We leave today for Weihai, China. We had a slight change in plans, instead of taking a 24 hour train ride, we now will fly. There weren’t any tickets on the train that had beds, so we would have had to sit the whole time. So that’s good that we are flying now, it’s only a 3 hour flight.
For those of you who haven’t heard about this opportunity before, we will be working at a camp for college students. Here are some quotes about the camp from their website:
“The international camps are organized to promote and develop young people to be leaders of Integrity. These camps are a high impact, interactive, international leadership development experience!”
“Sunshine International Camps provide students from the English speaking world and China to engage in a highly interactive, cross cultural character and leadership development experience. This will give students confidence and the skills to succeed as leaders of integrity in today’s Globalized world. The world needs leaders of integrity! Sunshine International Camps provide an exciting, high impact learning experience that will train the students in excellence and integrity in every area of life.”
So that is a taste of what we will be part of as staff of the camp. We will be gone for the next two weeks or so helping set-up the conference and facilitating it. We hope to impact many students’ lives through this time. I don’t know what our internet situation will be, but I will keep you posted as best I can.
Until next time,
the peterson's
July 15, 2008
Clarification and Addition
So I saw the Happy Birthday truck the other day. I had only heard it in the past, not seen it, and was told it sprayed water. Today I saw that it is a dump truck, so don’t spread terrible lies about Chinese water trucks, on account of me.
The other night I was walking home from a friend’s house at about 10:30 at night and was talking to Heather on the phone, I was just below the building and Heather was watching me from our 4th story window. I stopped and we were talking to each other and looking at each other. In my mind I was picturing this moment to be like a romantic movie where the main characters express their deepest love for each other in the light of only the moon and street lamps. So as a joke I yelled up too her (since not many people speak English) “I love you!”, “will you please take me back!”. Satisfied with the moment and laughing inside I began to walk again, when I noticed a foreigner walking in front of me…. I’m sure that she understood English and I felt foolish.
The other night I was walking home from a friend’s house at about 10:30 at night and was talking to Heather on the phone, I was just below the building and Heather was watching me from our 4th story window. I stopped and we were talking to each other and looking at each other. In my mind I was picturing this moment to be like a romantic movie where the main characters express their deepest love for each other in the light of only the moon and street lamps. So as a joke I yelled up too her (since not many people speak English) “I love you!”, “will you please take me back!”. Satisfied with the moment and laughing inside I began to walk again, when I noticed a foreigner walking in front of me…. I’m sure that she understood English and I felt foolish.
July 12, 2008
Food
So I’m sure a lot of you are wondering how food is for us, well it is amazing. As far as Chinese food goes (or food as they call it here) it is sooooo good. It’s like eating at P.F. Chang’s everyday for super cheap. Some of our favorites are; sweet and sour chicken, fried green beans, fried rice, sizzling beef (that’s what it’s called in the menu), chicken and peanuts (this has bamboo in it, which isn’t bad) and dumplings. There also is a McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and KFC for days we want to eat Western food. Lastly, there is a bakery here and they make the most amazing bread and donuts. Wow, we really love China.
Heather The Rock Star
The other day as I walked through the front gate to our apartment complex I noticed a huge gathering at the water fountain which is in front. This is the congregating place for moms and kids in the mornings and evenings. And as I see this I’m wondering; “Is everything o.k.?”, “Is Yao Ming in town?”, but neither of these things were the case. As I got closer, through the cracks I notice my wife and Aubrey in the middle of the cluster. This made more sense then Yao Ming being there. The truth is, people here love Heather and the girls. Everywhere we go people want to hold Aubrey and they always have a million questions for us about the girls. This is a lot of fun for us and we’ve been able to have some good times just chatting with the neighbors… and signing autographs… o.k. That was a lie.
Aubrey rolls (July 8th)
That’s right our little girl is all grown up now. She rolled a few times today (on the 8th of July) for the first time. It was so exciting to us.
Sorry this is kind of an awkward post, because I'm really happy and feel like I should write more, but have nothing else to add.
Sorry this is kind of an awkward post, because I'm really happy and feel like I should write more, but have nothing else to add.
8’s and 4’s
(Author's Note: I will talk a lot about cultural differences here and things I notice, this is because it is really interesting to me, and sometimes it's because it's really funny. I say that because I don't want it to ever seem like I'm comparing Western culture to Chinese culture and saying theirs is worse, weird or not good. The reality is that it isn't bad or weird, it's just different. That being said, here's a little taste of a difference in culture.)
