an early age 2. Our reluctance to accept help in our daily life with small tasks we can do ourselves 3. Our need for a schedule and desire to make plans in advance 4. Our ability to be very direct without getting our feelings hurt 5. The individual is usually more important than the whole And from talking to my fellow volunteers, here are some things we have a hard time grasping about Chinese culture: 1. When people want to help you do even the most basic of things, it is because they care about you 2. No schedules and no need to tell anyone in advance of your plans 3. Constantly reassure people you are pleased with everything 4. If it is for the good of the family, the school, or the country, you don't complain or protest, you accept it. 5. Lack of conflict is the most important goal in everything. As a result, never tell anyone what you are really thinking...

2:00 PM, kitten tummy, dark and rainy day, curled up in a soft blanket, afternoon nap. The best.