Quick Update

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to post a quick update on the past week or so's happenings. We started feeding Aubrey food last week! Well, by food I mean baby food which is just ground up fruits and vegetables... ick. But she seems to really like it and is eating it like a champ.

We at the petersonchina blogspot love to give credit where it is due, so we wanted to take a moment to say that my brother Jeremy and his wife Jenny are two of the most amazing people we know. Last weekend they came over to pick up Sydney at 8 in the morning to play with her and give us a morning free from our little princess (they took her till 1:30). Heather, Aubrey and I walked to McDonald's for breakfast. We talked, we laughed, we may have even cried... but one thing we didn't do is chase Sydney around while trying to enjoy our breakfast, so nice! When Jenny dropped Sydney off, Sydney stood there holding a Tupperware of cookies labeled "For Mommy and Daddy". Well done other Peterson's, well done.

Also, last week I (Matt) had a super encouraging moment with my Chinese studies. In class we will from time-to-time read a dialogue between two people and they are roughly 12-15 sentences long. Well our teacher had us read it then told us to memorize it. After a couple minutes we closed our books and he wanted us to tell him about the dialogue in Chinese. I offered to do this and spent the next 3 or 4 minutes explaining the dialogue and I did it completely in Chinese. He told me my grammar was very good! It felt good to be able to do that, hopefully it's not the last triumphant moment for me.

Tonight our family had all eaten dinner and had nothing to do, so we jumped on the bus and went to the Big Goose Pagoda. We walked around, had our picture taken and answered a million questions about our girls... I write this because it's funny that this is our life. Like we are sitting around with nothing to do so Heather says "Hey, let's go to the Big Goose Pagoda", which is almost 1,400 years old and we get on a bus and go there. Anyways, that might just be a weird moment for me.

Stories from Sydney. So last week Sydney was talking with her friend Joshua on Heather's phone and she says "Look at my toys" and then points the phone down to her toys. I at first was confused about why she would say that thinking her friend could see her toys through her phone... then it dawned on me. Whenever she talks with her grandparents at home it's always through Skype and we use the webcam for it. So sometimes we might say "Hey, look at this and we point our computer at something", anyways it's funny that she thought it worked for a cell phone also. So cute!

Till the next time,
matt, heather, sydney and little aubrey

CHECK OUT the new HAIRCUT and VIDEO!

Here’s a picture below of Heather’s new hair cut. Also, you will see Sydney sporting a new style (don't worry it was only for an afternoon). AND!!! I just finished a video and have added it on the right side of the page for you to view. Or you can click here to view it, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcuZBvTdx-I. With our 4 month anniversary since moving to China coming up (and the fact that I wanted to do something for our 3 month anniversary and missed it) I put together a slide show with pictures and video from our time here. Most of the pictures were taken in the past few weeks, but the video is of us at the mountains. Hope you enjoy it!

With joy,
Matt, heather, Sydney and little Aubrey

"Looks GOOD!"

"You lookin at me!"

Heather's First China Haircut and Meet Lawrence

After nearly four months of living here in China, Heather finally got the courage to get her hair cut. That might not sound like a big deal, but it is. Once you get through the language barrier you still have the fact that Heather wanted to find something she liked, that they could do. Well I must say that my wife is pretty determined and resourceful when it comes to getting her hair done the way she wants it. First, she got her tutor to come with her to help her translate and she brought our computer downtown with her to show the stylist a picture of her haircut when it was short as her example. She was nervous when she left, and to be honest so was I. I just know how important these things are to her and how difficult the simplest things can be living in another country. Well she left with all her supplies and entourage to go get her hair cut. When she left I had a friend (Noah) over and I told him "whatever happens tell her you like it". Luckily for Heather she got exactly what she wanted and her hair cut looks great, both Noah and I told her we liked it (and we were being honest). I will put some pictures up soon of her new cut.



