Rebecca A. Foster

Thought you might like a quick peek at a Chinese train station waiting area (click to enlarge). No air conditioning, of course. I stood in line with sweat literally dripping down the backs of my legs and onto the floor. One nice thing about China: you can take a shower just standing there. (And I'm still dehydrated today; been guzzling water all morning and have yet to pee.) The metal gates leading to the platform are on the other side of the room, so I'm at the back of the line here.This was just one of three terminals in the train station,  mid-day on a weekday (read: the least crowded time). The sheer number of people in China sometimes astounds me. Someone here said, "There are 1.3 billion people in China. And by the time you leave, you're going to feel like you've seen all of them." Yup. (Cell phone pic)

Red Flags: those warning signs that the person you are infatuated with/in love with/admire from afar might not be everything you think they are//hope for them to be. It happens to both men and women. And it doesn't always mean this is a bad person (sometimes it does!) but it often means this person will not be a positive influence in your life. I'll confess: in my past, I have been a red flag ignorer. Even when the red flag was flying right in my face, I tried to peer through the weave to the little dots of sunshine filtering through. Why? Because he was handsome! He was charming! He was funny! He liked photography! He seemed interested in me!  And boy, was I really overlooking the truth about what was going on. I was talking to our Peace Corps doctor about the North American grieving process, and how little we are prepared for intense grief. When I was first grieving for my father, I was NOT filtering red flags very well. No one warned me this might happen. I figured it out ...

The other day I was really wishing I could talk to my dad about something that happened here, because I thought he'd be interested in it. And a few days later, I had a dream I went to his office but he wasn't there; I left a note. I kinda like thinking that my dad knows when I want to talk to him. Maybe he gets the 'notes.' And since we both loved The Daily Show and Colbert Report , I still sometimes want to send him clips of funny moments like we used to do. I wonder if he misses that too. I don't get homesick too often here, but sometimes I do feel like I'm missing out on things back home. My awesome step-mom and step-siblings, who have been so supportive and are good friends. Their kids are  getting older, wiser and more fun, and I wonder if the little ones will remember me when I get back.  I miss my grandma, who has health problems. Every time I call her, she says, "I'm going to try to live until you come home again." I always tell her, ...

From my city government's English page about long-distance bus service to and from Chongqing: "The bus station is equipped with the bus broadcasting station, fire fighting machines, air-conditions, and x-light insecurity check system equipments. Particularly, the bus station sets up an information desk with English, Japanese language and the special terms for dumb persons." True story: the last time I took a bus, the person checking luggage at the 'x-light insecurity check system equipments' was fast asleep. No one seemed to care. (And English? Not so much.)

I'm kind of a dork. Also, I'm lazy. I have fake hardwood floors in my apartment and windows don't seal shut here, so they get very dirty and dusty; it's dust bunny heaven in here, I'm constantly sweeping. Also, I spill things. I hate mopping because my arms and back get tired, so yesterday I thought, hey, my legs are the strongest muscles in my body, why not use my feet? So I tied the mop cloths around my shoes, secured them with rubber bands, and skate mopped the rest of my apartment. It worked great!  And for those of you who have kids, Tom Sawyer them into it! They'll love it. Mops here don't wring out, they're just cloths on the end of poles, so I wasn't losing any funcationality doing it this way. I filled a large dishpan with soapy water and scooted it around the apartment with me. Like I said, I'm a dork. But like my dad always said, it isn't stupid if it works! I did my bathroom and kitchen on my hands and knees though, not enough ...

This summer I've been reading two well-known Chinese philosophy books, Tao Te Ching and The Analects . Tao Te Ching is the compilation of the verses of Daoism  (translated as Taoism in English).  The Analects is a compilation of the ideas of Confucius. (Confucius didn't write The Analects ; it was written by others who remembered his teachings, similar to how in Christian tradition, Jesus didn't write the Bible.) Daoism and Confucianism are accepted as two major historical influences on Chinese culture, thought and tradition. I didn't have much exposure to either book before coming to China, but after living here for a year, I can see the ways in which the ideals of these books manifest themselves in everyday Chinese culture. For example, I have often wondered why decisions made by the government are not strongly questioned by the majority of citizens, as often happens in other countries along all points of the political spectrum. Well, both books speak strongly...

