Update to the Medicine Lake Ward

Dear Medicine Lake Ward,

It all began so innocently when we saw a “senior couples needed in China” listing in the “Senior Missionary Opportunities Bulletin.” After an interview with the Bishop, another with the Stake President, the application form being submitted, and a little training at BYU, we find ourselves living in Xian China, a Chinese city of about 8 million people. Our living circumstances are modest, adequate, and the same as thousands of our Chinese neighbors –with one very important difference – a regular western toilet. While we don’t have an oven or a dryer, and while central heat does not come on for a few more days, we have a small fridge, 2 burners, and all the hot water we want.

We are assigned to Northwestern Polytechnical University, one of China’s top aeronautical, astronautical, and marine engineering research universities. The university has about 12,000 undergraduates and about 12,000 graduate students. About half the students take classes on the campus we live on.  It is more like a compact, stately, tree filled University of Minnesota campus than a new more spread out BYU campus. Besides the academic & administrative buildings, the campus also contains housing for all the students, the entire faculty and their families, and all the retired faculty. The university also has the top elementary school and the top middle/high school in Xian – each with about 2,000 students. It is more than interesting living in the midst of buildings with names such as Moon Exploration Building, Combustion and Thermal Structure Building, and National Laboratory of Solid Rockets.

We really like our neighborhood and community.  The campus is about 3 square miles and we live right in the middle. Whether we want to shop on or off campus, eat on or off campus, catch a bus or a taxi, go to a bank or an ATM, we really are located perfectly. There is also a “new” campus about an hour away where we actually teach. The fall weather has been beautiful. About as perfect of fall days as possible. The sun is shining beautifully. It is especially nice seeing the mountains out by the new campus – we take the bus an hour to teach our classes there.

We love what we are doing. In a general sense, it is exactly what BYU prepared us for. In a specific sense, it could not be more different. Every day is truly a new adventure and we awake every morning wondering what our new Chinese adventure will be today. When things get a little dicey, as they sometimes do, we always are so gratefully amazed by the tender mercies that are provided to move us forward. Thank heavens those mercies always appear.

Our teaching schedule is regular, demanding, and rewarding. We could not be more stretched nor blessed in the process. One big surprise is we are required to have a twice a semester, out of class, 6 person English interaction with each student in the freshmen, sophomore, and senior classes of the English department. It is a ton of work. Last night, for example, we had groups of 6 & 7 students over for a home cooked American meal at 3, 5, & 7 PM. We had some over Friday night as well. What an interesting pleasure. It is so great expanding the relationships outside the classroom. Besides loving our students, the Chinese in general have been wonderful and helpful. Unlike the big coastal cities, there is little English spoken in Xian. But the people are delightful and do all they can to help us – and we do need help. We are making wonderful friends.

Here is an interesting one. We only teach English majors. The first day of their freshman year they are put into a class of about 22 students. They take EVERY college course over the next 4 years with the exact same students – the 22 go as a group from class to class. As a result they are very much like a family with a tremendous loyalty and affection for each other. They behave toward each other much more like a large BYU FHE group or a great Mormon family than the kind of squabbling disjointed group you might expect in America. Great students, great kids, great human beings.

We are amazed at the unusual things constantly coming up. This past week, for example, we were asked to interview 20 professors and 30 advanced degree candidates who want to attend professional conferences, primarily in America. The University wanted us to ascertain if their English is good enough to justify the university covering their expenses. It was interesting to say the least.

We walk 3-5 miles every day just to do our regular routine. Some days it jumps up to 7 or 8. We might grab breakfast from the cafeteria food cart out front of our apartment and spend 45 cents. We might eat in the student cafeteria for any meal and spend 90 cents. We might get really extravagant and spend as much as $1.25. If we eat fancy at a restaurant off campus we will spend more like $2-4 dollars. If we decide to do Subway, McDonalds, or KFC, it will be $4. At those prices, it is hard to cook a meal when the cafeterias are so close. The only complication is the food is generally very spicy but we are adjusting. Between the price of food and the university providing housing, the cost of being here is very modest.

Chinese politics constantly enter into daily life. Last month we were restricted to campus, or even to our apartment, at various times because of protests going on related to the Japanese actions regarding a contested Chinese island. Our originally bullet proof, wonderful internet and IT connectivity of the first weeks has also been a huge complication the past month. The government has throttled back the internet leading up to the current leadership meetings. 

There are 22 American Mormons here in Xian and we are organized into a small branch. Chinese citizens MAY NOT attend our services and we are prohibited from actively or passively proselyting. But for sure, this is a country very close to being ready to be opened. It will be an amazing event. This is a very family oriented society where love of family is much more widespread, deep, and open than you see in America. It is very touching to hear about it from our students and observe so obviously in daily life.

We are far from home and like most senior missionaries miss our parents, kids, and grandkids. Yet our lives are incredibly fulfilling as blessings are being poured out upon us. We are so grateful for our experiences and for the obvious hand of the Lord in our lives.

Love, Ann & Paul

PS           Come visit us. We have an extra bedroom and would love to show you around.

PPS        As I listen to the piano being played in the apartment above us right now, I am reminded of how much we enjoy the girl upstairs practicing her piano, practicing her basketball dribbling, or practicing her jump roping in the room above our office.