Chinese x2 at restaurant. Wed, Jun 20, 2007.

06/20/2007. 840. (Road trip to visit family, continued. 2nd day of driving.) I forget why I chose this particular exit. I think I exited here just because it was lunch time. There was a commercial district at this exit, with plenty of gas stations, stores, and restaurants, but no Chinese restaurants.

I went into one gas station looking for a placement opportunity but didn't see any. I bought something, and asked the cashier if there was a Chinese restaurant nearby. He said yes, about three or four blocks away on the same street. It was simple to get to, and would be a straight shot back to the Interstate.

I went there and it was a good-looking buffet.

As I ate, they were starting to get busy with the lunch crowd, so the waitress was moving fast. I had Chinese and English copies of the Book of Mormon out on the table, and she probably noticed them, but didn't say anything. When she brought my check, I struck up a conversation with "Do you like to read in Chinese?"

She was from China, and very graciously accepted the Simplified Script Chinese edition of the Book of Mormon. She was a bit reluctant to accept the English edition, but I emphasized the idea of reading them together to improve English reading. I think she caught on to the idea, but I'm not sure.

I try very hard not to be pushy. Chatty is okay, but pushy is not. And if someone accepts a forgeign-language edition, I believe it's then okay to be a little bold when offering the English to go with it. I think there is great benefit when reading them together as ESL (English as a Second Language) material.

I went to the cashier counter to pay, and told the cashier how good their buffet was. I showed the cashier a copy of the Simplifed Script Chinese edition that I had given the waitress. I found out that the waitress was not part of the owner's family, so I wanted to offer the cashier a copy too. The cashier's family was from either Taiwan or Hong Kong, where they read Traditional Script Chinese characters. So I pulled one of those out of my bag, and showed her, and she looked through it a bit. She graciously accepted it and an English edition.

06/20/2007. Journal entry. I got back on the Interstate after lunch. At the very next exit I felt that I should take it. It was another commercial area. Not far from the Interstate was a Chinese restaurant. I made a note to eat there on the return trip.