Letter from mom to Kids

This is a letter Susan e-mailed to her kids.  I hope she doesn't mind that I added it to her blog.  It contains some nice information about church experiences, dad teaching double classes, and Halloween creativity that I thought she'd want to remember later...  Julie

Hello Dear Ones,

Seems like awhile since I’ve written a personal note.  I’m behind on the blog, but trying to catch up.  Our calendar is filled nearly every minute.  Soon I will write about the Terra Cotta Warriors and our excursion with Mr. Gao—which lasted 16 ½ hours on Wednesday. We were supposed to go to some waterfalls, but detoured to a city where the Chinese revolutionaries lived before and during WWII, including a museum for Chairman Mao, and his home and several others in the caves.  Stay tuned for that in the blog.

In the meantime we had a district conference today—which is like Stake Conference.  Only we dialed into Sat. night meeting from our home and listened.  Then we went to church today and phoned in and all listened together.  Themes included:  the importance of families, and family history, the atonement, and keeping the Sabbath Day Holy—which is my encouragement to you.

After our meeting today, our Branch Pres.’s daughter was baptized.  We had a sweet program, including a letter from her grandma in U.S. and singing of “I Am A Child of God” in both Spanish and Japanese.  I shed enough tears to fill the font myself.  We had hoped to use the swimming pool at their apt. Complex, but that was closed. So they filled the large round bathtub in the master bedroom and performed the baptism.  There was even room for all 30 of us in the bathroom! (We could have put our whole apt. in that bathroom.) The spirit is very strong in our little meetings.  We truly know the Lord is here with us.

I made her a little ribbon bookmark and a card using some paper we brought, and cut out a rose off a printed paper sack. We really have to be creative here. 

Elder Russell Nelson  spoke in Beijing on Thursday night.  No earth shattering news, but he did bestow an apostolic blessing on the saints in China—particular for protection—which he knows we need while/when crossing the streets!  Fortunately there are walking bridges out of both the main gates of the university, and the stores and restaurants in our neighborhood are on our side of the street.  I only cross the street once a week when I go to the Dutch bakery for delicious treats.

We are gearing up for a Halloween party for our English students on Thursday.  I bought round suckers and kleenex to make ghosts, and made chocolate cupcakes to give the winners of the “Cake Walk”.  And we’ll play Bingo and show some ppts. And video clips.

Some of you know that Herb, our neighbor had to fly to Beijing this week to have his toe amputated.  He has diabetes and it had turned black with gangrene.  Guess who the university asked to sub for him….Yes, DAD.  And their classes are taught at the very same time, next door to each other.  So dad starts in one class, gets them writing, them scoots over to the other class and gets them going.  I hope they find another solution quickly, because he’s going to wear out at this rate.  NO way he can handle both classes with  essays, etc.

Anyway,  Pres. Nelson also said “this life is about doing hard things; that will make us stronger and bring us closer to Christ.”  So I guess we shouldn’t shy away from hard things, but it would be nice to have a rest now and then….

You all know grandma Taylor is on hospice.  So Dad is preparing to lose her.  It will be a blessing in many ways, but still sad. We feel very far away, but close when we hear from you or get to chat occasionally.  We love you all very much, and miss you lots!
Mom

Terra Cotta Warriors

On October 17, Jiatong University invited the foreign teachers to go on a day long field trip. First we attended a lecture about the history or famous sites in this area. Then they fed us lunch. Next we boarded a bus to go visit the Terra Cotta Warriors. We saw them in the spring, but it was just as impressive and astonishing this time also. We even some some new sites. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day, so we really enjoyed ourselves.

Then they took us to quite a fancy restaurant for dinner. It was 10 courses, some far better than others. The "beef steak" was the size of a silver dollar. Tim was a good sport and dressed up in an ethnic robe for a picture of an ancient emperor.

The highlight of the day was an outdoor spectacular at the hot springs mountain. They acted out the story of the Ming Dynasty emperor and his lady love. It was quite the play / pageant complete with dancing, zip line, waterfalls, fire, 3- D screens, and costumes galore. We loved it and highly recommend it. We feel very honored for the university to treat us so well.

Dumplings (Potstickers)

Mr. Gao invited us to spend the day since we have no classes on Wednesday. He picked us up and meandered around town to his house two counties away, where we could make dumplings. Of course he lives on the 6th floor with no elevator! I have to rest after flight four.

Mrs. Gao had chopped pork, garlic, leeks, etc to make the filling. She even has a Bosch mixer to make the dumpling dough. Mr. Gao proceeded to roll the dough into a long snake, then cut it into about 1 1 / 2 inch chunks. They alternated rolling them into nice circles. Then we pitched in and put a spoonful of filling, folded them in half, and pitched the ends and corners together. Ours did not look very neat, but we cooked them anyway. They were quite delicious and we each ate 2 platefuls.

