Chapter 41 - Beijing

Beijing Blog
Hello Again Everybody,
So my time here in china is quickly winding down and before I know it I
will be on the plane flying over the Pacific Ocean returning home.
But for now I am doing my best to enjoy every second while I am in
china because soon my time will be up here in this beautiful
country!
Well the train from Xian to Beijing was great! I slept like a baby
and it was cool to fall asleep in one part of the country and wake up in a
whole new world of china. Time well-traveled while I was fast asleep
the whole time, now that’s traveling!
Beijing has been loads of fun! It’s sad that this is my last night in
this wonderful city! I have learned so much from here and I hope that
someday I can return and finish touring it. 4 days in Beijing
isn’t it enough to see everything. We got to see quite a bit but it
was quickly rushed through and made for some really long days!
Through all the sore feet, the late nights and early mornings, for
all the subway rides and ALWAYS standing, this has be a trip of a life
time. Every place has its own story but I cant tell the story of each
so I will give you the place and a short description about and how I
experienced it.The Temple of Heaven- very nice and a very big park/garden. Sort of
reminded me of the rose gardens back in Boise. In fact there was a
rose garden section that had roses of every color. VERY BEAUTIFUL!!
This place also had people playing hacky sac, singing and live
bands. This one big group of people were all singing this song and
there were like 100 or so people singing, it was really cool.
The Summer Palace- this place was awesome! It was this park that had
a huge lake right in the middle of it. There were buildings that
had ancient furniture, and they even had this huge Buddhist temple
that overlooked the whole lake and it was amazing! It was overcast while I was there but was still beautiful with a grey sky.
The Great Wall- Overall I think was my favorite out of all
the items in Beijing. We got a cable car up to the wall and walked
down the ridge and the wall for like 2 hours. Stopped and I had a
very nice well packed lunch (thanks to our ward president’s maid). I
had a p & j sandwich, pretzels, an apple, oreo’s and to wash it all
down with a cherry coke. What an experience to have such a great
lunch in such an amazing area! Very peaceful moment on the wall.

After that I was still up on the ridge of the mountain following the
wall. Well there are 3 ways to get down back to the base of the
mountain. Walk, chairlift of a toboggan! Of course everyone knows
what I chose to get down. Yep that’s right I chose the chairlift...
NOT!!! The toboggan was so much fun!!! It was sort of like the one
at Park City in Utah but it was a riot! Afterwards I got a few shirts
in their market and that was pretty much the end of day at the Great
Wall of China!
Tiananmen Square- This is the plaza just in front of the Forbidden
City. There are serious buildings surrounding the whole area. There
are like 3 museums of China, a government building, a huge pillar that
is a monument, and the best part is a massive flag pole. At the base of
the flag pole are always 4 guards standing there. These guards hardly
ever move! They stand the way I was taught by the one police in one of
my earlier blogs about the chinese police. So they stand there in
that uncomfortable position all day. But when it gets around sun
setting time that is when the excitement happens. Around that time
the color guard for the chinese military come marching out of the
Forbidden city, walk across the blocked streets directly to the flag
pole. The walk in such unisons it looks like 24 guys were only 4
guys. Their flag ceremony is a little different. Like they don’t
fold the flag like we do and it like the military are above the normal
people watching. Like in the states I didn’t get that feeling. Like
the flag represented all of “US” but to China the flag represented
“the military”. That is just my own personal feeling but it was so
cool to see the chinese color guard!
The Forbidden City- It would be very bad to be in Beijing and not go
to the Forbidden City! It took us awhile to actually get into the
place because we went there the first day and we got there too late so
we decided to do it another. The second day our earlier plans were
pushed longer than expected and we didn’t have enough time. Third
time we were actually able to get in. It was a very nice place. Huge
place tons of walking. But got to see so much and learn a lot about
this majestic place. It was good to finally after 5 months be in the
place that most people think of when they think of China.

