Sunday, October 26, 2008

Nice Chinese Grandmother at Costco

I took Elisabeth to Costco on Saturday. We had a great trip as far as samples go. They bring out the good stuff on Saturdays. So by the time we got to the little deli/cafe thing, we weren't starving. We decided to split a piece of pizza, some fries, and a Coke.

As we sat there with pizza grease dripping off of our chins, a very nice Chinese lady sat down at our table (they are big long tables) with her daughter. I don't think that either of them spoke English, but I know that the grandmother didn't. She was so sweet, she kept waving at Elisabeth and smiling and making faces.

Elisabeth said "Hi" multiple times, but there was no reaction - clearly the woman didn't even understand "hi." So I explained to her that the woman spoke Chinese, and I asked her if she knew how to say hello in Chinese. She said that she did not, so I asked her if she had ever seen the Nick Jr show with the little girl named Kai-lan. Apparently she has watched the show because she immediately said, loudly, "Ni hao!!!" The woman looked surprised and said "Ni hao, ni hao!" a few times, while waving.

We finished up our healthy lunch and "cleared the table." Elisabeth whispered to me, "mommy, how do you say goodbye in Chinese?" I told her that I didn't know, we'd have to come home and find out on the internet. She seemed satisfied with that answer.

As we walked out, she stopped in front of the woman and said - very loudly - "ADIOS! ADIOS!!!" So at least now we know that the Chinese word for goodbye is not adios...

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