Mr. Bao insists he's our best friend in China and wants to show us every nook and cranny in and around Xi'an for the next year. I realize this is a coveted invitation, but help! I need to do some laundry and lesson plans on my day off. (Actually Tim has taken over the job of the laundry.)
Anyway he drives us around in the countryside. We found a lake with newly developed walkway and shops, so we stroll all the way around the lake and snack on yogurt. Then he drives us up to the mountains south of Xi'an. It's pleasant and the air is cleaner.

Finally when I think we're headed back to the city, he detours off to a farmer friend who grows kiwi fruit. Did you know kiwi originated in China (like most everything else)? So the farmer let us pick 2 boxes of kiwi off his trees. I'm hoping they ripen so I can take them to the potluck at church this week.

Eventually we reached Xi'an and familiar territory. But it was 8:00 PM before we got home. It was a great ride through the countryside, and we have plans for next week. Fun, but my free time has been expunged!

Speechless

On Monday, between classes, they came and asked me to show up for a speech contest on Tuesday night.  That means 2-30 minute round trip walks to campus in one day.  I arrived at 7:30 to hear 45 minutes of intros, comments, and musical talent numbers.  The speeches didn't begin until 8:15, and they were 30 of them!  Three minutes each and then I was instructed to ask a question at the end of every other speech.  The student then had one minute to reply.  That really kept me on my toes--coming up with a new question each time, and making sure I understood what they were saying.
Then at the conclusion of the speeches, they announced that Susan Taylor would say a few words.  I truly was "speechless" for a couple of minutes.  But I recovered, and expressed appreciation of being invited to participate.  It was pretty impressive to see how well these students spoke English, and the depth of their thoughts.  They really work so hard, both to learn English and in their other studies.
I didn't get home until nearly 11:30.  Fortunately, Tim came over and walked me safely home. The busses quit running at 11:00, so that wasn't even an option.  It was a lengthy, but rewarding experience.

Huangguoshu Falls--Guizhou trip continued

Guizhou trip continued:

Next our bus took us to the Dragon Palace Cave.  We walked along the river, and rode a boat through a huge cave, illuminated with neon lights. Pretty amazing to ride through huge karst caverns in a boat.  We had to keep our hands inside the rails, mind our heads for low hanging rocks, and look out for bumper-car boats!  Then we travelled on to Huangguoshu and stayed at a hotel in the national park.  For dinner we went to the restaurant and order a steaming plate of rice with 3-platters of sweet and sour pork.  We wanted a light meal, and that's what everyone likes to eat!

Next our bus took us to the Dragon Palace Cave.  We walked along the river, and rode a boat through a huge cave, illuminated with neon lights. Pretty amazing to ride through huge karst caverns in a boat.  We had to keep our hands inside the rails, mind our heads for low hanging rocks, and look out for bumper-car boats!  Then we travelled on to Huangguoshu and stayed at a hotel in the national park.  For dinner we went to the restaurant and order a steaming plate of rice with 3-platters of sweet and sour pork.  We wanted a light meal, and that's what everyone likes to eat!

Huangguoshu a Falls is a famous national park with various underground rivers and at least 18-different waterfalls.  One is as tall as Niagara.  We hiked to it in the morning, also took a huge escalator in and out to cut the number of steps in half.  Tim and the other adventurers hiked up to the falls and walked behind them. Mary Morgan and I stayed at the bottom and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and sun rising over the mountains.

Later we took a shuttle bus and continued hiking to more fabulous waterfalls.  Eventually we hiked what seemed like miles, up and down thousands of steps, but the scenery was gorgeous.  It was a beautiful day up in the mountains, clean air, and some sunshine.  Finally we rode a cable car to get out of the park and returned to the hotel for a delicious lunch.  We played a version of "Brainium" with our friends when we returned to Guiyang.

The next day we flew back to Xi'an.  We didn't realize how large a city it is until we flew over the mountains.  There are skyscrapers for miles in every direction.  And yes a thick haze hangs over the city.  It makes us appreciate when we can see clouds and a bit of blue sky between the tall buildings.  But guess what?  When we came out of the Xi'an airport, we actually felt at home!  Back in a familiar place.  I suppose that's what home is--the place where you feel comfortable.

However, when we arrived at our apt. We found that autumn has arrived and it is pretty chilly inside.  The Chinese government doesn't turn the heat on until November 15, so I guess we'll be bundled up while we sit around working on lessons, or go to bed early to get warm!  Now I know why everyone runs around drinking a bottle of warm water.  We're going shopping tomorrow. Hot chocolate mix is at the top of our list!