Beijing has been a great place and I’m sad to leave it. I was
expecting American food once in America but my first meal in Beijing
was a nice green salad (with REAL ranch), 2 hot rolls with BUTTER, and
finished by some very yummy enchiladas! Our church President has
been so helpful in letting us stay at his house and helping us get
back into normal day living in a way. Hahaha Like today I was walking
through a supermarket and was able to read all the labels and know
what I was about to buy. Its weird how my have grown use to little
things that I didn’t have back in my little town of Huayuan. I miss
it dearly and it will always be in my blood and in my heart. My
little Huayuan!
Love from the China boy
Jordan

Chapter 40 - Xian

Hello Again Everybody,
Well I am no longer at my little town in Huayuan anymore! It’s the
last 2 weeks of my time in china and these next weeks are going to be
crazy! With seeing so many amazing sights, meeting new people and
traveling by trains. In fact at this every second I am writing this
blog laying on my bed on the very top of the sleeper cabin. I will go
to sleep and when I wake up I will be in Beijing. This is the
2nd train I have been on. The first was the one that got me to
Xian!!!
Xian has been a WONDERFUL place! It has so much to offer and since my
time there was short every day was filled with fun filled adventures.
So instead of breaking this blog into 3 days I will make it 3 long
paragraphs about each day. Also in our room at the hostel our
roommates were Gary and Joanna! The first day we decided that we
should explore Xian together and from there the friendship grew and we
ended up spending everyday together laughing and having a great time!
The first day Joanna, Gary, Lee and I decided to hit up the
Terracotta Warriors! This was AWESOME!!!! Its was amazing to see
over 2,000 clay warriors all standing in a line! I learned so much
about this place and I was astonished with every new fact! It was
crazy how many statues there were and how many people were coming to
see them. The first place was were majority of the soliders were in
Pit #1.
And we also got to see the place where the soldiers were put
back together piece by piece. Because most of the statues were broken
due to the fact that were made out of the clay/dirt found in that area
know as Terracotta sand/dirt. So there I got to see statues at
different stages of the building process.
Now the finding of the
warriors was in 1974 by a farmer who was digging a well trying to find
water. Well he found a head of the warrior and its said that if he
would have dug 1 to 2 meters (3 to 6 ft) in any other direction they
would of never found them! It was really cool because that farmer is
still alive today! And he was at the museum the day we happened to be
there. I got a Terracotta Warrior Book full of pics and the
discoveries and I even got the farmer’s signature in my book. Also
got to shake his hand! It was really neat!
After we got done with the warriors we headed back to town.
Well a big part of the city of
Xian is barricaded with walls from the Qing Dynasty. It had huge
walls and even a moat that went all the way around. Well we rented
some bikes and got to bike on top of the wall around the barricaded
city! It was so cool! And it was right during the sunset so it was
beautiful weather, the chinese were out in the plazas dancing and I
thought I would never say this but the smell was wonderful! The bike
ride had finished our day and we headed back to the hostel where we
got a good nights rest.
The second day in the morning we all were still very exhausted from
the prior day! So this day we took it more relaxed and saw some more
relaxing sights. Within the walls of Xian are two towers. One is the
bell tower and the other is the drum tower. The bell tower was
awesome! It had this huge bell the was over 15 ft tall and in the bell
tower there was a performance. It was really cool to see all the
different instruments they used and how they sounded! Next was the
drum tower. This was sweet! They had these huge drums that were
like 15ft and they sounded awesome! We weren’t supposed to drum on them
but Gary gave us a pretty good show. Hahahah
After that I got see the a true Chinese market! Got to work on my chinese and get ready for Beijing and Shanghai. Then we went to this square where it
has these fountains that dance and do this cool show (sort of like
the Beligio fountains in Las Vegas). But due to electrical problems we
didn’t get to see the show but it was really cool just being in that
environment with that many chinese people and also many travelers.

The next day was sort of out of the blue. It was supposed to be a
relaxing day and getting everything ready for the train ride to
Beijing. Well the prior night Joanna and Gary started asking me about
the Huangshan mountain. Now my pics will not give this mountain
enough credit! So look it up on the web and you will see this is no
normal mountain hike. We decided to do the easy way which is a cable car
to the base of the mountain then start the climb from there. Which is
the first 600 meters it was difficult. Climbing up these super steep
stairs. The stairs were carved out of the mountain and then a pole with
chains were what you used to pull yourself up each and every step!
There were parts where the pathway turned into a 2 ft board on
the edge of the cliff and chains about eye level for you to hold on
to! It was so crazy and such a riot! Wasn’t able to reach the tip
top but I guess that will have to wait til next time I come to Xian! We
had to hurry down the mountain so that I would be back in time to
catch my train to Beijing. That’s why I wasn’t able to reach the top.
But as high as I got up was totally worth it and it has brought
endless stories for me tell. I got back in time to shower, get in a
taxi and get on the train, where I am now writing everyone.
My body is very sore but I am loving every second! I know that I will
be coming back to Xian in the future because 3 days in Xian wasn’t enough time
to spend in this beautiful city! I WILL CONQUER that mountain before
I die! I hope everything is going great for everyone.
Love Jordan

