The double bonus this week was having
the heat turned on and we had beautiful weather. The irony of the heat coming on is
that it’s now too hot in the apartment so I have to open the windows. We have no thermostat … heat is either on or
off but the radiators are great for drying laundry. It was also enjoyable getting out for a walk
every day and exploring a few new streets close to campus. I haven’t had a haircut since coming to China
so I wanted to check out a couple of places.
At the music store I enjoyed listening to the students taking lessons on
various Chinese instruments.
Thursday afternoon I went with a
student and another English teacher to look at bikes and we went out for dinner
afterwards. Friday I looked at bikes
again and got a good deal on a used bike, so Saturday we rode out of the city
and explored some of the smaller villages on the plateau East of Xi'an. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I loved the ride, the villages and the people
… just a wonderful day. You'll notice all the corn is harvested and now drying and winter wheat has been planted along with vegetables year round. There are also brick ovens everywhere. I hope to add a slide show with more pictures but here's a sampling of the beautiful 40 mile ride.
If you do any traveling over the
holidays and have a chance to pick up a post card, I’d love to hear from
you. My students love seeing post cards
and I post them outside my office. I
will be going to Beijing for Thanksgiving and eating Duck instead of
Turkey. However, last night the BYU teachers and the program coordinators who are here visiting had a great turkey dinner including pumpkin pie at the Village Cafe ... they put together the dinner just for us and it was delicious. I am grateful for each of you
and wish you all a very blessed Thanksgiving.
Mailing Address
Karla Thompson
School of Foreign Studies
Xi'an Jiaotong University
No 28 Xianning West Road Xi'an
Shaanxi Province
P.R. China 710049
If you double click on the pictures you can view them in full size.
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| Village Road |
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| Social Corner of the Village |
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| Brick Furnaces |
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| Old cave dwellings - thousands of them all along the mountain side |
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| Once on top of the plateau it's very flat |
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| funeral |
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In Front of School
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| Hanging noodles out to dry |
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Recycling - he's puling the cart with a rope over his shoulder
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| picking persimmons |
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| Music Lessons |
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| Hair Salon |
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| Keeping Warm at the market |
Mailing Address
Karla Thompson
School of Foreign Studies
Xi'an Jiaotong University
No 28 Xianning West Road Xi'an
Shaanxi Province
P.R. China 710049
