So we had an interesting meal the other day. To give you the backdrop Heather and I met a Chinese family (they have an 11 month old daughter) here at our apartment complex. The mother speaks good English, so that is how we communicate with them besides our Chinglish (that’s Chinese English). After meeting them we had them over for dinner, and Heather has gone over to hang out with the lady a few times. But the other day Heather wanted to go to the doctor (because her back has been really hurting her) and our friends took her. It was after they got back that they invited us out to lunch at a restaurant just next to our apartment. We (Heather and I) see this restaurant packed out all the time and have really been wanting to try it so we we’re stoked to go. I think it’s cultural here, but they being the ones that offered to take us out ordered the food for our group. I had to take a quick call, but when I got back to the table there was a bowl of what looked like chicken wings, so I ask “what’s this?”, and the lady tells me “Pigs’ feet”… and I look over at Heather and she’s like “Yeah, Pigs’ feet (with a smile)”. And so I pick one up and yeah there’s the hoof and I do my best to eat the thing. It was weird at best, but I guess that’s because it wasn’t what I was raised on. After a few minutes I look over at my champ daughter Sydney and see her just eating away at the pigs foot in her mouth…. Needless to say I was so proud of her. We did have noodles come after that and they were good so it worked out.
Also, here are 2 great quotes from Sydney:
Our elevator has a mirror on one side of it and so when we are in it Sydney and I will make faces at each other or whatever, and now when we leave the elevator she will say “Goodbye, shadow”, to her reflection. It’s so cute.
And the other day we (Sydney and I) ordered food at a restaurant and went out to the sidewalk to wait for our food. Instantly, we were surrounded by like 6 or 7 employees and they were all trying to talk with Sydney. Well Sydney was not in a good mood and wasn’t having it so she said to one lady that was trying to get her attention “Go home, Go eat food”. To be honest I couldn’t blame her for what she said. The attention is a little overwhelming at times.
Lastly, Heather and I start school tomorrow, her tutor comes over for 2 hours and I will be at school for 3 hours. It is a huge step for us and we are stoked/nervous about starting. We will keep you posted on how it goes.
Keepin' It Real, Chinese Style,
the peterson's
August 31, 2008
August 28, 2008
Heather's running and Sydney's sitting
Hey everyone,
Well I wanted to make sure everyone knew how proud of my wife I am. I’m proud because this week she ran 10 miles!!! That’s right, it isn’t a typo. Who would have thought she would run that far after finding out that there was a Mexican restaurant that far away. O.k. she did run 10 miles, but not because of the potential to have Mexican food, but if you hear of a restaurant that has Mexican food in Xi’an, let us know. For those of you who haven’t heard, Heather has been training to run a half marathon (13 miles) here in November. She has NEVER been a runner before in her life, but she’s been working hard at it for nearly three months. Heather is an incredible example to me, because she has been working out so much and eating so well that she now weighs less than she did in High School. That’s after having TWO kids. I just get bigger each year, and my guilt for not being in better shape just gets heavier. Anyways, I wanted all of you at home to know that my wife is crushing and soon I will write a post about how she ran a half marathon.
Also, we have more amazing progress to report. It’s been a few days in a row that Sydney has gone number 2 in the toilet!!! Sorry if this is too much info for some of you, but this is the best way to let our families know about our lives in China. She has consistently been going number 1 on the toilet and even telling us when she needs to go and now she’s been mastering the number 2. She has even gone outside in the grass at the park… Don’t worry all the parents here have their kids do it that way if they’re outside.
That’s us!
The petersons
Well I wanted to make sure everyone knew how proud of my wife I am. I’m proud because this week she ran 10 miles!!! That’s right, it isn’t a typo. Who would have thought she would run that far after finding out that there was a Mexican restaurant that far away. O.k. she did run 10 miles, but not because of the potential to have Mexican food, but if you hear of a restaurant that has Mexican food in Xi’an, let us know. For those of you who haven’t heard, Heather has been training to run a half marathon (13 miles) here in November. She has NEVER been a runner before in her life, but she’s been working hard at it for nearly three months. Heather is an incredible example to me, because she has been working out so much and eating so well that she now weighs less than she did in High School. That’s after having TWO kids. I just get bigger each year, and my guilt for not being in better shape just gets heavier. Anyways, I wanted all of you at home to know that my wife is crushing and soon I will write a post about how she ran a half marathon.
Also, we have more amazing progress to report. It’s been a few days in a row that Sydney has gone number 2 in the toilet!!! Sorry if this is too much info for some of you, but this is the best way to let our families know about our lives in China. She has consistently been going number 1 on the toilet and even telling us when she needs to go and now she’s been mastering the number 2. She has even gone outside in the grass at the park… Don’t worry all the parents here have their kids do it that way if they’re outside.
