Rebecca A. Foster

My brother got me this mug for Christmas and I think I actually squealed with delight. I've written before about my love for the show Community , my favorite show on tv right now. I'm obliged to sing the "Troy and Abed In The Morning" song whenever I talk about this mug. My favorite thing about it is that the picture is the same on both sides, which means holding it in my left hand I can still see the picture, unlike my panda mug, which makes me stare at panda butt. Yay for double sided mugs! And Troy and Abed! ____ My Chilean mom gave us tea growing up as medicine, so I was quite prepared for this aspect of Chinese culture. I was not prepared for the tea itself, though. When the swine flu was going around, my school boss gave me a bag of bark and twigs and told me to make tea out of it to protect myself. With all due respect, no way was I doing that. I could smell the tea through the sealed bag, not a good sign. G. had a bad cold and tells the story of going to...

I didn't know before I lived in China that wooden combs are a traditional gift to give to girls/women, especially as a goodbye gift. At the tourist neighborhood of CiQiKou in my city, there were shops selling decorative wooden combs and hairpins, but I didn't think much of them, I thought it was just a tourist trap item. But in the days before I left Chongqing, I received several nice wooden combs as a going away gift. They’re made of wood and painted with enamel. All the combs I received came in these nice boxes and were made by the same company; I’m not sure if this company is well-known for combs, or if they are the ones who sell in my area of China. One student wrote cute little messages for me all over on the box itself: The combs are often stylized, such as this yellow comb I use on a daily basis and is carved to look like a fish: All of the female volunteers I know were given combs as gifts, so I think it’s a pretty common practice, but one I’d never hea...

In the past I've only purchased souvenirs for friends and family, so this weekend I splurged a bit and bought something for myself. I need something to remember China by, right? I found this beautiful Buddhist icon fabric wall scroll, and I couldn't resist. I'm so happy to have this to bring home with me. It's just perfect for me. Just for comparison's sake, this scroll cost the equivalent of $40 USD. I have no idea what something like this would cost in America, but I am guessing more than $40. This scroll and really good oolong tea will be my two splurges to bring back with me to America. J. came down for the weekend, so we had a little get together last night with friends. Bugles on the fingertips never stops being funny, right? (My hand-- I'm silly, I know.) And here is what we had for lunch yesterday, a Uyghur dish called Chao Mian Pian 炒面片. It's a tomato based spicy sauce, with freshly made noodles, tomato, green pepper, onion, cabbage and bee...

This morning while teaching a class I took that first swig of my oolong tea and OH SWEET DRAGONS, THE PAIN, my tongue is still scorched from the scalding hot water. And the thing is, I guess I am not very smart, this happens to me all the time. (Boiling hot water for tea is provided for us at school all day long.) I'm evidently terrible at calculating heat loss divided by time lapse. Or time lapse divided by heat loss. Whatever. So then I had the best idea ever: why not make tea/coffee travel tumblers out of that plastic-y material they make mood rings out of? You could easily see when your coffee or tea moves from boiling-hot to drinkable hot-hot, and determine your favorite color of hot. No more scorched tongues! Has anyone invented this yet? (I ask because I had the idea to put television shows for sale on the internet about three years before iTunes came out, and hello! I don't want that to happen again.) If not, I'm inventing it now. I want one! Related: have you e...

So, the toe thongs reminded me of other new-to-me products I have used here and really liked. (And I forgot to explain something about the toe thongs: people here rarely go sockless, so the toe thongs are a way to wear socks even if you are wearing slingbacks/pumps, etc. I get comments from my Chinese tutor all the time about my habit of not wearing socks, she thinks it isn't healthy.) Sweetened condensed milk in a tube, not a can. It's so convenient! Made by Nestle, and comes in flavors like strawberry and chocolate. The regular flavor is really good in hot drinks. A little goes a long way. Plug-in insect repellent. It's made by Raid. It's like a Glade Plug-In, but instead of fragrance it releases unscented mosquito repellent. Most windows here don't seal shut, so mosquitoes get in quite easily. The little jar of liquid is replaceable; they cost about $1.00 and last about a month. If the voltage weren't wrong, I'd bring a supply back to the U.S. You c...

Remember Martha Stewart Living ? She always had a section called "Good Things." So as part of my effort to enjoy the present, here are some "Good Things": 1. Technology! I can keep in touch with friends and family. I don't have 24/7 internet access, but when I get on and see emails and updates, nothing makes me happier. 2. Really cheap cell phone service. My cell phone costs me about $3.00 a month to use. Eat that, Verizon! And no contracts. 3. Delicious bottled tea. Jasmine tea is very popular here as a cold drink, and you can buy it bottled just about everywhere. Light and refreshing and just slightly sweet, it's my favorite tea drink. 4. Dim Sum on the street. There are street vendors selling dim sum and Chinese BBQ all over the place. (Pics soon!) It isn't cheap or healthy, but it is plentiful and readily available, if you want it. And it makes your walk anywhere quite an adventure, all the smells and smoke. Occasionally I do treat myself to veggie ...

One of my favorite tea memories is visiting my abuelita 's beach front house in Viña del Mar and being called in from the beach at 4:00 to drink yerba maté tea. Liked the tea, hated the timing. I wanted to stay on the beach. But we'd come in and sit at the tiny tea table, still in our bathing suits, drinking tea and eating little cookies. And then run back out to the beach until dinner. You can find it in tea bags, but if you use loose-leaf, a cup and strainer straw such as this one can be used. (I use teabags and a mug; my mom keeps strainer straws at her home.) The hotter the water, the more bitter the tea. Adding sugar (or eating sugar cookies) is nice.