Rebecca A. Foster

I cut my hair today, it now looks like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. It took two hours, it was the most meticulous haircut I have ever received. He was amazing. I wish I could take him with me to Chongqing. Tomorrow I move into a hotel with the other volunteers in downtown Chengdu. We have a few days of meetings and then I move to Chongqing on Wednesday. It's about 4 hours away by train. Our new school helps us move, I am crossing my fingers they bring a car or some strong men to help! My suitcases are hella heavy. We had a banquet last night for our host families. The power went out so we ate in the dark, and then we decided to move to a restaurant next door where dinner started all over again. It was a very China evening. I will post pics asap.

One of the Peace Corps volunteers is named Holly. About 18 times a day I want to call her "Horry." I know it's wrong, but I still want to. But we do say (to each other), "It's dericious!"

I have a sad heart right now. I know the quality of this blog isn't high right now and the sad heart is why. I'll get over it, we always do, but in the meantime to those that read this blog, I'm sorry! I will hopefully have something fun to say soon.

One of the most striking differences between Western and Chinese culture is the way in which we get information. For example, in the West we take the initiative to seek out information from qualified sources. In China, most people do not think it is necessary to seek out information from experts because whatever is important for them to know, they will be told. As a result, information is not made public, without major complaints. (Our Peace Corps country director tells the story of consulting the USGS after the earthquake because it was difficult to find information locally. I often seek out Western resources that have no counterpart here.) This has a huge impact on teaching because our students are used to being told information and repeating it back. This is what they consider learning. Asking them to research a topic and report on their findings, or come up with their own unique ideas, is unheard of. That process just does not exist here. I never realized before the general sense ...

I love musicals in general, but especially the tenor part. This man's voice when he sings "How can I leave her? Where would I start?" never fails to send a chill through me. One of my all-time favorite pieces of recorded music. ( Anthem , from Chess. )

Chongqing (pronounced 'chongching'), China: home to 32 million people (around 10 million in the city proper). The city straddles the Yangtze River, with several bridges connecting the two sides. I live in a thriving neighborhood of skyscrapers, restaurants and shops, only a few stops from the city center by metro. I look forward to exploring my new city and taking pictures along the way. I love bridges! (These pics are not mine, they are from the city tourism site.)

Chongqing (pronounced 'chongching'), China: home to 32 million people (around 10 million in the city proper). The city straddles the Yangtze River, with several bridges connecting the two sides. I live in a thriving neighborhood of skyscrapers, restaurants and shops, only a few stops from the city center by metro. I look forward to exploring my new city and taking pictures along the way. And I love bridges! (These pics are not mine, they are from the city tourism site.)