My friend Lawrence is someone I should have told you all about a long time ago. A few months ago when Heather and Jenny were running at our campus they had an unexpected greeting. A Chinese student ran up to them and asked if he could practise his English with them. They mentioned that he could practise with there husbands (Jeremy and I) and they got his number. I (Matt) gave him a call and we got together to hang out and to help each other with our language studies. It has been great getting together with Lawrence and he's become a good friend to me. We try and meet every week, but most times it's every week or two that we get together. Since school started for him (2 months ago) he has had to take the bus 45 minutes each way to come visit me, but he still makes the trip. We mostly talk about culture, language, and family. Since we are each other's language teacher we also try to encourage each other in our language studies as much as we can. I'm really glad that Lawrence has become one of my friends here and I'm sure we will be friends for a long time to come. In regards to Lawrence I should also say this, it is rumored that their is one Chinese version of every American person we know.... Lawrence is the Chinese version of Heather's brother Peter. So it's nice to have family here.



stuffed with joy and happiness,
matt, heather, sydney and little aubrey



我 爱 中国

I love china

Goodbye and Happy Birthday

Yesterday we said goodbye to Cary as he headed back to the States. It was a great week having him here and he was a great first guest (but hopefully not the last!). I mentioned a lot of what we did in our last post. It was a full week and we were sad to see him go. What I didn’t mention is that when Cary and I went to the Pagoda a friend told me we could get there by taking the #30 bus. When I asked which stop to get on, he told me, but I assumed I already knew the answer and totally zoned out (I know, I know, I know, I’m a horrible person). As we approached the bus stop (and I use this one a lot, so it’s kind of habit) we boarded the #30 bus going south. We rode the bus for 10 minutes when we got to a stop and then the driver motions to us to get off the bus… It was the last stop. I realized I grabbed the bus on the wrong side of the road, I needed to get the North bound bus… uhhh, so we walked for 10 minutes and grabbed the #30 again, this time going the right way, and not before my pride was damaged.

Aubrey sits!!! Yesterday was the first day that Aubrey sat on her own. Normally we sit her up and without something next to her she will fall over. Last night though I sat her up on the bed and without helping her I let her sit there for a couple of minutes. She just sat there without falling over or needing help. She’s growing up so fast, this will definitely help with her interview at KFC next week! (That’s a joke)

Today, a couple friends of ours are having their birthday parties. Noah turns 23 today and tonight we are going out to eat with him and some friends to a Korean Barbecue, then afterwards we will come back to our apartment for some desert. It should be a great time, and since Noah is a good friend to our family, we are glad to celebrate with him. Also, our other friend (and Sydney’s best friend) Joshua is celebrating his 3rd birthday tomorrow (Saturday) morning (his birthday is also today). A couple of birthday’s and they should be tons of fun.

Stories from Sydney. So the other day Heather was lying in bed and Sydney kept asking if she could use some lotion (Sydney is so girly). And so Heather would put a dab of lotion in her hands and then Sydney would rub it on Heather’s feet (talk about the good life!). Anyways, after a few times of doing this Heather informs Sydney that this was going to be the last time to use the lotion. As Sydney went to apply the last of the lotion to Heather’s feet, Heather quickly slid the lotion bottle behind the pillow to hide it from Sydney. When Sydney walked back to Heather, she suddenly got this confused look on her face, as she frantically searched around the bed for the lotion bottle. Realizing she had been deceived she got a devilish grin on her face and looked at Heather and said “Where’d you put it?” She is so cute!

Also, (and I hope I didn’t already post this) but the other week Sydney was jumping up and down on the couch. As she did this she threw a toy that was in her hands and it hit the big plant in our living room and landed behind it in the corner of the room. Realizing what had happened Sydney yelled “Oppssie Daisies!”

with love,
matt, heather, sydney and little aubrey

"Sydney getting her way"

"Seriously this is a typical day, our family surrounded by Chinese people"

"Me, Aubrey and our buddy Xia Tian"

"The Xia's and their American daughter, Aubrey"

"Heather and Sydney next to the fountain"

"Sydney playing with a butterfly"

"Our precious daughter in front of the Big Goose Pagoda"

"Why so serious Aubrey? Nervous about the KFC job?"