--

Chapter 39 - Zhangjaijei - Part B

Hello Again Everybody,
Well i had to end my first blog because i was getting to my
favorite part of the whole trip and i knew i would talk alot about it
and my blog was already super long. So after the first 3 hours hiking
about 3 miles up super steep stairs. After reaching the top and taking
so many photos and drinking tons of water. Since the park is so huge there
are buses driving all around the park. For easy and quick
transportation they were very convenient. Of course being in china
the buses are always packed. That was expected for the buses in the park.
Of course they were. Well from the top of this mountain i got on a
bus and got off at a place called the Wulong Village!!
This place was recommended by a lady at our hostel. She said that we
shouldn't miss it and im glad that i didn't!
The pathway started off completely different than the rest of the park.
This trail was pure dirt and rocks.
No paved walk ways with hand rail. A true hiking trail.
Well on this path there were older ladies trying to sell fresh
vegetables and fruits. We hiked on this trail and we came to this place
that had a few houses. These were just places to buy more souvenirs
and snacks. Then there was a path that continued up the mountainside.
You seriously were on the edge of the mountain and over the rail is
a good 500 feet fall! We hiked awhile and came across this homemade
ferris wheel that was embedded in the rock! There were 4 seats and it
wasn't powered by an electrical motor. No it was a 60 year old man
that got people to the rotations.
Choosing not to ride the creaking ferris wheel in fear that it would
smash under my weight! I continued on the path as it started to
get more skinny and alot more tactical. Came to a sign that said the
pathway was a one way sort of deal. Soon found out that its one way
because there is only one way and that is up. Its like a big crack in
between two huge rocks.
So the path was no longer a man made path. it
was natural steps with a man made railing system to help you up. You
had to go under, climb over and even squeeze your way through to
follow the trail. I know i am a skinny person and i had a hard time
fitting through some spots. after the hardest and tightest part there
was this house and again another place to buy souvenirs. Well just
yonder from this house is one of these mountains and it these
mountains look like fingers coming out of the ground. Well on the top
of this finger is a place for the perfect sight seeing this beautiful
valley. Well to get to it i had to go down another natural trail to
the base of this mountain. From there it was a steel latter system
that you had to climb to get to the top. yeah the chinese aren't
really worried about the safety of sight seers. I climbed the ladder
and it was a beautiful sight!
After enjoying the sight i decided it was time to move on to the next
beautiful sight! Well the trail down was just as difficult as coming
up. But going down was a complete different journey! just off the
pathway was this monkey in the tree. a couple in front of me pulled
out a plastic sack that had some fresh fruit. They handed me two
pieces of fruit of my own to feed the monkey. They went first and
seeing this got me way excited! They left and it was my turn to feed
the monkey. i put the fruit in my hand reached out and of course
right away the monkey took. Now he ate mine right away and then afterwards he regurgitated the prior fruits from the first couple! It
was sort of disgusting but also very creative. I never knew monkeys
could or even did that. But that was a perfect way to finish my time
in the Wulong Village.
i told you these blogs were going to be long because this place is
incredible and i have so many stories that i am not able to type at
this time! love you all talk to you soon
Jordan

