Rebecca A. Foster

Over the weekend, I was eating dinner at an Indian restaurant with some friends and when I lifted my fork to my mouth for the first bite, I misjudged and stabbed myself in the lip with it. D'oh!  I felt like a real idiot. I guess that's how you know you've been in China for a while, you forget how to eat with a fork without hurting yourself. No wonder baby forks are plastic. Chopsticks are pretty cool, though. Once you get the hang of it, they are pretty easy to eat with, and force you to take smaller bites. And they strengthen your hand muscles and improve dexterity. I used to carry a pair of chopsticks in my bag, because most places don't have sanitary chopsticks for you to use; there is just a communal chopstick holder on the table. But I got lazy and now just suck it up and use their chopsticks. I figure at least I am building up germ immunity. HOWEVER, I was looking for a picture of chopsticks to use for this story and found this picture. It's a bra that can ...

This week I did a lesson for my classes on 'utopia' vs. 'dystopia.' I showed them a short clip from the film Children of Men , but I knew it wouldn't have the same impact on them it had on me the first time I saw it; our city streets are not so different from the scenes depicted in the movie. I doubt they realized London had been changed for the movie to resemble a dystopic nightmare, and I didn't point it out to them. (Click on the link above for a short advertisement for the film which shows what I am referring to.) I also showed them this video . I debated with myself as to whether I should, but I ultimately did because I think the overall message of the song is powerful. (It's something I can't speak about openly here, but if you watch the video, and remember where I am, you'll perhaps understand why I hesitated.) There are certain topics we have been "asked" not to discuss here, under any circumstances. I look forward to the day I...

(See English text on the packaging): Skincare in China = weight loss in America. A national obsession. Beauty masks like this one are very popular here and cost only around $.50 each. My favorites are infused with green tea, tea tree oil or red wine. And I hate to brag, but my skin looks like a baby's butt after I wear one. Here's what they look like out of the package: Yes, you look like a burn victim while wearing it. It's worth it. You can't find diet foods here, but you can stick all kinds of things on your face. I'm now addicted to glowing skin. Also, I'm pretty and charming. Thanks, China!

A shot of the daytime skyline in Chongqing, or as we call it 'The Chonx.'  No, that isn't a storm or fog, it's pollution. Because the sun's rays can't penetrate the pollution, the sun rarely shines here. The Peace Corps provides us with in-home air purifiers, so it's all good, unless you want to go outside; then it's headaches, coughing, and blowing black stuff out of your nose. I run outside here, but not more than three miles or so at a time. I miss long distance running. Two years here shouldn't hurt us long-term, but I worry about the kids growing up here.

Rob Pattinson: that perfect jawline, that sexy scruff,  those green eyes. *sigh* Still lickable.  He's the male equivalent of marshmallow cream, and sometimes, a girl needs cream. (Next post, we return to our regularly scheduled Chinese adventures.) (Picture via vanityfair.com  )

Some days are really tough here. It can be very lonely and discouraging to live in such an alienating-to-foreigners culture so far away from friends and family, to be illiterate, to experience the loss of friendships. To get through the tough times, I try to focus on goals. Here are a few of mine: 1. Lose at least 30 lbs. (This shouldn't be number one, but it is.) 2. Speak Chinese at the Advanced Intermediate level. 3. Understand at least 2,000 Chinese characters. 4. Get back the self-esteem I lost. Feeling used and mislead: it doesn't do a body (or mind) good. 5. Let go without anger or resentment those who don't want my love. 6. Decide whether to pursue the Columbia fellowship. 7. Stop judging my accomplishments by whether I am married and have kids (as my church and society advocate). 8. Be grateful for what I have. 9. Quit whining about what I don't have. 10. Find gainful employment again, at some point.

This is where I buy my vegetables. It's not clean, but you can't eat veggies without decontaminating them in some way anyway, so it really doesn't matter. (And 100% organic!  A bit different from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's though.) You can buy produce from the supermarket, but it's 3x as expensive and has to be weighed at a weigh station rather than at checkout like in Western grocery stores. There are no lines, so you have to fight your way to the front, push other's bags of produce out of the way, and get your food weighed by a sullen faced girl who doesn't acknowledge you. It sucks. So I come here instead. This type of market is the most common way to buy vegetables in China. Here you can see potatoes, onions, and different kinds of greens for sale. The quality varies depending on the day and what they are able to get. But you can usually get these basics, along with tomatoes, garlic and mushrooms. Sometimes they have radishes, lettuce, broccoli and caul...

