Rebecca A. Foster

I am back in Chongqing after a full week away at my conference/music festival trip. It was great! I'm glad to be home, though. I got a sinus infection boo hiss, so I am laying low today while I wait for the antibiotics to really kick in. But, just wanted to mention a few things now: 1. Best taxi moment of the trip (and possibly of the last two years): our young taxi driver taking a few of us from the train station to our hotel asked me in Chinese if I like Lady Gaga. I said yes, knowing how popular she is here. The driver popped in her CD and started singing loudly to 'Bad Romance'; he had no idea what he was saying, but he was going for it, and it was covered in awesome sauce.  And of course I sang along, and when we got there he knocked five yuan off the meter! So my new nickname is 'The Taxi Whisperer.' I think I'm going to write a book just about about my taxi experiences in China. 2. The music festival was so much like a music festival in the U.S., we s...

I’m home from my visit to the other city to see the doctor. A few things: 1. The train was indeed fast (200 kph, or about 125 mph for you Imperialists), but not pressurized, so my ears popped about every 10 minutes. It’s like they get so close… There was a storm on the way home so it was a little easier because the barometric pressure had dropped. I know this courtesy of my 5th grade obsession with weather reports. 2. The skin appears to be non-melanomic. I was given some medicines to put on it twice a day and see what happens. If it doesn’t clear up, they’ll send some off to the lab. I kinda wish they had done that lab thing now, just to be safe, but I’m sure it’s fine. 3. While I was gone, I got a text message from someone at my school that 13 students had been quarantined for (possible or confirmed? No one has told me) H1N1 flu. What they didn’t say is that at least some of them had been quarantined downstairs from my apartment. For those who don’t know, I live in my universit...

Murray Hill Inn is a 5 story walkup converted into a hotel on 30th St. and 3rd Ave, only a short walk from the 33rd and Lex 6 train subway station. I stayed here on my last trip to NYC, a great little place in a nice neighborhood if you don't mind not having a full-service hotel. And the best part, it was $130 a night weeknights and $170 weekends. If you have priced hotels in Manhattan, you know this is a bargain. The room was small and no proper closet, but very clean, with hardwood floors and a big marble bathroom. (You can pay less for a full size bed or shared bathroom.) The front desk people are super nice and they'll hold your luggage until 6 PM day of checkout. Seriously, this is where I'm staying every time I have to pay from now on. (And yes, I do have NYC on the brain. I leave Sunday. Not looking forward to the long plane ride with this hurt back, but I guess that is what drugs are for.) www.murrayhillinn.com