Some of my friends here that make my Chinese world go 'round: This is my best Chinese friend. She is also my tutor, so you know she is verrry patient. I really enjoy her company, we have lots of laughs together. Her English name is Cassie. Me and one of the new volunteers on a sinking ripe, humid August night. I read his blog before he came to China, so it was fun to meet him in person. (New volunteers come every summer, and because we serve for two years, we all overlap by a year.) I've really enjoyed getting to know all the new volunteers, they are awesome! My friend Kristen, from Hawaii. She was smoking and our Chinese host handed her another cigarette; she thought they expected her to smoke two at a time! We're sushi, sunshine, and men-ogling buddies. You can never have too many of those! She's a lot of fun. We were team-teachers this summer for our summer training program. Two other foreign teachers at my school; they aren't Peace Corps, they get paid a full sa...

I saw this candy at the checkout and had to buy it. It is a very correct translation of what this object is meant to be! I like how in English, we pretend it's something other than nipple candy. (It's a bit blurry, sorry, but it says 'Funny Nipple Pop'.) Sugar is an interesting phenomenon here. Candy and sweet desserts aren't too plentiful, and I've noticed the Chinese don't have much of a sweet-tooth when it comes to food, but, they LOVE syrupy, sweet drinks. I'm constantly watering down juices and drinks. Diet sodas are not big sellers here, but full strength is very popular. It's an interesting switch from Western taste buds, which in my experience like sweets but not so much the syrupy, sugary drinks. Here is the recipe for Chinese lemonade: hot water, 3-4 rock sugar lumps, a few slices of fresh lemon, and some dried red currants. It's very pretty in the glass and very refreshing. I've been told here that cold water on a hot day is b...

One of the new Peace Corps volunteers in my city was hanging out this afternoon in my apartment. I have a stack of English language magazines people have sent me, including girly magazines like Glamour and Marie Claire . At home, I didn't read these magazines, but in China, you read whatever English you can get your hands on. He started glancing through them, and slowly became more and more upset at the content. As he put it: "They tell you not to be insecure, but then tell you all these ways you're not good enough. How can they tell you you're not good enough, but then tell you not to be insecure! This doesn't make any sense!" It was kind of endearing how upset he was getting. He really cared that women were getting these bad messages about their self-worth. I had thought this in the past about these magazines, but thought maybe I was being overly-sensitive. They're so popular, after all. He also pointed out: "How come they talk about men so much ...

Last week, one of the new Peace Corps volunteers in China taught a self-defense class. (He has a black belt in TaikwanDo.) It was a great class, but it got me thinking: we try really hard to prepare girls to defend themselves against a stranger who tries to pressure them or attack them. I think most girls would use these moves on someone they don't know without a second thought. We've been well-trained to deal with strangers. But what about pressure that comes from that guy you trusted, that you considered a friend, the one you didn't suspect had it in him to ignore you when you said, "No."? What do we teach girls about that guy? I think there's a big hole in how we prepare girls for this. As I've mentioned before, I feel strongly about teaching girls they can say no to whatever makes them uncomfortable, until they are ready to say yes. But if the guy doesn't listen to them, it seems a lot don't know what their choices are. I think many girls gi...

As soon as I discovered my bra had removable straps , I knew the next step would be losing one of 'em. Sure enough, a strap went MIA only the second time I took them off. Bra straps are my new bobby pins! Luckily it's fashionable right now in China to have fancy, exposed bra straps, so I went across the street to the accessories store and bought these as replacements (along with a clear set): (Perhaps these are also now fashionable in the U.S.? I'm not keeping up on the home trends very well.) It's one of the dichotomies of life in China: a very conservative culture in which it's completely acceptable for your bra and panties to show through your clothes. And by panties, I mean the 1/2-inch inseam denim shorts in size -3 that are so popular here. They're pretty much denim underwear. (And Chinese girls have no cellulite, so they look great in them!) In my city, a popular summer outfit for girls is denim panties, fancy-strap bra, long sheer shirt, and high he...

