Because we were so soon to leave China and wouldn't receive the envelop from the First Presidency, Mark Woodruff hand carried it to Heather Cook (since George was out of town). We called and had them open the envelop for us and were delighted to learn that the call to serve came for 12 months in the temple. John is excited to think of speaking German for a year! I am nervous but willing. It was nice to finally know where to ship our remaining things too so I was kept busy deciding what to send where and pulling our roller duffles to China Post.
I also fit in a couple of outings with Julie Monson to places we hadn't yet been. One I had wanted to visit was the Guanzhong Folk Art Museum. To get there Julie and I took three different buses way out of town. We loved it and loved spending the time together before we go our separate ways.
These are all original structures which have been dismantled and rebuilt in the folk museum.
All this time we have lived in Xi'an we have been told we were surrounded with mountains but we have never seen them. The skies are too murky. Today I thought it would be different since we would be so close to them, but it was still impossible to see anything more than a faint outline of hills. Oh well. We focused on things closer at hand and there was much to see!
I have never lost my love of the Chinese dragons in all their various versions. I liked this little guy sitting in the grass.
This is a wedding chair. It among many other items were on display.
A lot of the architecture of China has vivid colors but these were all buildings in grey and beige, but the brick work was really lovely.
It has been such fun to have a good friend who enjoyed tripping as much as I did.
One of our other outings was to go back to the artists' street just inside the wall to find last minute gifts and just enjoy the time together.
China has much to offer to a bargainer and I have become good at being one. The Chinese enjoy it and so do we!
While there we met a delightful family visiting from the Frankfurt Germany area.
One of the more difficult things about leaving China will be our leaving our students. Both John and I have grown close to many of them and in particular a small number of girls in my writing class. After our final three asked if they could take us out to dinner. Instead I invited them to our apartment. They came bearing gifts in the traditional Chinese way. We enjoyed visiting and learning more of their plans and dreams. We will take them and others home with us in our hearts.
We will also miss our wonderful little branch which John will continue to lead from afar. It is likely that he will remain as branch president in absentia until sometime in October, communicating with his one counselor in Xi'an via Skype--that's how it is done in China!
July 13 is upon us and with that we gathered up the last of our things, filling our duffles and headed for the airport in style in a lovely car Mr. Chen kindly arranged for us. We take with us 100 pounds of stuff and millions of memories. The next few weeks will be an adventure as we work our way home around the rest of the world.
Goodbye dear old dusty Xi'an.
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