Sometimes Westerners look cross-eyed to me now, especially the girls. And Americans have super-white teeth! Almost fake-looking at times. It's funny how your perceptions change when your daily view changes.

Here I am with Chris at a party this weekend. I LOVE pink hair. This is a wig, but I'd dye my real hair pink again if it weren't so hair-damaging. (And this picture is what happens when you ask a drunk girl at a party to take your picture; just a weee bit crooked. Chris blinked, he's not drunk.)

This week in my classes we talked about Superheroes. As part of the lesson, I asked each of them to choose which superpower they would most like to have, and how they would use it to help their community. They all chose the power to read minds/change people's thoughts so they could remove their bad thoughts. It was one of those things here that reminds you, Toto, you aren't in Kansas anymore. I wonder what percentage of American students would choose this power? (As my co-teacher Andrew noted, "Orwell must not be high on the reading list here.")

'Tongbian' is a Chinese word that means "the urine of boys under age 12."  I'm a girl, so maybe you can tell me: what's so special about boy's pee that it deserves its own word?

I wanted to share with you a taste of what I encounter when I leave my apartment. I needed bread, so I videotaped my walk from my gate to the bakery. I held the camera in front of me without using the view finder, so it isn't great quality, but I was trying to be inconspicuous. When I point the camera at the white bins? Those are turtles, frogs, fish and salamanders, sold alive for fresh cooking.

I've been to the doctor twice since I've been here. Medical care here is very different from Western medical care. When I saw a doctor for pain in my back, the doctor saw me in a conference room, not an examining room. You don't remove your clothes, and in addition to the doctor, there was a nurse, my translator, and a random old guy who saw a foreigner being examined and came in to see what was going on. No one seemed to think having a strange guy in the room watching me was at all weird. (As a Westerner, my thoughts were a bit different. But, it's one of those cultural things you just let go.) They don't take your temperature, BP, etc. The doctor just looks at you to determine if your color is correct, if you appear to be healthy. You pay up front before any care, there is no billing or anything like that. If we need care, our schools pay and the Peace Corps reimburses them. Locals will be denied care if they don't have the cash to pay. This includes ambulan...

Today I scrounged up the $40 it costs to get a personal VPN account to circumvent The Great Firewall. I can see the world again! My neighbor Andrew uses a service he recommended and helped me out. (He is awesome. I would not have survived here if it weren't for him. This is truth.) It took ten minutes. I should have done it months ago. I liken the internet here to what the printing press was like for the Western world back in the 1500's: a tool that made a lot of people scared of what might happen if the common people get too much information. Our history gives me hope. Chinglish T-Shirt of the Day: "Bastard of Eminence."

Saw this t-shirt today in the 'junior girls' section of a local department store. I did a double take when I saw the word 'heroin.' Today I also saw an an adult woman wearing a shirt that said "Virgn" across the front in glitter letters. But I think the heroin shirt wins.

Silicone is fast becoming one of my all time favorite substances. It makes your boobs look good*, it helps you run really far  , and now it can bake cupcakes! My friend L. sent me these silicone cupcake holders, along with a brownie mix (and a few other treats). They can withstand up to 500F and are reusable, so I'll be able to use them in my little toaster oven. No more expensive disposable tins needed!  What a thoughtful friend. *No, mine aren't silicone, but sometimes I wish they were.

The word 'happy' in Chinese is made up of the words, 'open' and 'heart.' To be happy is to be openhearted? I'd never thought of it that way, but I think it's kind of nice.