That’s us!
The petersons
August 22, 2008
4 Year Anniversary!
Yesterday, Heather and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. The whole day was a ton of fun. Normally we are on the road and at the last minute we go out to eat, so this year I had a plan.
The night before I got flowers (see picture below) and when Heather fell asleep I set them on our dining room table. When I woke up (after Heather let me sleep in) I saw that she had put signs up around the apartment (like the potty party) about me and her love for me... It's good to hear from time to time that she still loves me (thats a joke). For breakfast we walked to a classy joint called McDonald's, you may have noticed that this is for special occasions. I was surprised to find that the breakfast at McDonalds tastes just like it does in States!
After breakfast we had a babysitter stop over so that Heather and I could go get massages... They are so cheap to get here and soooo worth it. For an hour it's like $4. Anyways, that went really well, except there are some differences here with the massages. My guy put his fingers in my ears.... I'm not sure that they would do that in the States. Heather was laying on her table next to mine and I didn't say anything when he put his fingers in my ears, because I wanted to let her experience that for herself.... and to see if my guy was messing with me. She got her inner ear polished as well.
After our massages we went home and relaxed with some T.V. in the afternoon and at night I took Heather out to dinner. I made reservations at the Sheridan Hotel for their buffet. That might not sound romantic, but it was amazing, considering; McDonald's/KFC/Subway were our other options. Oh, and there's been a dead ferret in the street in front of our apartment for like 4 days that got cleaned up also, which was just icing on the cake. All in all it was the best Anniversary we've had, and I'm not just saying that because I haven't had a blog to say it on before, it really was.
Until Next Time,
the peterson's
The night before I got flowers (see picture below) and when Heather fell asleep I set them on our dining room table. When I woke up (after Heather let me sleep in) I saw that she had put signs up around the apartment (like the potty party) about me and her love for me... It's good to hear from time to time that she still loves me (thats a joke). For breakfast we walked to a classy joint called McDonald's, you may have noticed that this is for special occasions. I was surprised to find that the breakfast at McDonalds tastes just like it does in States!
After breakfast we had a babysitter stop over so that Heather and I could go get massages... They are so cheap to get here and soooo worth it. For an hour it's like $4. Anyways, that went really well, except there are some differences here with the massages. My guy put his fingers in my ears.... I'm not sure that they would do that in the States. Heather was laying on her table next to mine and I didn't say anything when he put his fingers in my ears, because I wanted to let her experience that for herself.... and to see if my guy was messing with me. She got her inner ear polished as well.
After our massages we went home and relaxed with some T.V. in the afternoon and at night I took Heather out to dinner. I made reservations at the Sheridan Hotel for their buffet. That might not sound romantic, but it was amazing, considering; McDonald's/KFC/Subway were our other options. Oh, and there's been a dead ferret in the street in front of our apartment for like 4 days that got cleaned up also, which was just icing on the cake. All in all it was the best Anniversary we've had, and I'm not just saying that because I haven't had a blog to say it on before, it really was.
Until Next Time,
the peterson's
"these are the flowers I picked out for my gorgeous wife"
"The Happy Couple"
August 19, 2008
Our time downtown with my brother’s family
We had the amazing privilege the other day of heading downtown with my brother’s family (Jeremy, Jenny and their son Levi). They’re also here to study the language and my brother will be going to the same school as me… I wonder who will be the cool kid. When we we’re downtown we did some exploring, in fact, we ate at a traditional Chinese restaurant. I’m not sure on the pronunciation, but I think it’s called Mc-don-alds…. But again, I’m not totally sure on that. We also got to check out the Bell Tower, Drum Tower, as well as the Old City Wall. All of these things are a deep part of the history of Xi’an (and China) and great places to see. We didn’t do the whole tour thing we’ll do that another time, but we took some pictures, check’em out.
A traditional Chinese restuarant
Sydney and a friend at McDonalds
Heather and Aubrey in the taxi on the way downtown
Sydney on her way to meet the other Petersons
Just a couple of guys in China, don't mind my double chin
A traditional Chinese restuarant
Sydney and a friend at McDonalds
The Drum Tower
The Bell Tower
A couple of Terra Cotta Warriors
Terra Cotta Mannequins???
