She also enjoyed eating Chinese takeout during those years

from the Wikipedia entry for "John Mellencamp":

Prior to the 1985-86 Scarecrow Tour, during which he covered a bunch of 1960s rock and soul songs, Mellencamp added fiddle player Lisa Germano to his band to accent and deepen his overall sound. Germano would remain in Mellencamp's band until 1994, when she left to pursue a solo career. During this time, she learned how to speak Chinese. One of her favorite sayings was the words for a small horse "tai ni po ni". She also enjoyed telling people the word for peach "tah osi".