In China the number 8 is considered lucky (the Olympics are on 8/8/08!!!!) and the number 4 is considered unlucky (this is because the word for four and death sound similar). So when I went to pick out a phone number all the numbers I could choose from started either with an 8 or a 4, to my amazement as my friend and I looked over the list all the numbers that started with 8 were taken and NONE of the 4's…. Then we found one, so we chose that one, then the lady asked us “are you sure you want that one?” and we look at it again and realize it ended with a four. So we skipped that one and went for another, just a little taste of the differences in life here. For the record my number has 2 fours and 1 eight, Heather’s has no fours and 2 eights (she got hers another day somewhere else). So that sucks for me.
In China the number 8 is considered lucky (the Olympics are on 8/8/08!!!!) and the number 4 is considered unlucky (this is because the word for four and death sound similar). So when I went to pick out a phone number all the numbers I could choose from started either with an 8 or a 4, to my amazement as my friend and I looked over the list all the numbers that started with 8 were taken and NONE of the 4's…. Then we found one, so we chose that one, then the lady asked us “are you sure you want that one?” and we look at it again and realize it ended with a four. So we skipped that one and went for another, just a little taste of the differences in life here. For the record my number has 2 fours and 1 eight, Heather’s has no fours and 2 eights (she got hers another day somewhere else). So that sucks for me.
Happy Birthday?
O.K. so there are trucks here that will come every few days or so and they spray the roads with water (I’m guessing to clean them). As they drive through, they blast the Happy Birthday song (without words), we’re on the fourth floor and it sounds like they’re in the next room when they drive by. Anyways one morning the Happy Birthday truck was making it’s rounds and Sydney turns to Heather and says “Happy Birthday Mommy”. Not only was this funny, but it was cool to us that Sydney knew what song it was even though there weren’t any words.
July 6, 2008
home.
Sorry for this update taking so long. We're home in Xi'an! We haven't gotten Internet in our apartment yet so it might take a while before I'm updating this regularly. Speaking of the apartment, it is amazing. It is 1830 Sq feet on the 4th floor, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully furnished with washer/dryer and T.V. We have both the girls sharing a room and our spare room is an office/toy room. This is the nicest place we've lived. I want to get some pics or a video on here soon, but I'm waiting for us to settle a bit.
The girls are both getting over jet-lag and enjoying the new pad. Heather has been going to our University track and running the past couple of nights which she loves and both of us are cruising around town during the days trying to get all we need for our apartment. It's going good, you can't do much more then one thing a day here in China. Everything takes time and for whatever reason nothing moves very quick.
I will end with a funny cultural awkwardness story. So it's 9:30PM on Saturday night, Heather is in the other room working on some stuff and I'm on the couch, watching a movie, with my shirt off (I add this because it makes the story better). Then all of a sudden I hear a knock at the door... and I wonder "Who could be here this late?". As I'm getting up from the couch 2 ladies walk into my apartment, they see me in my current state (without a shirt) and let out a yelp and run out. I tell Heather to see what is going on as I rush to put a shirt on. The girls come back in and one of them I realize is our landlady and the other I'm guessing is her friend. They make a rocking motion with their arms (indicating something about Aubrey) so my wife brings them to Aubrey's bedroom. She picks her up (she was sleeping) and lets the landlady hold her. They stay for like 15 minutes and before they leave they grab some things that belonged to them and left. Keep this in mind also, they don't speak English, we don't speak Mandarin, so that made the meeting even more awkward. Hope that wasn't too long winded.
So the plan is that we are going to continue to get our apartment setup for this week and then take a 24 hour train ride to a college camp we will be working with next week. Hope this finds you guys doing well, check back in a few weeks for pictures and/or videos.
Much love,
peterson's
The girls are both getting over jet-lag and enjoying the new pad. Heather has been going to our University track and running the past couple of nights which she loves and both of us are cruising around town during the days trying to get all we need for our apartment. It's going good, you can't do much more then one thing a day here in China. Everything takes time and for whatever reason nothing moves very quick.
I will end with a funny cultural awkwardness story. So it's 9:30PM on Saturday night, Heather is in the other room working on some stuff and I'm on the couch, watching a movie, with my shirt off (I add this because it makes the story better). Then all of a sudden I hear a knock at the door... and I wonder "Who could be here this late?". As I'm getting up from the couch 2 ladies walk into my apartment, they see me in my current state (without a shirt) and let out a yelp and run out. I tell Heather to see what is going on as I rush to put a shirt on. The girls come back in and one of them I realize is our landlady and the other I'm guessing is her friend. They make a rocking motion with their arms (indicating something about Aubrey) so my wife brings them to Aubrey's bedroom. She picks her up (she was sleeping) and lets the landlady hold her. They stay for like 15 minutes and before they leave they grab some things that belonged to them and left. Keep this in mind also, they don't speak English, we don't speak Mandarin, so that made the meeting even more awkward. Hope that wasn't too long winded.
