Arrivals in Xi'an and Ogden

We were home from Beijing just three days before we had two very important, happy events in our lives—both occurring on May 19. The first one we had known about, and had been looking forward to, for months—the arrival of Elaine Harris, my cousin, and Karen Tate, her daughter (and my sister-in-law), who were coming to stay with us in Xi’an before joining their FunForLess tour in Hong Kong and other points in China. We were so excited to have family come for a visit for the first time since we came to China.

I went to the airport to meet the two adventurers due to arrive at 5:00 pm. Typical of many Chinese flights, theirs was delayed, but only for 90 minutes, just time enough to indulge myself with an $18 foot massage at the airport.


Finally they arrived and we gathered their luggage onto the airport express bus, arriving in Xi’an just as the lights were lit on the city wall making their welcome magical. John was waiting at home to greet us. After a quick tour of our happy hovel, we enjoyed dinner and a visit together.

Just before leaving for the airport, we received an email from David alerting us that Chi had gone into labor--five weeks early--and was now at the hospital. Kymora Joslin made her appearance at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, arriving at 1:29 am, May 19 (Utah time), weighing in at 5 lbs 4 oz, 19" long. We were delighted that Chi was able to have her naturally after her C sections with her last babies. Mom and baby both were doing well though Kymora was kept in the hospital a couple of days for observation to make sure she was okay. We were excited to get the pictures that David sent.

Meanwhile back in China, it was fun to have Karen and Elaine stay with us. This was the only time we have had guests and things worked out just great with Elaine in the guest bed, Karen on the couch, and all of us juggling around our one bathroom.

Friday morning our early-rising guests were up and ready to go, not giving jet lag any attention at all. I had assumed they would stay home and rest while I went to teach my early oral class but they chose to come with me and it was fun to have them included in the discussion with the students, who each asked them a question before we began the topic for the day—a focus on process and giving instructions.

After class our next stop was the police station to register their passports before we headed out on our adventures. I had promised to show them parts of Xi’an tourists don’t generally get to visit—avoiding the Terracotta Warriors and the Xi’an city wall that they would see when they came again to Xi’an with their tour. Because of the drizzle, we began by hopping a crowded city bus and heading for the Drum Tower, and the Muslim market and mosque at Beiyuan Lu.

We wandered the alley ways with their brightly colored wares of Pashima scarves, Chinese clothing, and other Chinese and Muslim souvenirs until we came to the side street leading to the 1,000-year-old Chinese mosque. There we left the bustle of buying and bargaining and enjoyed walking the quiet paths and seeing the unique architecture with its blend of two cultures.

Back in the market we arrived at my favorite shop—a jewelry store with its designer owner. There we enjoyed seeing the jade, lacquer, and porcelain pieces she so tastefully puts together. Elaine found treasures to take home as gifts for her daughters. It was such fun to bargain with the owner to capture really stunning pieces for very reasonable prices.

While we were out playing, John had his full load of classes but we did get together at home for lunch before we headed out once more to see the Beilin antique market—to poke around in dusty old shops to see what antique items might tempt us further. We pretty well wore Elaine out and all of us were grateful to head home to a walnut chicken/shrimp and rice dinner and a good night’s rest.

Saturday dawned cool and again a little rainy—we all agreed it was much preferable to a hot summer day though I was a little disappointed that we would not see as much along the park by the wall. Still we enjoyed our stroll and seeing the hearty souls who were exercising despite the drippy day. We even tried using some of the equipment along our route.

We all loved one of my favorite Xi'an snacks--fry bread, Chinese style--while wondering in our market street to buy fresh veggies and fruit.

Just as we arrived at the park we encountered Bethany Britton—our redhead in China— (daughter of our former branch president) who had just completed running around the entire 14 kilometers of the wall. What an intrepid soul. She had promised herself she would do so before leaving Xi’an. She has been accepted at BYU--Hawaii for next fall. Bethany has been attending our university, JiaoDa, where she studies Chinese.

After we walked along the park outside the wall we went just inside to see the Forest of Stone steles which displayed hundreds of years of stone tablets.

I had not been there myself, though Bethany and her mom, Elise, had pointed its entrance out when they took me to the artists’ street.

After our visit to the steles we moseyed down the artists’ alleyways to explore the crafts and art there, where Karen bought gifts for Andrew and found a jade piece she liked along the way before we headed back home for lunch.

After the big day Friday, Elaine chose to stay home for the afternoon to recoup a bit and work on her talk for Sunday.

Karen and I gathered up all the jade pieces that still needed to be strung and headed out for the West Market, the location where the Silk Road is supposed to have begun and which has now been built into a stunning Tang Dynasty style series of buildings, to see the Shaanxi craft displays before browsing the blanket “pawn” shops in the basement and getting her jade strung.

I love the sculpture outside the museum, even though the Chinglish spelling is a kick. It was fun to share this favorite place of mine with Karen.

We enjoyed seeing how some of the crafts are made. It is wonderful that such a beautiful facility is available to try to preserve the old skills so that they will not be lost. Among other things, we watched leather puppets being cut and pottery being thrown, before seeing the displays of the Shaanxi wares from this province.

Best of all we found the ideal gift for George—a beautiful black vase with humanity calligraphy characters of music, poetry, painting, etc. carved into it.

The manager of the shop had it packaged beautifully for Karen, promising also to email her the exact translation of the characters and a picture of the artist who made the vase and carved the characters. Finally we headed home, planning for me to mail it off at China Post on Monday, after the two left for the airport.

At home we relaxed, ate dinner, and watched Blindside, which Karen had never seen, before being glad to climb into bed.

Sunday came with rain and cool still in the air. John left for his presidency meeting early and the three of us followed in another cab an hour later. John had asked Karen and Elaine to speak in our sacrament meeting—we were both delighted to hear from them, knowing they would have wonderful things to teach us and also delighted to have a change from hearing from our own branch members, since we all get frequent opportunities to speak.

Their talks were really wonderful. Elaine spoke about learning from children and Karen about the scriptural accounts of living after the manner of happiness. They were delightful. After our meetings we went to the Village Café for lunch and then

took a taxi to the Small Blue Goose Pagoda where we spend an hour or two seeing the grounds and a little of the museum before heading home for a quiet evening while the two repacked suitcases to get ready to leave Monday morning.


After breakfast the next morning, not realizing just how big a rush hour Xi’an has, we left a bit late to get to the airport bus at the Bell Tower. It was very difficult to catch a cab and I was getting more than a little concerned that they would miss their flight. Finally we got a cab and headed for the Bell Tower planning to take the bus from there.

A mile into the trip we all decided it would be better to stick with the cab and forget the airport bus. The cab stopped and I jumped out and waved them off before finding a bus going back to my home. I did a lot of praying over the next hour that they would make it to the airport in time.

It was such fun having Elaine and Karen come to be with us. Being able to share Xi’an with family we love was a real highlight of our year. Add to that the happy, safe arrival of our little Kymora, we had a wonderful week to remember.