National Holiday--Golden Week

So our first trip out of town for the National Holiday (Golden Week--Oct. 2-7) began with a plane trip to Guizhou, landing in Guiyang city.  We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel and promptly started looking for lunch.  Bingo, we found a little dumpling eatery where we ordered a plate of pork dumplings.  They were so good we ordered another plate.  Then feasted on bakery treats on the way back.

When our whole group of BYU teachers arrived, we boarded a bus and headed to Qingyuan ancient town.  We visited a temple, saw a mountainside of terraced rice paddies, and shopped for embroidered purses and silver jewelry.  We ate in the back of a restaurant, circular style.  Tim was miserable because we only had chopsticks and he could hardly get anything to eat.  The veteran BYU teachers told him he would learn to use chopsticks, or starve!

Saturday morning we departed for Kaili to visit Langde Miao Minority Village.  What was supposed to be a 4-hour bus ride turned into almost 7-hours because of a leaking bus tire, and bumper to bumper traffic into the village.  We spent a couple of hours sight seeing.  Lots of cute girls in ethnic costumes with silver headdresses.  They're quite famous for their embroidery, so I had fun shopping for just the right picture to hang on my wall in the apartment.  A lovely hand-embroidered peacock.  It was in a circular mat with a square frame, but I made them take it out so I could fit in it my suitcase.  We also bargained for some embroidered squares and silver earrings.

Sunday began with checking the Internet for the announcement of the 3 new Apostles at General Conference.  We held our own short sacrament/fast and testimony meeting.  Tim and I were somehow elected to sing a duet, accompanied by our I-pad.

Jason, our guide, said there wouldn't be any shopping on this day, but we promptly proved him wrong.  We wandered through 2 ethnic villages Xijiang and Leishan.  There were wooden houses built right into the hillside.  Very primitive living from 100's of years ago, but still there were cell phones everywhere.  There was one little shop open with beautifully embroidered baby backpacks, ribbon trim, and other assorted fabrics. We nearly cleaned them out.  Is there a "Sariah" in our group, or perhaps grandbabies on the horizon?  In Datang we saw a little show with native dancers all dressed up in their native costumes.  We bought more embroidery goods and had lunch in a traditional family house.  Lots of good food, served on a very low table with very short stools.  Tim is getting better with his chopsticks.

We returned to Guiyang (stayed in the same hotel every other night).  There was a Walmart sign across the street.  We ventured forth, hoping for a McDonalds dinner.  Instead we encountered KFC, which really left us missing McD's, but we comforted ourselves with a Snickers bar.

Monday we travelled to Tintai. It was rainy and drizzly so we promptly purchased lovely batik scarves to keep us warm.  We wandered through an old stone ethnic village, sampled freshly fried potato chips with chili spice--yes it gave me heartburn.  We found cute ethnic dolls, an apron, silver necklace.  Next we watched the Grand Opera, a martial arts performance where all the characters were wearing wooden masks.  Some faces were white, others red and black.  Guess who were the victors.

First Pedicure

Y'all know how much I enjoy pedicures.  Some things I'm willing to do myself. My toes is not one of them.  So the university hosted a luncheon for all the foreign teachers one afternoon.  I met Valerie, a lovely French-Vietnamese lady who taught at Jiatong last year.  She is currently working on a Masters Degree about some Chinese author, and lives nearby with Michael.  He is my English writing mentor, from Boulder, Colorado--One of those retired single American men who finds a "Chinese" girlfriend/sweetie.

Anyway, I mentioned to Valerie that I needed a pedicure and that I was considering riding a bus to the international mall in hopes of a successful experience.  She promptly offered to make me an appointment right in our own neighborhood. Done deal!  Wednesday morning when I met her, she hedged about whether this place would remove or re-apply the product to my toes.  But off we went. She found a nail salon that removed my toenail polish for 10RMB ($1.60).  Then we went two doors away where they soaked my feet ( in tea?). They were pretty nervous about the bandage on my ankle, but I assured them it didn't hurt.  Then the fellow pulled out a sharp scalpel-like knife and promptly sliced off my toenails.  I held my breath, but there was no blood.  He just started at one corner of each toe, and sheared off the nail to the other corner!

Next I got a great foot massage, which was very welcome on my aching feet.  Then they brought a hot towel and washed up my toes.  Finally, they rubbed my feet with some oil to soften them up.  All for 35RMB (less than $6.00).  I could have gone back to the nail salon and had them paint my toes (with my product, or theirs) but I elected to go home and make sure my nails weren't jagged.  They weren't, so I painted my own toes.  But next time I'm going back to the nail salon to finish the job!  It wasn't the mall spa, but it was in the neighborhood, and the price was right!