Rebecca A. Foster

I'm getting to that point in my service where people are asking me what I'm going to do when I get home. For those that don't know, before coming into Peace Corps, I had a real life adult business job, a real life adult apartment full of real-life furniture, a car, etc. I still have the car, and the furniture (thanks mom for your storage help!), so it's time to decide about the job. (I've done my Masters but at least at this time, I'm not going to do a PhD. Maybe in a few years, we'll see.) My goal is to be an ESL teacher, either corporate or government. I've narrowed down the cities where I'll be job-searching, and I have thrown NYC into the ring. I always thought if I moved to NYC I'd live in Washington Heights, but I really do want to live in a Chinese community. So, in the near future, I'll be making a trip back to NYC for a tour around Flushing, Queens. I've never been there, and I have no idea what it's like. I just know a lot...

Earlier this year I was in the airport in Guangzhou, one of the manufacturing hubs of China. I met in Irish businessman who was in town setting up a business deal for a factory to produce purified ice machines, then place the machines at markets throughout China. This sounds like a great idea, right? Go to the market, buy a bag of drinkable ice on the way out. We do it in North America all the time. But...this is China. Problems I foresee with this business: 1. People here don't like icy drinks. 2. Not only do they not like them, they think they are harmful to the stomach and spleen. I had a cold, bought some chilled (not cold!) bottled water, and a student was so adamant I should not be drinking cool water if I'm sick, I had to put it in my bag and drink it after she left. 3. Cold water here is generally full of bacteria and metals. There's a reason why boiled water is served everywhere: it's clean. According to custom, you don't take cold water from people...