Chapter 38 - Zhangjajie - Part A

Hello Again Everybody,
the next few blogs are about a park that i traveled to and since i
have so many pics im going to spilt it up into a few blogs so i can
tell the story and have more pics to help tell the story.
I know its been awhile since my last blog i have been very busy.
China is huge by the way! I've been in my little, yes "little" now,
for about 4 months and i have been to the neighboring cities. so i
had a long vacation and decided to do a huge travel trip to a city
called Zhangjajie.. Now on the maps this tiny town is only 73 miles
for my city. Now china doesn't have a nice straight freeway, well nto
yet, currently they are in the process of building it, they have to
take the scenic route route where ever people travel. With
Zhangjiajie only 73 miles you think it would be a short hour and 30
minute trip. Not even close. It took 4 hours and 45 mins on, small,
cramped and stinky bus. With no windows to open it got very hot, the
only air flow i had was a little vent in the ceiling on the lowest
setting it felt like. Across the isle from me was this poor mother
with a baby. The baby didnt cry the whole trip i was amazed! But
this poor mother was trying to pour some milk in a bottle for the
baby, and the roads that bus was riding on are like the roads up to
silver creek with big pot holes and the bus drives is flying down this
road! Well as the mother was pour the milk, the bus hit a pot hole
and she dropped the bottle and milk went every where. On the ceiling,
on the floor, and all over the people including me in the back of the
bus. I was laughing so hard! she was able to get the baby to sleep
but i could see in her face she wasnt doing alright. With all the
curvy roads and all the bouncing i felt sorry for anyone who gets
carsick. Well i guess she gets cars sick and she was turning pale and
than she grabs this black bag that the hand out when you board the
bus. She throw up in the bag without waking up the baby i was
impressed. She did it 3 times!
After a unforgettable bus, and 4 hrs and 45 mins later to travel 73
miles i was finally at my destination. ZHANGJIAJIE!!!
This city has to be the most clean city i have been in since Hong
Kong. An easy way to describe it is ummm....... It's like the McCall
of China. Has a good reputation and is very well known. Zhangjiajie
is know for its famous mountains. In fact almost everyone has seen
these mountains. Not in person but if you have seen the movie
"Avatar" you have seen these "famous mountains"!!! Thats right in the movie there are floating mountains and those mountains in the movie
are based off of these mountains. So all over the park and city there
is Avatar souvenirs! Now there is a park which is located at the edge
of town and this park is massive. Like it takes 2 quick wholes days
to see almost everything in the park. it's sort of like Yellow Stone.
The next we were at the gate at 7 in the morning! To embark on this
amazing journey and seeing some the most unique mountains in the
world. Now you can take a cable car up to the upper part of the
mountain or this huge elevator. I didt do either. I hiked the whole
thing! I climbed about 3 miles of stairs in the first 3 hours in the
part. These stair were so steep and is was cut back after cut back.
Along the way there were guys that you could pay for them to carry you
to the top. At first i thought it was lame by the end of my trip i
was SO tempted to have them carry me up the mountain. It was so
amazing and so beautiful!!!! While walking on the trail, the
mountains and the scenery changes every 10 steps and every 1 hour its
like you are in a different world! So i took SO many pics because i
have never seen something so beautiful!
I sure hope you have enjoy the first part of my adventure but there is
much much more to come!!! So be ready! i love and miss you all!
Talk to you soon!
Love
Jordan

Chapter 37 - Chinese Fishing

Hello Again Everybody,
I know its been awhile since my last blog entry but that because i
have been out traveling and seeing more and more of this beautiful
country! I will have a blog all about my journeys soon and trust me
it will be worth the wait because i have some amazing stories to tell.
But that is too come so while i am working on the blog i will tell you
something that happened today. To tell you this story i first have to
tell one before for it.
So here in china it rains alot compared to Idaho. I love it! But
the rain storms here are much different from the ones back home. Here
there are lightning storms that will light up your whole apartment
with the bright flashes of white light. Very hard to get some sleep
sometimes with there is a bright flash happening every few seconds.
And the thunder WOW! The thunder hits hard here. And we are in a
valley so it echos like 4 times and just makes it 4x louder. The
other morning there was this super bright flash which woke me up and
right after was the thunder that hit so hard it tremble our house no
joke! This is the first time i have ever been woken up by a thunder
storm. With all these thunder storms happening this means a TON of
rain! There is a little river/canal that runs through school campus.
With all the rain coming down of the mountains, they lower the levy to
flow of the river faster. That way the school does get flooded by the
rushing river. With the levy down this makes the water level drop and
in some part you can see the bottom of the river that is normally
covered by water.
Now this brings me to my story that i originally wanted to talk about.
With parts of the river floor exposed this give the chinese the
perfect time to catch things to eat. There are fresh water shrimp in
these water and there were like 4 or 5 kitchen ladies out there
walking in this 1 foot deep mud with a plastic picking up these
shrimp. sort of a weird feeling knowing that the lady that prepares
my meals in out in a muddy river bed picking up shrimp out of the mud.
Plus this river isn't the cleanest water. Chinese have a habit of
polluting the waters.
Now so the kitchen ladies were hunting down shrimp but there is
another food out that some boys were hunting down. With the water
level so low this drastically lowered the area in which fish can swim.These 2 boys were walking through this seeping mud fishing. No not
with fishing poles they had different sort of poles.
One kid had a back pack with a battery on it with wires coming from it and it
connected to the pole he had in his hand. the other boy, a few steps
behind him, was following his fellow fishing partner with another pole
but this one had a net on the end of it. They walked simultaneously
on the edge of the river zapping all the fish in the water and then
catching them in the net. it was a neat little setup that they had
and it was very effective! in the few minutes of me watching them,
they had a good 10 to 12 fish in the net.
it amazing to see how the chinese use and adapt to their surroundings!
It's been an amazing journey here in China. I will soon have my next
blog about my wonder travelings! Talk to all of you soon and i love
you all so much.
Love Jordan

