Rebecca A. Foster

My dream living space has these two items in it:  Brass fire hose couplings, as bookends or paper weights: An old library card catalogue, as a storage space for desk supplies and odds and ends: I love the idea of using an old item meant for one thing as something else. Also, recycled items. I think it brings a nice ambience and karma into your home to have items that were used and loved by someone else. 

This song is full of crap, but her corset dress is gorgeous. If you can stand waiting until the song is almost over, there is a great shot of it while she is running through the field. Because if I'm wearing a corset dress, pretty much that's what I'm going to do, too. I mean, how can you do something mundane like drive a car in a corset dress? Running through a field towards your lover, that's what corset dresses are for.  But I digress. This is a great dress*. WANT.  Link to the video *THIS is what I should have been wearing for my D.C. dinner date. No bra needed. 

I often find myself attracted to men who are not so verbally expressive, but are really good with their bodies. Their work might involve physical action and agility, or their favorite hobbies require it. They know where they are in space at all times. They use their bodies, not their mouths, to express thoughts and emotions.  And I am none of these things. I am constantly covered in bruises. I've knocked myself out cold, more than once. I sometimes feel awkward and uncomfortable expressing with my body what is happening in my head*. I guess in falling for these men, I'm attracted to what I lack. There is something very ying-yangy about it that is hard to resist. It can be hard, though, to make such a man understand that lack of physical comfort doesn't equal lack of feeling, that it takes time for a word-centered person to express and orient themselves physically. I have had some good, and bad, experiences with this. But it's nice when we can find middle ground. *Dancin...

1. Cleaning Supplies 2. OPI nail polish colors 3. Stationery 4. Paper of all kinds 5. New socks 6. Diet Coke 7. Texts (picture and word) 8. Hot baths 9. Cardigans 10. Holding hands

Maybe it is the Texan in me, but I love big trucks. My dad had a Ford F-150 V-8, not a huge truck, but the perfect size for me. The best part of visiting him (other than him, of course) was being able to use the truck while I was there. He just used it to tow stuff, so it was all mine when I was in town. I felt like the Queen of Sheba driving it, I wanted to drive all over the other cars.  I have a dorky sedan, but my dream is to own a truck. Too expensive for me right now, but someday... If I had to choose between a guy who drove a sportscar and one who owned a truck? Truckman, hands down. Sports cars are for weinies! 

I bought three of these bras to take to China, one each in pink, black and beige. Very soft and comfy, but good support and fit (I'm a 36C), with no strap sliding.  The height of the cups is great too, not granny-like high, but not weird-t-shirt-edge low, either. It's the middle bear of bras.  And they are convertible, which I didn't realize until about 2 months ago. (I am not, generally, a noticer of things.) But I kicked myself when I realized, because just before I left for China (after I had left home but before I flew out), I had a dinner date I really wanted to look nice for, so I brought a new charcoal silk dress I had splurged on (limited packing space!). Which really needed a strapless bra. And that in all my rush to move to China, I had forgotten to pack.  I had a gray cardigan I could wear to hide the straps, so I did that instead. In June. In Washington, D.C. (If you are not familiar with D.C. June weather: very hot and humid.) I was already nervous, and now als...

What I've learned: 1. They sell these silk robes for the tourists. I've never seen one for sale in Chongqing, but when I saw this one for sale in Xi'an, I broke down and bought one; not culturally "Chinese" to me, but still pretty. 2. McDonald's Asia >>> McDonald's Everywhere Else. Cleanliness standards! Supply standards! And sometimes the familiarity of Western fat and chemicals just tastes good. French fries and strawberry milkshakes forever!  (In Xi'an, where I was a tourist, and where they have a McDonald's.)

This past week's episode of The Office (one of my fave eps this season, fwiw) had a traffic radar race: the guys running past the street radar as fast as they could to see who gets the highest speed. And reminding me of why I love The Office so much, my first thought was, "How did MY office never think of doing this?"   If we had, we'd have been out there every day, guaranteed.  I love Jim as the voice of reason. It just seems like with Jim around, nothing very bad could happen to you. 

I'm a big advocoate of learning a second language, even if you don't think you'll need to use it very often, because I believe it expands your creativity and cognitive ability.  I'm studying Mandarin while living in China, and although it is extremely difficult for me to master, I'm learning to appreciate the beauty of this language.  I'm a minimalist, and what I love about Mandarin is its ability to use spareness and logic to convey complex meanings. They don't use three words when one or two will do. The library of sounds is much smaller than in English, which can cause a lot of confusion for me; my ears are not yet skilled at differentiating such minute differences, but the preciseness has a simple beauty I am learning to appreciate. Those one or two words can convey a more complex understanding than our three, due to the artistry of the written language.  Reading Chinese characters involves a lot of memorization. A lot, a lot, a lot. Every night before b...

I am finally home! It was a harrowing journey, starting because the travel agency I used to purchase my ticket put Ms. as part of my name. Which is not on my passport of course, so the China airline was not going to let me on the plane. They don't know about titles, they just match up alphabet letters. I almost had a meltdown right at the airport. It took about 3 hours to get the mess straightened out, and the whole rest of the trip I was afraid I would get blocked again from getting on a plane because of it. And the the flight from China took off two hours late, causing me to miss my connection at LAX, causing me to have to spend the night unexpectedly in LA, but alls well that ends well and I am home. PHEW. I am scared to get back on the plane to go back to China. I hate flying, this did nothing for that. But, sad to say, I am relieved to be out of China. There are little ways I have noticed that I have acclimated to China (being okay with a lack of personal space, lowered standa...