So, did you know Mad Men  Season 3 is premiering soon? Spoiler alert: nothing much happens in this show, it's a lot of talking, but the talking is really interesting and the 1960's clothes are fabulous. Also, Don Draper is hot in that 'you're-sort-of-a-scumbag-but-you-wear-the-hell-out-of-that-suit-and-I-love-your-late-night-shagging-stubble' kind of way. I recommend it. I bought it on the street for $1.00, but I think it's free in America on cable. And in preparation for the 3rd season premiere, you can make your own Mad Men person a. Here I am getting hit on by Don Draper: So realistic, you guys. I can't go to NYC without getting hit on by ad men. It's the hat and gloves, I think. (And I do actually own a hat like that, and elbow gloves. Definitely taking them to NYC.) And you just know this guy smells like Indiana Jones in a suit: all man .  Jon Hamm , I salute you. (And yes, I miss big, strong American men, why do you ask?)

A few people have asked what I think about the status of women in China. First, there is a difference between urban women and women who live in the countryside. I am more familiar with the former. 1. My overall impression is that there are many dichotomies in the status of women in China (and in American culture). Women have mandatory military training, but cannot be firefighters. Girls and boys have equal access to childhood education, but I overheard a female student say that men contribute more to the world because they can do things women can't do, like engineering and science. (Yes, that broke my heart.)  Women are expected to work while their child is young, just like their husbands do. But I think it's telling that the reported response to the high rate of suicide-by-pesticides in the countryside is to more strictly regulate the availability of pesticides. 2. My students tell me that especially in the north, women are expected to be subservient to men; in a rel...

I'm way past being jail bait (which, by the way, was what my older cousin David called me when I was 13 and I didn't know what it meant, but I knew I should be annoyed by it), but I saw this shirt on the street last night and couldn't resist adding it to my collection. (Although, Chinese screen printing is apparently only for A cups.) This isn't Chinglish in the strictest sense, the grammar and spelling are correct, but contextually? It's got Chinglish soul. It would go well with the 'I Just Scored' t-shirt I saw this week on a young teenage boy (!). I wonder if our Chinese tattoos are the cultural equivalent of Chinglish shirts? Surely we've made a mess of those, too. I'm sooo going to tell people if their Chinese tattoo is wrong. "'Love'? No, that says 'rash'." What can I say? I'm helpful like that.

Part I During our countryside adventure, two friends had a taxi driver try to cheat them by pretending not to understand where they wanted to go and driving them all over town to run up the fare. They told him off and didn't pay the extra fare, but it left a bad taste. The next night, I told our taxi driver I thought he was a good driver and had a nice car, that we were American teachers, that we were in China for two years, blah blah blah. I kept up a running dialogue in (my broken) Chinese, and when we arrived at our destination, he waved us out of the cab without letting us pay. I've never had a taxi driver give me a free fare before! He didn't say why he did it, but maybe taxi drivers don't get a lot of compliments. Part II This week, I struck up a conversation with the old taxi driver taking from the bus station to my lodging. By the time we arrived, he was my new grandpa. He even gave me his taxicab map because it had English on it-- how nice was that? It...

1. There are no solely left-handed Chinese. All kids have to be right-handed. Some kids who start out left-handed surreptitiously maintain the skill and are ambidextrous, but no one is just left-handed. 2. My Chinese to English dictionary (no English to Chinese) is 2,139 pages long. If I want to look up a character and I don't know the pinyin (alphabetized spelling), I first use a paper radical index to find the pinyin, then look up the word alphabetically in the dictionary. There are often pages and pages of characters that share the same pinyin. It gets easier with practice, it takes me less than a minute now to find a new character. 3. The standard greeting here is "Have you eaten yet?" This is because for so long there has not been enough food. Being able to eat is a big deal. 4. Most advertisements for Chinese products have elderly people in them because in Chinese culture the elderly are respected and admired for their wisdom. The exceptions: some Western products...