These are the shows I download illegally every week: The Office 30 Rock Big Bang Theory Gossip Girl I have little crushes on Jim, DotCom, Nate (so pretty) and Chuck. A quick buying-DVDs-in-China (or Chinatown) guide: First: pirated, where sellers set up blankets or bins of DVDs on the street and sell them for about $.80. These DVDs are usually not high quality and have Chinese subtitles you can't turn off. Software and games are good quality, though. This is the most available way to buy them. Second: a bootleg DVD store. High quality, licensed DVDs intended for sale to other audiences (Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Cambodia, etc.) that have found their way here. They all have English tracks/subtitles. About $1.50 Third: bookstore or chain grocery store (in large cities only). Licensed for Mainland China, with English and Mandarin tracks/subtitles. About $3.50, and the selection is not as good as the bootleg stores, because they are subject to import censorship laws. (Howev...

The secretary of my school's Foreign Affairs Office helps us when we need to navigate public services in China. She took me to the hospital today to get a blood test. In the taxi we were talking about diabetes, and she said, "If you have diabetes, you have to eat less sugar, and have a rest." Based on my post yesterday, it was too timely not to share.  (Btw, she is also my tutor, so remember her in your prayers, she puts up with a lot, haha.) P.S. I don't have diabetes, just sugary urine, for some reason. It must be all the sugar and spice and everything nice I am made of.

Resting is extremely important in Chinese culture. There is a standard two hour break everyday for lunch and resting. It's kinda of awesome, until I want to get something done during those two hours, and then it's frustrating. (Spoken like a true Westerner.) I recently did a lesson with my students about sickness and gave them a list of ailments to provide remedies for. Almost all of them included the advice to "have a rest." I have gotten notes from students explaining that they missed class because they needed to have a rest. It's a very cultural thing that every day, you should rest. In fact, here is how prevalent it is: at the hot springs we went to yesterday, the building had two large, dark rooms filled with oversize recliners and foot rests, pillows, down blankets, and a small flat screen tv for each chair. At any time during the day, you could come in from the spa pools and "have a rest." It was awesome!  The dressing room attendant gave you a ...

Today was our trip to the hot springs, about 45 minutes from my neighborhood, and it was really cool!  I'm going to post small pics here, you can click on them for the full size version. First, the scariest picture of me ever taken: Rebecca The Floating Head. I am in a pool with the water up to my jaw line, hence the creepy floating head illusion. Here is a picture of the grounds at the hot springs. They have around 10 different "spa" pools, each one with a different theme: rosewater, tea, Chinese medicine, lavender, etc. Each pool smelled wonderful. There was even a red wine water pool, which is supposed to be very good for your skin. And reminded me I always wanted to take a red wine bath, but forgot about it. When I get back to the States (and a bathtub) I'll do it. Another view of the grounds. Behind each circle wall is a spa pool. They were playing traditional soothing Chinese music over little hidden loudspeakers, it was very relaxing. The open air and view didn...

Someone gave me American brownie mix for my birthday. We don't have regular ovens, so I had to make them in my toaster oven. I made four little pans in total. I got the little pans at the "western" grocery store. They were expensive, but worth it. The Chinese don't bake, everything is fried or boiled. I've never seen a full size oven here, and I'm pretty sure only the foreigner apartments have toaster ovens. I've learned to cook pretty well with very few appliances, though. I have a microwave, the toaster oven, a rice cooker and a hot plate. I hardly ever use the hot plate, as it has two settings: high and off. But the rice cooker is very handy, it automatically shuts off when the juice is done so nothing ever burns. I make dumplings and veggie curry in it all the time. And, this is a sucker someone gave me for my birthday. The gristle part was the candy, kind of like a blow pop. Yummm...gristle candy!

Monday is a holiday here, Tomb Sweeping Day. It's like Day of the Dead in Mexico, the day you go clean off your ancestors tombstones and leave offerings. I don't have school that day, so I am going to a hot springs with a few other foreign teachers. They have a fish pool at this hot springs; you sit in the water and little fishies come eat your dead skin. I can't decide if it's going to be cool or terrifying. But supposedly if you have eczema, it's a great treatment. So, I'll let you know how it goes. I teach my writing class on Fridays, and it's my most frustrating class. They are Junior English majors, so their English is pretty good, but I just don't know how to teach someone to be a good writer. I can teach them correct grammar and sentence structure etc., but to be creative? It's a challenge. They have to do a research paper as their final project for this class. Which means I have to read them all.  A Chinese word I am studying today is "l...