The story of Robert Eller and Yifan Zhou-Eller is a cross-cultural romance. The two met in China almost five years ago. Robert, originally from Lenoir, was working for the Peace Corps and teaching at Southwest Jiaotong University



The story of Robert Eller and Yifan Zhou-Eller is a cross-cultural romance. The two met in China almost five years ago. Robert, originally from Lenoir, was working for the Peace Corps and teaching at Southwest Jiaotong University

Couple closes cultural gap in whirlwind romance

BY CHRISTINA CUPO
RECORD STAFF WRITER
Sunday, February 13, 2005

LENOIR -- One wedding wasn’t enough. Robert Eller and Yifan Zhou-Eller celebrated their love three times on two continents.

The story of Robert, 30, and Yifan, 24, is a cross-cultural romance. The two met in China almost five years ago. Robert, originally from Lenoir, was working for the Peace Corps and teaching at Southwest Jiaotong University. Yifan, a native of China, was on a business trip. Their first encounter was on a bus.

He noticed her pretty smile and asked if she could speak English. She pretended not to understand.

They got off at the same stop. Robert said goodbye in Chinese. Yifan thought he was lost and started talking to him.

She hasn’t stopped since.

“We went to dinner that night, had lunch the next day and dinner and then pretty much stayed together after that,” Robert said.

On a visit to North Carolina, he asked her to marry him at scenic Table Rock. She had no idea in advance.

“He was smart,” Yifan said. “He asked me the last day of our vacation before I went back to China. Then I find out even the neighbors knew - everyone but me.”

Her family was hesitant.

“It took them a while to get used to the fact that their son-in-law would be a white guy from America,” Robert said. “(Her father) finally came around.”

“My parents didn’t want me to leave them to go to America,” Yifan added. “It’s really sad for them for me to go so far.”

Being in love was easy compared to the red tape the couple went through to get married in China. Marrying a foreigner entailed hiring a lawyer, filling out paperwork and taking a battery of medical exams. The couple was rewarded with a civil ceremony on Oct. 18, 2002.

Yifan’s family also threw them a wedding at an upscale restaurant on Jan. 1, 2003. In keeping with Chinese tradition, there were no presents or cake. Guests gave the couple red envelopes with money. For luck, everything from people to cars was in multiples of two. Yifan wore a white wedding dress.

Getting an immigration visa for Yifan to come into the country as Robert’s wife took more than a year.

When the couple moved to North Carolina last summer, Robert’s family - who couldn’t come to the second ceremony in China - hosted another wedding bash July 17 at Broyhill Park. This time, Yifan donned a traditional Chinese dress.

After living in China for five years, Robert, an English teacher at South Caldwell High School, is still settling back into American life.

It’s also hard for Yifan, who is the youngest child in a close-knit family. After she left China, her father missed her so much he lost eight pounds.

Finding a job is tough, too. College-educated Yifan is looking into a liaison position between manufacturing companies and China.

“I was homesick at first,” she said. “Once I get a job, I think I could fit into this society much better. A job would solve a lot of problems. I could make friends, contribute to this family, have some money to go home and visit my family.”

Both Yifan and Robert know what it’s like to be a stranger in a foreign land. They gain strength from that shared experience.

The little things also help. Robert’s mother, Pat, takes Yifan shopping. His father, Ray, helps her with insurance questions. Last week, Robert and his students put together a Chinese New Year card for Yifan.

“I say sometimes, ‘Why don’t you find some local girl, like a girl who works in a bank? Your life would be so much easier. You wouldn’t have to worry about me,’” Yifan said.

“I don’t dig bank girls,” Robert replied. “After I kissed her that first time, I knew I was going to marry her. That’s it, and there’s never been any doubt ever since. Plus, my grandma liked her.”

The couple say they’re together because they never questioned the power of their love - a love so strong that it crossed countries and cultures.

ccupo@hickoryrecord.com | 322-4510 x239

When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

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WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.

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February 12, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Peter McPherson keeping busy in DC 12 Feb Martha Ryan wins Award for pre-natal program 12 Feb John Perkins reveals dark side of U.S. aid 10 Feb Kathleen DeBold involved in lesbian activism 10 Feb Jim Doyle to fix Wisconsin deficit without raising taxes 10 Feb Chris Dodd proposes Class Action Fairness Act 10 Feb RPCVs create Tsunami Assistance Project for India 9 Feb Donna Shalala talks about her Peace Corps days 8 Feb Senator Frist proposes Global Health Corps 8 Feb Bush's budget to end Perkins loan forgiveness for PCVs 8 Feb Tom Petri's Direct Loan Reward Act to save $18 billion 8 Feb Izaak Edvalson helps educate a Doctor 7 Feb Carol Bellamy condemns Female genital mutilation 7 Feb Carl Pope criticizes Bush environmental priorities 7 Feb Mike Tidwell defends wind farms 6 Feb Kinky Friedman for real? Voters may not care 5 Feb Bruce Anderson's Newspaper folds amid money woes 5 Feb

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Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress.

RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey.

RPCVs contend for Academy Awards Bolivia RPCV Taylor Hackford's film "Ray" is up for awards in six categories including best picture, best actor and best director. "Autism Is a World" co-produced by Sierra Leone RPCV Douglas Biklen and nominated for best Documentary Short Subject, seeks to increase awareness of developmental disabilities. Colombian film "El Rey," previously in the running for the foreign-language award, includes the urban legend that PCVs teamed up with El Rey to bring cocaine to U.S. soil.

Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Coleman: Peace Corps mission and expansion Senator Norm Coleman, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee that oversees the Peace Corps, says in an op-ed, A chance to show the world America at its best: "Even as that worthy agency mobilizes a "Crisis Corps" of former Peace Corps volunteers to assist with tsunami relief, I believe an opportunity exists to rededicate ourselves to the mission of the Peace Corps and its expansion to touch more and more lives."

RPCVs active in new session of Congress In the new session of Congress that begins this week, RPCV Congressman Tom Petri has a proposal to bolster Social Security, Sam Farr supported the objection to the Electoral College count, James Walsh has asked for a waiver to continue heading a powerful Appropriations subcommittee, Chris Shays will no longer be vice chairman of the Budget Committee, and Mike Honda spoke on the floor honoring late Congressman Robert Matsui.

Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help?

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