Chapter 36 - Children's Day

Hello Again Everybody,
Wow I cant believe its June already! Time is flying by! Before you
know it I will be blogging about Beijing and then headed home. That
is crazy to think that these past few months have flown by. To start
the June blog I have an excellent story to share with everyone that
follows my blog.
Well in China they have a Holiday called Children's Day!This day is one of the days that I teach out at the outside school.
There are only 4 classes in the whole school. Lee and I team teach all
four of them together. Well there was no teaching happening this day
because every class was preparing for Children's Day. Some rooms had
balloons strung across the whole class, (very cool how they did it),
Every class had huge Chinese writing on the chalk broads, and there
was food galore! It reminded me of the days that our classes in elementary
school would have parties. It was exactly like that! So each class
had their own little party going on. Since all of them were my
classes I would stay in one class for a few minutes than jump over to
the next.
The classroom with the balloons, I was really impressed with the
decoration. The balloons and the tassel were hung with creativity. If
you look closely the balloons are on this string. Well that string is
tape. They secured it on one side of the class room then took it to
the other side with the sticky part of the tape down. They had a cool
system down were 2 students were running the tape, like 7 or 8 kids
blowing up balloons, and than 3 students and me, (because I was tall)
were decorating the tape with balloons and tassel.
In that class it was pretty funny...I was standing there and enjoying the music with a juice cup in my hands and my pockets were packed with food enjoying the party.
Well this song came on and it had a very cool beat. I was dancing in
place and the Principal waved that I should go dance in the middle of
the class. So I did! I was dancing like a total goof ball but the
kids were all laughing! I grabbed a student and started dancing with
her sort of like a swing dance and then I start twirling her. I
twirled her back to her seat and grab my next contestant and did some
more twirling. Then the whole class was like "teacher, teacher." Sure
enough I grabbed the teacher and twirled her a few times! The class
and I were laughing so hard!
Now the other class, they did their parties a little different. The
kids came up with skits and dance performances to show their fellow
classmates. The skits were all in Chinese but they were still very
funny! I got most of them on video so you have to wait to see those.
Now alot of the girls did dance performances. Like 5 to 7
girls in a group and they worked all the prior week preparing this
dance. They all got dressed up, wore makeup, did their hair, the whole
deal! So in the second pic is one of those groups and you will see
what I mean "the whole deal". Also look at the shirt the girl is
wearing on the far left! hahaha misspelling send to china
This day was so much fun! I was sitting with the kids and seeing the day
through their eyes. Eating their food, sitting in their chairs and
acting like a goof ball to add to their holiday. Because they don't
get many and to get a day with no school, to them its time to party
and thats why they take this holiday so seriously.

Now I ate a pretty nasty item that day. Now I can truly say that I have eaten dog!!!! Its true! This girl had a bag of meat and it smelt really good! I
asked her what it was and she said it was dog. She offered me a piece and it was delicious! I even had a bigger second piece. So this is a pic of a bag full of dog meat!

For the part of acting silly, well the kids were playing with fake hair headband thing.
So its a headband the has fake bangs on it. I put it on along with a
students glasses and they took a pic of me! So if you ever wanted to
know what I would look like Chinese, well here ya go!!! (pic 4) Dont
make too much fun of me!
This day was a great day! I had so much and I know for a fact the
students did too! Because this was their day and they really did
enjoy themselves! Made me wonder how they will react when I leave?
Sad? Happy? Time to party? I dont know but I know that memories like
the ones today will always be with me. Thank you China!
Love
Jordan

Chapter 35 - The Aqua Center

Hello Again Everybody,
Things have been a little crazy here in China. We lost internet for
about 2 days straight and classes have been going crazy! I think the
classes are getting all crazy because a very long break from school is
just around the corner for them. This long break is a total of 2
weeks. Its like a Chinese spring break sort of deal. I don't know.
hahaha but yeah 2 weeks off of school so no teaching for me which
means time to travel! I plan on hitting 3 cities in my general
location.