"Me laughing with some friends over a meal"

Our Trip To The Great Goose Pagoda

Hello, hello, hello. Heather, the girls and I, finally got to go see one of the main attractions here in Xi’an last weekend with the Xia’s and again today with our friend Cary. Previously, I (Matt) have seen the Great Goose Pagoda only from the bus or taxi as we drove past it, but not up close and personal. Our first trip to see it with the Xia’s (our Chinese friends) last weekend was a lot of fun. Going with them was good, because we got some culture along with looking at the tower. When we arrived, a stone lion statue sat there greeting us. My friend had me slip my hand in its mouth and rub the inscription on its chest… it looked well worn so I knew that I wasn’t getting sucked into some foreigner joke where everyone laughs, because the American put his hand in the lions mouth and rubbed its chest. As we stood there our friend tells us that the lion statue is 700 years old!!! In my mind if I’m site seeing in the States and I find out that the, let’s say lighthouse, is 100 years old, well then I’m impressed, heck, I would be impressed with a lighthouse that was built in the 70’s. And then there is Xi’an where you don’t even enter the main attraction and there’s a 700 year old lion... So we continued to walk around this amazing area and its really beautiful, a lot of garden type areas and some other statues telling about Chinese history and what not. As we are walking we are trying to have a good time, and it would have been perfect, if it weren’t for one thing… or one person. Sydney. She for whatever reason was like a caged animal, unhappy and ferocious. Something Chinese people don’t really do (at least that I can tell) is discipline their kids. So it’s super awkward for me when a half dozen people stand there as I struggle to keep my kid in time out and she’s absolutely losing it. They just stand there and stare at us. Anyways, I put Sydney in time out and this old lady comes and tries to cheer her up, and I had to chase her off, I felt terrible. But our friend Xia Tian kept buying Sydney little toys and trying to cheer her up, he’s really nice, but Sydney was horrendous. As we walked to the opposite side of the Great Goose Pagoda, we got to watch a water show, and not just any water show. This is the biggest water show in all of Asia (seriously, I’m not making this up). And this fountain shoots water to music and it is really incredible to see, and no lie, this fountain water show was HUGE! As we are watching this, this is what happens. No, first let me set the stage. We are at one of the ancient historical sites on China, the Great Goose Pagoda, I didn’t tell you this earlier, but it was originally built 1,330 years ago, and sits at an impressive 210 feet. It has survived major earthquakes, and in the past it has held Buddhist artifacts and has a lot of history. Not only that, but we are sitting next to the LARGEST water fountain shows in ALL of Asia. And we still manage to have a crowd gather around us and people ask if they can sit next to Sydney and have their picture taken… We aren’t a Hollywood mega couple, but if we were we would be named Matther. This whole situation was really funny to me. Life here is so wild and crazy. Afterwards, we also got to go out to eat with the Xia’s at KFC, which by the way is hugely popular here. Ken Dun Gee, is how you say it, in case you were wondering.

Also, Cary and I (Matt) got to go back to the Great Goose Pagoda today and snap some more pictures. Because we wanted him to get to see it since he is in town. I’ve attached a bunch of pictures of it. None of these pictures have us in them, it’s more of the site and scenery, but I will upload some of us later.

I (Matt) have been having a rough few days with the language. On Friday in class I was struggling really hard. Our teacher will laugh at us, in front of our other students, and sometimes loudly, when we say the wrong thing (it’s very embarrassing). This is really tough for me. I don’t get the impression though that she does it out of mockery. Anyways I got laughed at on Friday and for whatever reason it put me in a funk, then this weekend I had another situation where I felt like my language took another bashing. I felt defeated. BUT!!! Today, as Cary and I took a taxi home I chatted with the driver for a good 5-10 minutes. This was great for me, because when my teacher tells me I’m doing good I never know if she’s being honest and most of my interaction with Chinese people isn’t that long of a conversation. So when I’m in a taxi and the driver ACTUALLY understands me and I ACTUALLY understand his questions its super exciting.

Sorry this is so long, but don’t forget to check out the pictures at the bottom!

With joy,
Matt, Heather, Sydney and little Aubrey

Our FIRST visitor!

