Taxis

Riding in taxis is pretty cheap and convenient in Xi'an. The problem is taxi drivers don't really like to pick up foreigners, because we can't tell them where we want to go.  So on Sundays when we need to travel clear across the city to attend church, we text Henry, a private taxi service.  His drivers know where we want to go, and even though it costs a little more we just schedule a taxi pickup and away we go.  Then he returns to pick us up when we're finished.

We've tried to take pix of our bus stop, and other landmarks to show the taxi drivers.  Last week we rode the bus, which is extremely cheap, but often smelly and crowded, to the German Metro (aka Costco).  It was raining when we emerged with our 4 bags of Gouda cheese, meat, cream, avocados, Greek yogurt and other delicacies.  Tim was anxious to get home to listen to the BYU game, so we hailed a taxi.  We stuffed our bags in and hopped aboard, only to discover a female taxi driver.  We showed her a picture of the Rainbow Bridge, which is our drop-off point.  She didn't have a clue where to go but took off anyway.  Finally she pulled a U-turn, so we thought we were headed in the right direction.

Unfortunately, she was a very timid, conservative driver, which does not serve one well in China.  We got into terrible traffic and she was letting all the cars cut in front of her.  I thought Tim would have apoplexy.  The meter was running, and we were still miles from home.  Soon we spied the International Mall, which has a bus stop  we recognized.  We motioned for the driver to pull over and let us out, paid the fee to nowhere, and climbed the steps of the footbridges over the street intersections to catch a bus.

Of course, it was standing room only, and still raining.  We tried to hang on to our 4 bags and case of yogurt.  I stood by the door so I could breathe occasionally when the bus stopped for passengers.  The windows were so fogged up we couldn't see anything familiar, and weren't sure when we were getting close to home.  Finally, after several miles, we rode into familiar territory, and were able to get off at the right bus stop.  Then we carried the bags home and up the stairs to our apartment--still training.  We really enjoyed the groceries, but basically it was the trip from Hades.  Tim will never get into another taxi with a female driver!

Basically, riding in a taxi is a bit of a gamble.  There are bars between the front and back seat, so you just hang on, cross your fingers they're taking you to the right place, and rejoice when you arrive at your destination!

Students in China

Education in China is really a different ballgame.  There's a pre-school nearby,  Each morning the grandparents take the little ones to pre-school, and then pick them up at 5:00.  Meanwhile both parents are working diligently to earn money.
Elementary age children spend a lot of time in music lessons, art, writing--creative things.  They do NO chores.  Their parents or grandparents do everything for them so they can study and be good students.
By middle school they are in school from 7:30 AM until 6:00 PM with a break for lunch and a rest in the middle.  Then they study until nearly midnight. They have “Tiger Moms” who insist on excellence and near perfection.   I'm not sure when or if they ever have much fun.
High school is even more demanding.  They are very studious and quite creative and artistic.  They memorize everything and read voraciously!  Their one main goal is to pass the national college entrance test which takes several hours.  That determines where they can go to college.

My university students go to school most days from 8:00 to 6:00. They have two 2-hour classes in the morning, and the same in the afternoon, with a 2-hour break for lunch and a rest.  Then they study until late, or perform in music groups, speech contests, etc.  They are rarely late to class and humbly apologize if they walk in after the bell rings.  Most score 100% on their vocabulary quizzes, and if they do less than 100% on their presentations, they ask for the chance to do it again and improve.  I hardly dare dock them 5 points, because it gives them such heartburn.  They are very thoughtful and interested in the United States.  They think college students have it much easier, which is probably true.

They live in very basic dorm rooms with a community bathroom and no privacy.  To shower they have to go to a public bath.  They suggested I stop by to see it, but Suggested I wouldn't want to stay long. There are no clothes dryers.  They hang their clothes out on the balcony/porch. Not sure if they have access to a washer, or use the sink.  There is no heat in the dorms, at least not yet.  They wear coats and heavy sweaters all day long, in and out of class.

I'm sure not every student is so conscientious, but they understand that education is the key to their future and a good job.  They are pretty addicted to their cell phones, and social media as they know it.  Some play pick-up sports, and video games.  I'm not sure when they fit those in.  Many MS and HS students go to extra classes on weekends to learn foreign languages and to be tutored to keep high performances.  It's a pleasure to have such diligent students, but it's heart-wrenching to see how hard they work with so few of the conveniences Americans take for granted (heat, cleanliness, soft beds, drinkable tap water, tv, instant Internet, fast food…)

Perhaps we should ship some of our high school dropouts over here to get a taste of “reality”.  How grateful we are for the abundance of blessings we have in America.

P.S.  I taught my students to square dance in my culture class.  There were as shy as 4th graders, especially the boys.  But they had a rollicking good time!