One town is known for the mountains. The mountains for the
movie Avatar, (well the mountains in this town inspired those). Second is
a very old and ancient town that is right on the river so these old
building are on stilts to keep them off the water and it also has
buildings that date back to the late 1500's. 3rd city is known for having
Panda all around the city! I am excited for this 2 week holiday!

In my city there is an activity center where you can do all sorts of
stuff like; basketball, skating, rent bicycles, or there is even a
little fair for little kids. Well they have this huge building that
has a ton of ping pong tables and even a couple of badminton courts.
Not today, that huge building was blocked off by these boards that
had fish on them and other sea creatures. I saw that people were
paying 10rmb to enter and I was hesitant at first but curiosity got the
best of me and I paid the 10 rmb to enter. Once inside I understood
why is cost money to enter. It was like a Chinese Discovery Center.
They had sea creatures in tanks, dried up coral for the kids to touch
and feel, pictures on the walls that would make the kids think, like
illusions paintings, and real life sea creatures. It was so cool! The
setup of the tank of the animals first started out with reptiles. So
they had this sea turtle in its own tank, wasnt really swimming
because it had very little room to even flap its flippers. Poor
thing.
Then I moved on to this crocodile. Again, too small of a tank
for this animal, that is why its head is like propped up on the side
of the tank. There was no room for him but this boy was not afraid to
get right in his face.
I couldnt do that but this little 5 yr old boy
had no fear! Part of me wanted the crocodile to move rapidly just to
see what the boys around the cage, acting so macho, would of done!
Each and every tank had a different color of fish and had names of the
fish but of course it was ALL in chinese characters. But not
understanding the info doesnt make the fish less beautiful! This
whole thing wasnt just about the fish, it was for the kids and
teaching them to think outside of the box! So I got a picture of a
group of girls looking at a pic that most of us have seen before and its
the elephant that appears to have 5 legs.
I stepped back and
watched these girls sit or "squat" in front of this picture working
together to figure the illusion together. Was cute to see them work
it out together. Throughout the whole building there were these sort
of pics all over. It was a very cool experience and YES it was well
worth the 10 rmb!!!!
Back outside there was this lady carrying a random cross bow, I asked
her if I could see it. She let me and this was the end resort. This was
a true cross bow and probably the most real "weapon" I have seen or
touched since I've been here. If you look closely in the pic its so
funny to see everyone looking at me! hahaha that is how it always is!
No joke! Its alot of fun! (this picture would not upload)
This underwater aqua center was alot of fun and it made me realize
that education in the states is way ahead of the education here but we
totally take it for advantage. Here the kids soak up as much as they can!
The desire to learn is amazing and has surely rubbed off on me! I love
learning new things and in China that happens everyday! I miss and
love everyone dearly!
Love
Jordan
ps For Uncle David, today I totally saw the Chinese David! I tried
getting a pick but he looked exactly like you, just a Chinese version!
Oh yeah he was wearing a super pink shirt getting on a pink scooter!
NO JOKE!!!!