Until later,
Matt, Heather, Sydney and little Aubrey
August 11, 2008
Lately in Xi'an
I forgot to mention one thing about picking up my brother the other day from the airport. A couple of friends and I we're going to pick him up. The driver was a Chinese man, who spoke no English (or at least very little). Before we got to the airport we explained to him that I was going to ask questions and answer him in Chinese… but since I don't speak much Chinese it wasn't going to make sense, and he would be a part of playing this joke on my brother. He was totally in. So we got Jeremy and his family into the van and my friend says "Matt, could you tell the driver we would like to stop at McDonalds on our way home?", and I said "sure". I started to tell the driver we wanted McDonald's in Chinese and the whole time I was saying stuff like "to go", "dumplings", "Let's go", "park here", "pork"… The driver acted just like what I said made sense and each time he said something back to me, I would say "yeah (or right)" like I understood it, when in reality I had no clue. At one point my friend was talking with the driver (my friend actually speaks good Chinese) and my brother leans over to me and asks "do you understand what they are saying?", "yeah" I said, "they are talking about how there are 2 McDonald's in Xi'an, and how there is one in the north and the other in the south, and that the driver lives by the one in the north" (totally made that up). My brother was astonished at my progress with the language. So young.
I also wanted to give a quick update on our precious daughter Sydney. It's pretty common for girls here to shave their heads, and Heather wanted Sydney's hair to grow in thicker. We have talked about shaving it before, and one thing lead to another, and we shaved her head. It's totally cute. You should check out the pic at the bottom of the page. Now that both Sydney and I (Matt) have our heads shaved, I will say "shaved heads" and rub my head against Sydney's. She loves it! We've also been throwing a week long (maybe longer) "Potty Party" to get her potty trained. Right now our house is littered with signs encouraging Sydney to use the toilet and to dance after she's done. Anyway, never a dull moment here in Xi'an!
Lastly, I've written too many corrections about this, so this will be my last. Both garbage and water spraying trucks play the Happy Birthday song, Bu hao yi si (I'm so embarrassed, in Chinese and real Chinese not the Chinese you use in a van to mess with your little brother).
From the exciting town of Xi'an,
The petersons
I also wanted to give a quick update on our precious daughter Sydney. It's pretty common for girls here to shave their heads, and Heather wanted Sydney's hair to grow in thicker. We have talked about shaving it before, and one thing lead to another, and we shaved her head. It's totally cute. You should check out the pic at the bottom of the page. Now that both Sydney and I (Matt) have our heads shaved, I will say "shaved heads" and rub my head against Sydney's. She loves it! We've also been throwing a week long (maybe longer) "Potty Party" to get her potty trained. Right now our house is littered with signs encouraging Sydney to use the toilet and to dance after she's done. Anyway, never a dull moment here in Xi'an!
Lastly, I've written too many corrections about this, so this will be my last. Both garbage and water spraying trucks play the Happy Birthday song, Bu hao yi si (I'm so embarrassed, in Chinese and real Chinese not the Chinese you use in a van to mess with your little brother).
"Sydney's new hair cut"
"A pretty smile from a pretty girl"
"Just a little encouragment"
"That's right we party none stop here"
"The real deal party of the century"
From the exciting town of Xi'an,
The petersons
August 7, 2008
Funny stories from Weihai, and a new look
Something that is funny here is the lost in translation signs/clothes. One day I was walking down the road and (I'll admit it) not in a super good mood, when “she” approached me. “She” was a women wearing a shirt that read, “Blue Shine, Let’s Crazy”. I laughed so hard (not in her face) and all the troubles of that day just melted away.
And (not that this bothered me, but I'm sure people at home will like this) we were in the student cafeteria on campus, eating lunch. And I said "Sydney, come eat some chicken (from this chicken and veggies dish)" and Heather said "that isn't chicken, it's fish". Well it's not often that I'm wrong so I turned to a Chinese student to get the scoop, "Excuse me, what is this?", I asked, to which she replied "Squid".... Alllllright, I guess I was wrong on this one. I think from now on I will pass on asking what something is that I'm eating.
We also had a super creepo moment. Heather woke up at like 4:30 in the morning to feed Aubrey and she noticed the door handle to our hotel room moving.... apparently someone was trying to get into our room (maybe the wrong room or to steal). Later, when I thought about it I wish I had yelled at them, but to be honest I doubt they spoke English.... Which I guess could have freaked them out even more.
Lastly, here is a little goodie for all you out there.
Yes, this is me and normally I would say that this mustache is the dirtiest thing this side of the Mississippi River, but since I'm in China I'll say this "this mustache is the dirtiest thing this side of the Yangtze River. Don't worry it was gone the next day and all the shame that came with wearing it for a day. But to my defense I shaved it that way to pick up my brother and his family from the airport. Which I'm sure after over a day of travel was a delight to see.