So the plan is that we are going to continue to get our apartment setup for this week and then take a 24 hour train ride to a college camp we will be working with next week. Hope this finds you guys doing well, check back in a few weeks for pictures and/or videos.
Much love,
peterson's
July 4, 2008
A night in Beijing
That's right, how awesome would it be if everything worked out just as we wanted? Instead of being in Xi'an right now we're stuck in Beijing. Our travel went well. Our first flight was cancelled, our second was delayed 6 hours and our third left without us (because of the delay before it). That left us in Beijing with the next earliest flight being tomorrow morning. Outside of this, all of our luggage arrived with us and none of it was destroyed or stolen (that we know of). And the girls did great! Sydney fell asleep on the ground by our feet and Aubrey in one of the seats. Heather and I also managed to get a few hours of sleep in as well. All things considered the travel over here alone makes me want to stay for at least 2 years. Sydney is doing well adjusting (as weird as that sounds so soon). We've been here only a few hours and already she is going around to everyone saying "Ni Hao" (Chinese for hello). They like giving her attention and she loves getting it, a win-win situation, if I'm not mistaken. Well I will write more as we get settled, July 3rd, day one.
Much love,
the peterson's
Much love,
the peterson's
July 2, 2008
New Video Added
So I also added a new video of some pics from the past 3 months. I uploaded it to Youtube, but it will play from my website. I also kept a link to the last video on my blog and in the future will continue to add old videos to the links section. ALSO, I've added a weather, clock and map of Xi'an. The weather will indicate obviously the weather in Xi'an and the clock will tell you the time it is where we are. Thanks for reading this.
Tomorrow we leave
That's right.
Tomorrow the big day arrives as we make our way to the airport and head out for China. This past couple of weeks have been a blast and completely full. Heather and I have been shopping like crazy to get all the things that we need. Believe it or not Chinese people are smaller then Americans. So I will have no chance finding a size 12 shoe and both Heather and I will not find clothes. I guess that you can't find deodorant there either.... These are only a few of the challenges we face as we prepare to move. The girls are doing great though and we are all stoked to have the moment upon us. I will be writing you all soon as we get set-up in our new home.
One funny story (because I always need to add one). We got to go to the Minnesota Zoo with my family this past week and we took a moment to stop at the shark tank. It was amazing to watch these sharks swimming around. Heather's attention was then gripped by a huge shark in the back of the tank. She pointed it out to me and I too was amazed at this massive creature. When we told Ashley (my sister) about the shark she took a moment and said "I think it's a reflection of that shark", and with that Heather and I turned around to what Ashley was pointing too. Only to discover a huge STUFFED shark hanging behind us and it's image was reflecting on the glass of the tank. Needless to say we were embarrassed and humiliated. Other then that it was a great day, even if the coolest shark was only a plastic creation.
Well that's all for now, but stay posted.
Much love,
Matt, Heather, Sydney and little Aubrey
Tomorrow the big day arrives as we make our way to the airport and head out for China. This past couple of weeks have been a blast and completely full. Heather and I have been shopping like crazy to get all the things that we need. Believe it or not Chinese people are smaller then Americans. So I will have no chance finding a size 12 shoe and both Heather and I will not find clothes. I guess that you can't find deodorant there either.... These are only a few of the challenges we face as we prepare to move. The girls are doing great though and we are all stoked to have the moment upon us. I will be writing you all soon as we get set-up in our new home.
One funny story (because I always need to add one). We got to go to the Minnesota Zoo with my family this past week and we took a moment to stop at the shark tank. It was amazing to watch these sharks swimming around. Heather's attention was then gripped by a huge shark in the back of the tank. She pointed it out to me and I too was amazed at this massive creature. When we told Ashley (my sister) about the shark she took a moment and said "I think it's a reflection of that shark", and with that Heather and I turned around to what Ashley was pointing too. Only to discover a huge STUFFED shark hanging behind us and it's image was reflecting on the glass of the tank. Needless to say we were embarrassed and humiliated. Other then that it was a great day, even if the coolest shark was only a plastic creation.
Well that's all for now, but stay posted.
Much love,
Matt, Heather, Sydney and little Aubrey
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