Customs and Immigrations Agent at LAX: "Welcome home, Miss F--r." Me: "Thank you." *cries* I only cried on the inside. But tears of joy were shed in my heart. There is nothing like coming back to your home country.

I saw a trailer today for Wolverine: Origins and literally I started feeling woozy and flush. (In other parlance: I swooned.) I had NO idea this movie was coming out, but evidentally it has passed the Chinese movie censors and will be playing locally.  I'll never forget being dragged to the original X-Men movie with a group of friends, only to be blown away by the first sight of Wolverine in the cage fight, all sweat and snarl and sexy as hell. I think I went back five times. And someone gave me a Wolverine collectible trading card that I placed over the odometer on my car's dashboard; pretty sure my mechanic made fun of me behind my back every time I brought my car in.  Seeing Wolverine on screen today reminded me of everything I love about my home culture: hot, strong men, rough and ready, not afraid to kick ass and take names. There ain't nothing harmonious about Wolverine!  And he just looks realllly good in those jeans and leather jacket. Come to think of it, I'm p...

This is why I keep getting food poisoning: here is a cart of livers or hearts or something on the sidewalk.  There is non-refridgerated meat everywhere around here. It smells bad. I try to avoid it, but it's all over the sidewalks in carts like this. I can only imagine how far these germs spread. 

This is me and Nicole (and Jonny in the background) in Xi'an. Nicole is my best friend here in the Peace Corps; we went through training together and she is assigned to a small town about 2 hours from Chongqing. She served for two years in Benin with the PC, then transferred here. She's from Orlando, FL and has a Masters in Literature. She is very talented at languages and scored the highest out of our group on our languate test. She is a lot of fun and I am glad she's here! I call her "xiao pengyou" or "little friend" because she is tiny. Jonny is assigned about 18 hours away so I hardly ever get to see him, but he is hilarious!  He came to China last year, so he's an old hat here. Nicole and I are planning a trip to go see him at his site this Spring. 

This past weekend I went with a few friends to Xi'an, one of the ancient capital cities in China. (Google it if you want more info.) It's famous for the underground Terra Cotta Warriors discovered in the 1970's, sculpted and buried underground to protect Emporer Qin in the afterlife. Each warrior's face is personalized, and all the workers were murdered after constructing the underground army to prevent anyone from knowing it existed. (A farmer digging a well in 1974 found them.)  Xi'an itself is a lovely city, very clean and spacious, with beautiful old buildings and architecture. Compared to the city where I live, I could hardly believe I was in the same country! (And yes, there is a reason Peace Corps does not put us in the more developed cities, but it was my first glimpse of the "other" China and kinda blew me away.) 

I am back in Chongqing, but leaving again in 2 days for the U.S.  Here's a brief rundown of the week:  1. Arrive in Chengdu last Tuesday after taking the long distance bus with my friends Marc and Holly, who came to visit me in Chongqing for the weekend. Run into my friend Chris in the Peace Corps office, where we have both come a day early for medical reasons. We go to the hospital, where I have surgery in my cheek to remove an enlarged lymph node that developed a cyst. THIS HURTS A LOT. I take pain pills for the next 48 hours and can't open my mouth all the way. Also, I still have a loss of feeling on the left side of my mouth. I hope it comes back. The node is being analyzed for cancer, but as I have not heard anything, I assume it was negative. Surgery in China is not something I ever want to do again.  2. We have our 3 days or so of meetings, and I get to see other volunteers and eat at real restaurants and stay in a hotel and this is all a lot of fun. (Every year the Peac...

I love friends who understand wearing silk Chinese robes while feeding each other hamburgers is super funny. No really, it is!   (Me and J. in our hostel room in Xi'an)

In quotations, because it's the name of this song. My new favorite stripper song!  And yes, I watch Gossip Girl .   I checked it out because my Chinese students love it, building bridges and all of that; I lose credibility if THEY know something about American culture that I don't.  It's a silly show, but the clothes are fun and Nate is hot. And Chuck Bass is hilarious. 

Hey everyone, I am going to be on the road without my laptop or email access for about a week. So, everyone take care, I hope I will have some fun pictures to share when I return! 

I love that my laptop and iPod run on 100 - 240 voltage and I don't have to carry converters.  I love that I can take antibiotics when I get sick.  I love that I can download silly American tv shows and get a small respite from daily life here.  I love that I can get dimsum 24 hours a day on the street near my apartment.  I love that I have friends who know I am eccentric and have a hard time moving past my mistakes, and like me anyway.  I love that I can still shop on Amazon, Target and iTunes because my credit card address is still U.S. based.  I love cheese. 

Othello is my favorite board game AND my favorite Shakespearean play, but this post is about the board game.  If you've never played Othello, it sounds easy: you and a partner each choose a color (black or white) then attempt to turn all the wafers on the board to your color. You do this by taking turns placing wafers on the board and trying to surround your opponent's wafers with one of your own color at either end; a wafer is flipped to be the color of the most recent tiles surrounding it.  I learned to play it at around age 7, with my grandpa; it's a great game for kids to play with adults because it has simple rules and requires few verbal skills, but can help kids sharpen logic and strategy skills. It's a visual logic game, not a game of chance. And it's not a game you "master"; ideally, you continue to play against a partner that matches your skill level and continues to challenge you. Try it! You might like it.