Until next time,
the Peterson’s
And (not that this bothered me, but I'm sure people at home will like this) we were in the student cafeteria on campus, eating lunch. And I said "Sydney, come eat some chicken (from this chicken and veggies dish)" and Heather said "that isn't chicken, it's fish". Well it's not often that I'm wrong so I turned to a Chinese student to get the scoop, "Excuse me, what is this?", I asked, to which she replied "Squid".... Alllllright, I guess I was wrong on this one. I think from now on I will pass on asking what something is that I'm eating.
We also had a super creepo moment. Heather woke up at like 4:30 in the morning to feed Aubrey and she noticed the door handle to our hotel room moving.... apparently someone was trying to get into our room (maybe the wrong room or to steal). Later, when I thought about it I wish I had yelled at them, but to be honest I doubt they spoke English.... Which I guess could have freaked them out even more.
Lastly, here is a little goodie for all you out there.
Yes, this is me and normally I would say that this mustache is the dirtiest thing this side of the Mississippi River, but since I'm in China I'll say this "this mustache is the dirtiest thing this side of the Yangtze River. Don't worry it was gone the next day and all the shame that came with wearing it for a day. But to my defense I shaved it that way to pick up my brother and his family from the airport. Which I'm sure after over a day of travel was a delight to see.
Until next time,
the Peterson’s
August 3, 2008
Return from Weihai, China
Our time here in Weihai, China just came to an end and we are now back in Xi’an. It was a good and challenging past 2 ½ weeks. If you were able to get a chance to read my previous post you may have gotten a taste of the Camp (Sunshine International Camp) we were working with. Here is a brief outline of our past half month (check back in a couple of days for some funny stories from this trip also):
We arrived in Weihai after a long afternoon and evening of traveling, it was hot and rainy as we waited on the bus for everyone arriving for the camp (there were people coming in from all over the world to work with this camp). Once we were all accounted for we made our way to the hotel. Our hotel is on the beach of the Yellow Sea. It is a great travel destination I would compare it to a cheaper version of Cancun with a ton of Russians (this is a popular vacation site for them as well).
The camp began the following day, and I discovered that instead of being a Coach to a group of campers, I was now going to be a Mentor. This meant I was going to be a big deal (ok that is a joke), but it gave me the opportunity to lead a group of coaches and help them with any issues they had in running their groups. To throw some numbers your way, we had 286 campers, 198 of which were Chinese at the high school or university level. I would encourage the coaches as well as help in whatever way I could with the flow of the 10 days we had together.
Our camp consisted of morning classes which included lectures on globalization (working in a multi-cultural situation), servant leadership, public speaking, relationships, as well as vision and/or goals for their life. All of this is designed to help these students in their business field. It's cool because these students have to go through quite a bit to make it into this camp so they are exceptional students and will someday be leading others in their field of choice. We also played group games and had group activities followed by discussion. These activities were used as tools to get the students to build relationships and went hand-in-hand with the lecture topics.
Many of the students were greatly influenced by this camp and a lot of new relationships began during the time. We are (like I said earlier) now home and happy to be in Xi’an. We will be taking the next month getting our apartment setup and I will begin school next month.
Check out the video also that I posted of our family and time in Weihai.
Much love,
the petersons
We arrived in Weihai after a long afternoon and evening of traveling, it was hot and rainy as we waited on the bus for everyone arriving for the camp (there were people coming in from all over the world to work with this camp). Once we were all accounted for we made our way to the hotel. Our hotel is on the beach of the Yellow Sea. It is a great travel destination I would compare it to a cheaper version of Cancun with a ton of Russians (this is a popular vacation site for them as well).
The camp began the following day, and I discovered that instead of being a Coach to a group of campers, I was now going to be a Mentor. This meant I was going to be a big deal (ok that is a joke), but it gave me the opportunity to lead a group of coaches and help them with any issues they had in running their groups. To throw some numbers your way, we had 286 campers, 198 of which were Chinese at the high school or university level. I would encourage the coaches as well as help in whatever way I could with the flow of the 10 days we had together.
Our camp consisted of morning classes which included lectures on globalization (working in a multi-cultural situation), servant leadership, public speaking, relationships, as well as vision and/or goals for their life. All of this is designed to help these students in their business field. It's cool because these students have to go through quite a bit to make it into this camp so they are exceptional students and will someday be leading others in their field of choice. We also played group games and had group activities followed by discussion. These activities were used as tools to get the students to build relationships and went hand-in-hand with the lecture topics.
Many of the students were greatly influenced by this camp and a lot of new relationships began during the time. We are (like I said earlier) now home and happy to be in Xi’an. We will be taking the next month getting our apartment setup and I will begin school next month.
Check out the video also that I posted of our family and time in Weihai.
Much love,
the petersons
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