That’s right, Cary arrived this past Wednesday and will be staying with us until next Thursday. Cary is a friend of ours from the States and it has been a pleasure to have him with us. We’ve been showing him around the city a bit as well as our day-to-day life. There really is so much history here and so it’s cool to drive him like 15 minutes and say “oh, this amazing building, yeah I think it’s like 1,000 years old”, it’s best if you can say it matter of factly. Also, “Oh, our city, yeah it was the first capital of China, no big deal” or “Terracotta Warriors, have you heard of them? Yeah, they’re that way, next to that McDonalds”. Today Cary went to visit the Old City; there you can see the Old City Wall, Bell Tower and Drum Tower. Besides seeing our backyard, Cary also went shopping a bit for some souvenirs. There is some great stuff that you can get here (if you ever want to visit us). Cary got a decorative set of chopsticks, a scroll written in Chinese to put on his office wall, and a really nice Mah Jong game made of ivory (or bone) and bamboo. Tomorrow he’s going to see the Terracotta Warriors, and next week he will go see the Big Goose Pagoda. Well that’s it for now, sorry I’ve been kinda slacking lately on the blog action, but in the next couple of days I will write about our trip to the Big Goose Pagoda with the Xia’s (and I will attach some pictures), so make sure you check in to see them.

Gorged with joy,
Matt, Heather, Sydney and little Aubrey

A Class Update, I’m An Arrogant Foreigner, and Lost In Translation….

So our last week of class (this week we had it off, due to a Chinese holiday) was really tough. I’m now going into my 5th week and things are getting more and more difficult. Our vocab is getting a lot fuller and we are starting to learn more about grammar/sentence structure. There are differences in grammar between Chinese and English for example, in Chinese the time always comes after the subject, this is different than English, and below are two sentences to show you what I mean;

In English you would construct the following sentence in this way;
“I also want to go tomorrow.”
In Chinese it would be grammatically incorrect to say that instead you would say;
“I tomorrow also want to go.”
Even to say “He’s going tomorrow”,
you would have to say “He tomorrow is going”.

So as you can imagine when my whole life I’ve learned to say something one way, saying it in a new language with new grammar rules only makes it more difficult. But with practice and lots of frustration this will be something we will conquer. In other class news, we’ve begun learning to read and write Chinese characters. To this point I’ve only used Pinyin to read and write Chinese, but now we are learning the official method of the written Chinese language. To read a newspaper you need to have 2,000 – 3,000 characters memorized. So this is a large task to overcome as well. As of right now I have 8 memorized…. With each new lesson (after lesson 5) we now will have 8 characters introduced, and then they will ALWAYS appear as a character with no Pinyin (or English) help. I wanted to give you a few examples of some common sentences we are translating in our class right now, below are a few examples:

Teacher Yang is coming to my home for a meal tomorrow evening.
The fruit and vegetable market isn’t very convenient.
I’m thinking of eating at 9 o’clock.
When is Teacher Wu free? Because he said that he has no time now.

For the record I can say all of that, but it’s not easy.

So I found out something interesting this week. I found out that I’ve been completely arrogant (unintentionally) by how I respond to compliments here. I’ve been using the word “xiexie”, which means “thanks” when people tell me that my kids are beautiful or my Chinese is good. What our teacher told us is that Chinese people don’t respond to compliments by saying thank you, instead they will say “nali, nali”, which means “not at all”, because if you say “thanks” you’re being prideful. How many people have I insulted without even knowing it???

Lastly, I went into a photo shop tonight to have them develop some pictures of the girls and family/friends for me. And the guy who has helped me in the past has never really been too kind to me, not mean, but by no means good customer service. Anyways, he’s looking at the pictures of the girls and he says “(something I don’t understand) dou da?”, and generally when someone says that it’s, because they are asking how old my daughters are. So I start to beam with Fatherly pride and since it seemed like he was reaching out, I dove in head first, “well she is 2 months (I then realized I said it wrong so I recovered) she’s 6 months, and she is 2 years…”, as I’m saying this he’s getting up and grabs a photo and again says “(something I don’t understand) dou da?”. And I realized my blunder; he was in fact, not asking how old my daughters were, but how big I wanted my printed pictures to be. Not the last time I will make a fool of myself like that, and of that, I’m sure.

With joy,
The petersons