BYU Spectacular

 BYU brought the Young Ambassadors to China 40 years ago in 1979.  It was quite a miraculous feat.  Well, this year they not only brought the Young Ambassadors for a 40-year reunion but they brought 8 other performing arts groups with them.  They performed in Beijing, Shanghai, and yes, Xi’an.  We’ve known about it for months.  When the tickets went on sale in April, Kim and I talked and decided to buy a whole row of tickets and give a ticket to one student in each of our classes.  A row is 17 tickets.  We have 11 classes between the 2 of us.  I’ve had contact with several of my students from last year so Kim suggested I give the remainder 6 to some of my former students.  At first ,I didn’t know which 6 to give them to.  A couple were obvious to me.  But once I started offering tickets, it came down to just 6 that were able to attend that night.

Next, we had to decide which student in each of our class would get the ticket.  We decided to raffle it off.  We went through each student in class and asked if they were able and wanting to go to the performance.  Out of those that wanted tickets, we divided them into groups of 5.  We drew out 4 names of the 5 students.  Those 4 would not be receiving the ticket.  Then the one student from each group were put into a group together.  Again,  we drew out the names of all but one student.  The last student remaining was the student who won the ticket.  It created a bit of excitement and anxiety in class as we drew the names to determine who won.  It was really quite fun.

 We had received word that Pres. Worthen, BYU President, would be there and would like to meet any Chinese visitors we brought with us.  I told my students this and that they should come early and meet me in the lobby.  I also had 3 students that bought their own ticket to come.  Many came early.  We waited our turn, and they finally got to meet him.  He was very cordially and they were honored to meet him.  After that, one of his VPs talked to us and ordered someone to go and get them t-shirts.  They brought each of them out a BYU Spectacular t-shirt.  Unfortunately, 3 of my students were not there yet.  None of Kim’s students were there either.  When one of my students learned of the t-shirts later, he asked if there was any way for him to  get a shirt.  I didn’t know how that could happen.  So when I got home that night I ordered him one from Amazon.  😂  We mingled for a little bit in the lobby, then took our seats and the show began. 

It was an amazing show.  They began with a female student speaking to the audience in Chinese.  My students said her Chinese was perfect.  The first part told some kind of story and how we honor families, love and something else.  (according to my students—but I’ve forgotten what they told me.). There were performances from the Young Ambassadors, Vocal Point, Basketball Dunk Team, Lamanite Generation, Folk Dancers, Orchestra, Cougarettes, and Ballroom Dance Team.  The evening was amazing.  The performances were, honestly, spectacular.  But the highlight for me was at the end.

After the performance, the performers went out in the lobby and met the audience.  There was so much excitement in the air.  My students had their pictures taken with many of them.  They were on cloud 9.  It was a night to remember forever.  These  students will always remember this event.  When Kim first suggested that we buy tickets, I thought it was a bit weird but now I am SO glad we did it.  It has been the highlight for us in coming back to China this semester.  

Pres. Worthen greeting Sue.

President Worthen greeting my students.

Pres. Worthen greeting Kayla

Emma was thrilled to get to meet Pres. Worthen.

Girls from last year:  Ellie, Seven, Nora, Emma and then 2 girls from this year, Lee and Sue.

Ellie, Seven and Nora getting their BYU T-shirts.

Nora, a student from last year, meeting Pres. Worthen.  Ellie was also from last year.  She is watching.

Pres. Worthen greeting Esther

Vicky receiving her t-shirt

These are all my students either this year or from last year:  L to R: Lee, Ellie, Seven, Sue, Nora, Emma, Kayla, Vicky, Isabella, Me, Cherry and Esther

The one guy that won a ticket was Jankin Shi.  He wasn't here yet when they handed out t-shirts.  He's the one a bought a t-shirt for. He was surprised and very appreciative. 

Sue and Lee

Yes, that is Jay and Debbie Hamilton.  They had come for a visit and were here for the performance.  But that is a whole  other story.

 

 

 

This girl opened the performance with perfect Chinese.

 

 

Sue and Lee

Sue, Emma in red and Lee in yellow, Kayla with her hand on her cheek

Sue, Emma, Lee and Kayla with members of the Basketball Dunk Team.   Emma was a student from last year.

Esther getting attention from the dunk team.  Esther bought her own ticket because she really wanted to go! 

Vicky and Esther.

Huili, in the yellow sweater, is a teacher in the Business Department at XISU.  She spent 4 years getting her Dr. Degree at BYU.  She's a gem of a lady.

Esther with member of Young Ambassadors.

Sue and Lee

Emma and Vicky and Kayla

Huili

Isabella and Cherry were students from last year.  They bought their own tickets to come. 

Lee

Lee, Emma, Sue, Vicky and Kayla

Jenny and Jasmine missed meeting Pres. Worthen and getting t-shirts.  I'm sad for them. But they LOVED the performance.

Esther

Nora, Seven and Ellie

Lee, Emma, Sue, Vicky, Kayla

Nora, Seven, Ellie, Jankin Shi

Most of the group we had tickets for: front row: Sue, Stephanie, Holly, Desmond, Mae and Dawn. Middle Row: Kayla, Vicky, Rhonda, Emma, Seven, Nora, Ellie and Isabella.  Back Row:  Lee, Esther, Jasmine, Jenny, Kim and Jankin Shi.

Cherry and Isabella were my students last year.  They both bought their own tickets.  They wanted to see the program! 

Jankin Shi

We met Andy last summer when she was in the US on a work program with one of Kim's students.  They came to visit us.  We took them to BYU and bought her that shirt.  She bought her own ticket to the performance.  She told me this week she is looking into going to graduate school at BYU.  She's a great girl.  I hope she gets to go.

Three of Kim's students.  Holly, Desmond and Stephanie.  Holly was interviewed by the BYU-TV group that night.

Kim's students:  Holly, Dawn, Mae, Desmond and Stephanie

Some other teachers attending the performance.  Marie is from France. Barabara, then Diane who is in the branch. Then Bob and Debbie Bowen and Eva.  They are also in the branch.  Eva is from Hungary and is not YET a member.  She will go to the US next month when she plans to be baptized.  She's a wonderful woman.

Lin Zhu is on the end row.  She is our right arm.  She takes care of us at XISU.  CK is sitting next to her with 2 of his children and his wife.  He is from Malaysia and is also a teacher at XISU.  He teaches English in the same department as me.

Barbara, in the pink sweater, teaches with us and is in the branch.

Fabiola and her husband, Hycharlison and son Dani with Lillian.  All Branch member. The Silva family is from Brazil.

Sweet Ladies, friends and branch members. Fabiola and Alison

Our good friends, Bob and Debbie Bowen.

The Show was truly SPECTACULAR and the atmosphere was a buzz.  We loved it.  Our students loved it.  Our friends loved it.  Our branch members loved it.  What else can I say?  Oh, did I say it was spectacular!  😅❤️