Study A-Broad

I went on my mission to Taiwan (Republic of China). So did Eric, my husband. In fact, he was my zone leader that passed me off on the discussions. To answer the common questions, that often follow: Yes, we had some interactions. No, there was no romance on the mission, The day we met I had been hit on my bicycle by a small, three-wheeled truck and was an emotional mess. I was also culture-shocked and wondered, “Why Chinese? Why me?” Needless to say, Elder Mulkay wondered how this poor Sister Dixon was going to fare…

Two years later, we met in a BYU Chinese class. He asked me out the first weekend of the Fall 1991 semester. We went to the Taiwan Goodwill Mission singers’ performance in the DeJong concert hall. I laughed so hard when he cleverly described the musical finale of a semi-Chinese version of GREASE. He said, “So here we have Wang Travolta and Olivia Newton-Jang!” I was smitten with his intelligent humor and the cross-cultural commonalities that we share.

For those that know Eric, he does have a intelligent wit somewhat akin to Alan Alda on the hit series of M.A.S.H. His quips come fast and you have to follow the course of conversation to catch it all. His comedic timing is good. Sometimes I wish I had instant replay to capture it all.

Another aptitude Eric has is either a photographic or aural memory. In any learning situation, there is almost nothing that gets past him. In other words, his ability to recall information is nearly flawless. Many students can attest to the frustration that causes in a language class (or any other for that matter). While many students can be pleading our “case” for credit to the professor, he/she can always justify his/her position because Eric seemed to get it right. (Grrrrrr) I will never purposely be in a language class with him again, my ego just can’t take it.

The next summer we both went on BYU’s China Study Abroad where we studied for a semester at Nanjing University about 70 miles inland up the Yangtze river from Shanghai. There we had coed dorms where we had language and culture class (Chinese, of course) tai chi, and other variations on Chinese themes. We would jog in the morning, go to class throughout the morning, find some native “dive” to enjoy lunch, tour historical sites on bikes for the afternoon or just have adventures (mishaps), and then study or do homework to prepare for the next day. At this point in time there was no TV, no movies or even streetlamps for any semblance of a nightlife. Basically, as a group we had to be creative, ambassador-like in behavior, and as a result there was a lot of interaction. I believe there were 17 guys and 4 girls. Never before or again, in BYU history are the ratios that favorable for females on study abroad.

We dated in Hong Kong, got engaged in Thailand, and trekked off to Japan to stay with friends who worked for Seiko. We joked about eloping to the Toyko temple but instead were married 7 weeks later in Manti.

Back at BYU, I took nursing courses and Eric finished his Bachelor’s degree and then started a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering. My favorite semesters in the BYU nursing Maternal-Newborn and Psychiatric nursing. I loved the new moms and babies because it was such a happy occasion (generally). Yes, the moms required some clinical attention. But the majority of them wanted encouragement, teaching, and someone to talk to them while they accomplished such a miraculous experience as growing another person and then birthing that child. http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/facultyshowcase/newborn/index.cfm Newborn Assessment