Chapter 34 - Flag Ceremony

Hello Again Everybody,
I know its been awhile since my last blog but things have gotten
busy. China is still the same chaotic place in which I do my service
to teach these wonderful kids some English and also learn some Chinese
along the way. These kids are so funny and can always bring a smile
to my face. Even when they have to do so much and study so hard they
still have time to laugh and play which is a very good thing. But its
not always that way for them. In fact every Monday morning bright
and early at 6:45 is a flag rising ceremony. Yeah super early in the
morning.
Back home I used to get up around or before that time everyday for
work. Yes there were days that I had a hard time getting up for work...just
ask my boss (Dad). Well here my schedule has really changed and I
have only been up a few times that early in the morning.
Well I have always wanted to be part of or witness the flag ceremony.
So I set my alarm clock and made sure I wasnt going to miss it. I woke at 6:30
and knew this would be the Monday to go see the ceremony. I got to
the open plaza in front of the school before the kids had gotten there
and couldnt believe how peaceful and quiet it was. This picture is
to try and show that it was a very beautiful morning.
Then all of a sudden a the Chinese anthem came over the speaker
blaring super loud and the students still half asleep wandered to
their places in this plaza. When I say "place" each class has its
place and in the place the students line up in 2 girl lines. Shortest
in the front and taller ones in the back. Then the boys had 2 lines
smallest to tallest. Now they stood in perfect line both vertical and
horizontal. There are 48 classes in the school and every class
and teacher was in this plaza. A lot of chinese!
I stood out like a polar bear in the jungle.
It was incredible how orderly it was.
Each student knew exactly where to go and stood there not making a peep.
So 48 classes about 55 to 60 students per class that is 2,600 kids and it
was crazy how quiet it was.A little girl stood up by the flag pole and I'm guessing gave the commands for the flag carriers. Music started playing and in center
of all the kids, 4 guys dressed in army camo clothes walked like the
Hitler soldiers carrying the flag to the flag pole to be raised.
Behind the army guys a class followed. Now I think every week they
change the class that follows the soldier guys because every Saturday
before the kids go home to celebrate their day off from school they
are out in the dark practicing their formation and teaching how to
walk in correct rhythm.
As the flag was being raised the song was changed and I noticed that
none gave a salute or anything. I am very curious if the chinese do
anything to show respect to their flag??? Me? I had no idea what to do
so I just stood there taking pictures and video of the whole ceremony.
While I was standing there, I happened to see my class 19. Well I waved
at one of the girls and she waved back and then started talking to her
friend and the teacher heard her and yelled at her. He pointed to the
ground and she slowly walked to the teacher head down and everything.
I felt horrible because I felt like I had gotten her in trouble. It
was crazy how serious the teacher was because even I, a person that
doesnt speak chinese knew he was upset. Later that day I went to that
class and gave her a american sweet and she loved it. I told her I
was sorry.
Once the flag had been raised the principal got up and gave a few
words and then everyone clapped and it was over. Now this was cool.
It wasnt like a massive scattering of kids. It was very orderly.
Like the one class went and the next class followed that class right
after and they did this until every student had left the plaza. It was
so cool to see all these kids being professional.
I am very happy with myself that I set my alarm clock and got out of
bed to witness this ceremony. Yes it was different but in a way its
the same in america. I remember standing in school and saying the
pledge of allegiance. This is their way to of doing it and it was so
cool. So happy I woke up early for it! Please remember I really like
the little photo missions. So if you want photos and a story of my
experience getting the photos dont be afraid to ask. I love and miss
you all. Blog to all of you soon.
Love
Jordan

Chapter 33 - English Talent Show

Hello Again Everybody,
I hope everything is well at home because things are going great!
Been having alot of and enjoying my time here. Awhile back a
student of mine, named Julia, asked if I could come to a English speech
competition and if I would be willing to give a short 2 minute
speech. Oh course I agreed! I wasnt going to let an opportunity like
that pass me by. That was late April and well tonight, May 12th
it finally happened. Well I was about to teach my class 19 and I was
given this pink piece of paper and on it was an invitation to be a
judge at this English Speech Contest. I was not ready to be a judge
because in my mind my english is so horrible. So my class 19 got over
at like 5:45 and I hurried down to the teachers dining room and ate a
bowl of rice and cauliflower so so fast! I was shocked at
how fast I ate it! I had to because I needed to be back at the
classroom that I just got done teaching in by 6 so I could walk to the
studio with some of my students.
We climbed 5 flights of stairs and than walked into this very brightly
lit room and this room was very colorful and bright. The walls were a
very warm yellow and the floor was... I couldn't believe my eyes, CARPET!!!
Red carpet too! So it really stood out!!! Super bright lights hung from
the ceiling, others where on the floor all conjoining their brightness
on this massive task. Which had 3 mics and a butt load of fruit all
scattered on top of the desk!