Halloween in China

It began a week early with my agreement to visit a middle school private tutoring class on a Friday night.  I met the teacher, John, and we walked over to the class of 7 eighth graders.  Fortunately the other BYU China teachers have shared their Halloween ppts. And film clips.  So I dressed up like a witch, complete with hat, cape, fingernails, and horrid nose.  The kids loved it; everyone had to have their picture taken with me.
I showed them everything I know about Halloween, sang a song, showed them scary film clips.  Then we played Bingo.  They thought it was great fun.
So I went through the same scenario all 9 classes, during the week before Halloween.  I scared a few of them with my costume and hairy spider, and isn't that the point of Halloween anyway?  Scaring people and saying, "Gotcha!"
Thursday night we were in charge of English Corner, which is a social gathering for anyone who wants to practice their English.  We showed them our video stuff, then played Bingo and had a cakewalk.  I printed Halloween symbols on some orange card stock, cut them out, had them laminated, and Tim taped them to the floor.  Then we played Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and made them walk the circle.  I had made chocolate cupcakes (from scratch), so each winner got one.  They were a big hit.  When we ran out of those, we gave away our stockpile of "moon cakes " which are a holiday specialty around here. But we weren't sad to see them go.  We also made little ghosts out of lollipops and Kleenex.  There were about 60 students, and they all had a great time.  Some even found a few small pumpkins to carve, complete with tealights.

By the time Halloween Saturday rolled around, it was raining and we were partied out.  When the rain stopped later in the afternoon Tim was hankering for a McDonalds dinner--fish fillets and fries.  Then he had a banana split at Dairy Queen. Yes I had a chocolate almond Blizzard (they threw in some raisins).  Then we found an English movie in 3-D--"Antman". We liked it, even though it cost $15 a ticket.  We picked up a few items from Walmart and found a bus to home.

By the way, both Walmart and the grocery store had a few costumes, masks, hats, and other Halloween paraphernalia for sale, even though they don't really understand what it's all about.  Do we?  We just like to dress up, decorate, and eat candy.  Anyway it was fun to see pix of our grandkids all decked out in their Halloween duds. Happy Halloween!  Onto Thanksgiving and Christmas, hopefully.

Mao and Gao

Mr. Gao says he's our best friend in China!  It's his personal mission to take us to all the sites in and around Xi'an.  “A year is not nearly long enough,”he says. On  Wednesday, October 21, he arranged to pick us up at 5:30 AM for a day trip to the Hokou Waterfalls.  We drove out of the city in the dark, but soon found ourselves in the beautiful countryside on a perfect autumn day.  The leaves were turning colors everywhere, and there were crisp apples for sale at every roadside stop.
About mid-morning we found ourselves detoured to Yan’an, which is the hotbed of the Communist Revolution before and during WWII.  There is a huge statue and museum dedicated to Chairman Mao, with a gazillion pictures of their infamous leader.  Mr. Gao holds him in extreme respect so we didn't express our viewpoint. ( difficult to do with the language barrier anyway).  We also visited Mao’s headquarters, home, meeting rooms, and many spartan cave homes lived in by his generals and other comrades.  It was quite interesting.  Later someone referred to this town as “Disneyland for the communists.”
Mr. Tao also showed us lots of red dates ripening up, but we're just not “date” fans.  No dates stuffed with sticky rice for us.
We then headed down the road and finally stopped for lunch in some little hometown cafe that only Mr. Gao knows about.  Tim ate a Chinese Hamburger, which is a steamed flatbread bun with pork inside.  Then he gobbled down a plate of rice with mushrooms, and a bowl of soup--all with a spoon,since he dreads those chopsticks.  Pretty soon the cook and hosts all come out to watch him eat.  They even offered him another “hamburger” on the house.  It turns out they have never had an American in their little establishment before, and they want to video him for an advertisement--or so they say.
With our tummies filled, we head off to the waterfalls, finally arriving about 5:00.  The Yellow River has cut away a narrow gorge, and when the water rushes through it creates a lot of spray and several cascading waterfalls. It was very lovely and a bit slick on the rocks.  Gao had a quick nap while we wandered around, bought a trinket bracelet, then headed home.  Just before getting back into the car, Tim said he was hungry again.  Gao was quite taken aback, as it had only been about 3 hours since Tim's record lunch.  When George, the translator, told Gao that Tim was just kidding, he howled with laughter.  He seemed to think that was a great joke.
The lights of Xi'an didn't appear until 10:00 PM, making for a 16 ½ hour day--much of it riding in the car without being able to converse very well.  When Mr. Gao dropped us off he said, “if you're exhausted, that means you had a fun day.” Well, we were!

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!