June 1, 2010

A Wonderful Visit and an Embarrassing Tale

Heather and I falling in love, our wedding, Sydney’s birth, Aubrey’s birth, and many, many, more events, are some of the moments that our good friend Heidi Theiss was a part of. She’s been a good friend to us since before Heather and I were dating. And for the past two years of living in China we didn’t get to see her. So it was wonderful when we found out that she had planned on coming up to visit us here in South Dakota.

This past Memorial Day weekend is when Heidi came to see us and we had a great time with her. She drove all the way from Colorado to see us. Let me repeat that, she drove all the way from Colorado to see us. I have relatives that won’t cross the street to see me. Coming from Colorado also means a majority of her driving was through Wyoming (YUCK!).

It was so good to see her and not only Heather and I enjoyed seeing her, but also Sydney and Aubrey loved spending time with their Auntie. We spent most of our time together getting caught up on each other's lives and enjoying the nice weather we've been having here in Rapid City. Thank you Heidi for making the trip to see us!

Also...

Well it’s not every day that I make a fool of myself (it’s actually every half-day). And before too much time passes and I forget the latest story, I figured I should share it.

I desperately want to speak Chinese with a Chinese person here in Rapid City. This is nearly impossible, since I doubt any Chinese people live here. But recently, while working at Safeway, I noticed an Asian family that spoke with an accent. And I was sure that their accent was a Chinese accent.

As I was mustering the courage to ask them if they were Chinese, my window of opportunity presented itself. I was taking the mom to some film and I just jumped in with both feet, by saying this, “Ni shi zhongguoren shi bu shi?” which means “Are you Chinese?” She looked at me with a sort of puzzled look and said “What?” I thought that maybe she wasn’t ready for me to speak Chinese, or that she didn’t hear me properly, so I repeated my question. She again looked at me like I was crazy and it was obvious that she had no idea what I was saying. So I quickly mumbled, “Never mind” and slide away, embarrassed and defeated.

Each time I tell this story, it makes my wife’s day. So I hope that it also helps make your day.

Peace,
the petersons

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