The desk was facing us sort of like a
news casters' desk and the audience sat on these plastic chairs. They
were so uncomfortable! Well I sat down at my place at the judges
table. I knew it was my place because i had my very own name tag
marking my seat!
Next to the name tag was a bottle of water, and a
plate with even more fruit! Didnt understand the fruit until i read
this chalk board which said "English Talent Show and Fruit Quiz".
Then it clicked and i understood the "fruit" .
Now i didn't know what the English Talent Show meant.
Well i think it would sound better if
it was a Talent show rather than a speech contest.
7 o'clock rolled around and it was time to get the show on the road.
Yeah I was like ummmm ???? What do I do? In front of me were 10 slips
of paper with a students name in chinese and what class they were
from. Each student had to get up in front of all the bright lights
and this room that was now full of teachers, judges, and fellow
classmates. They had prepare a 5 minute presentation that most of
them memorized! I was impressed with every story! After each
presentation i would give them a score 1-10 depending on how great
they were! Only gave one 10 away and that was to a boy who told a
story of snow white. It was so funny i was laughing pretty good! He
ended up getting 2nd overall. After every student had given their
speech there was some time to kill while the score were being added up
to see who was the winner. During this time is when I gave my speech!
Yes I was nervous and did stutter. Wish I would spent more time
preparing it but I think I did alright. Afterwards the principal of the
school got up and gave a few comments and then the scores were
released.
The first part of the whole little thing was the "English Talent Show"
the second half was the fruit quiz. Now the kids were shown to a
word of a fruit, than that student had to explain only in english to
another student describing that fruit! Now this was great and not
much of a quiz but it got the kids using their english and was great!
I found this very funny because the students were describing the fruit
in weird ways it was great. For example like saying the color of an
orange is yellow! hahaha it was so awesome!!!!
After the "fruit quiz" was over they announced the winner of the
"english talent show" and then came the award ceremony. Since it was
all for fun all the kids received this certificate, a brand new
notebook and this nice pen! which i even got to present one to a
student! It was on this red tray that was escorted out by some other
students. I took it off the red velvety tray and gave it to the
student. It was so cool to see his eyes grow wide and the look upon
his face will always be with me! Sort of reminded the cat of Shrek.
It was so cute! After all the students were acknowledged for their
hard work, the principal got up and everyone clapped until he left the
room. Once he was out the clapping stop and the event just stopped.
It was weird ending but it was great! I stood around afterwards
congratulating students and taking pics with everyone!
oh yeah i totally forgot to tell you. The whole thing was recorded
and broad casted to the whole school. The room was like the news
room in high school. You know where the schools news was recorded and
than shown on the TVs in the classrooms. I bet this added to the
students nerves but they all did very well!!!
I was so happy to experience this friendly event. I like how they
kept it away from being a competition. It was just more about
celebrating that students put alot of effort and time into their
presentations. I was happy my students wanted me to be a part of this
experience and it has taught me so much! I love it here and days like
these always happen! Thank you China for such a great experience. I
hope everyone is doing well. Would like to hear from you! Love you tons!
Jordan

Chapter 32 - Chinese Shops

Hello Again everybody,
Well I always end my blogs saying that if anyone wants certain
pictures I will try and make it happen the best I can! Which I like alot!
It gives me something to do and I do like doing little projects.
So a little photo mission of something that you wanna see, gives me alot of
enjoyment and I also get to see what you want to see in my
blogs! It's a win win situation for everyone. Now I have only done 2
photo missions so far but I hope there are more to come. First one
was the spring time photos, which Mom asked me to do...and I
delivered. Now Matt asked me to get some pics of some people doing
Thai Chi in the morning and some pics of the shops and stores. Well I
would get pictures of people doing Thai Chi but not here in this town
because I will remind everyone that I am in the "heart of china".
Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai or more Americanized Chinese and
I will be seeing alot of that once I get to those places.
For now I was only able to get a few pictures of shops around my town which might help everyone realize how remote my city is.In my town of Huayuan is there is one main road and thats is were its the busiest! Taxis, thousands of people, shops, bakeries, repair
shops, medical stores, dental shops, produce stores and some shops
that look like a family's garage sale. Now all these shops have a few
things in common. Little space but every precious inch is used! Some
of the stores it is very hard for me walk in there and turn around with my
backpack and not hit anything or knock something off the shelf.
Like today I went in this little shop that was full of yarn or string.
I was looking for some red string so in the future I would have it for my cross stitch.
Well at the entrance of the store there were 4 or 5 older women all working on
some craft...it was knitting or crocheting. I squeezed myself past
them and started browsing the selection they had to see if they had
the right string for my cross stitch. No luck, the store was so small
and packed with yarn I could not turn around to exit. I slowly walked
back a few steps where there was this opening and I felt like a huge
semi trying to navigate through a tiny neighborhood. That is the best
way that I can explain in detail how seriously small these shops
really are.
When a shop is closed there is this garage door the comes down and can
be locked on the outside. Now i have see some shops have so many
boxes out on the street while they are open that it goes to the street
and the sidewalk is a good 10 feet. Well come closing time these poor
people have to pack all those boxes back into the shop and do like
ready, set, go thing to quickly push a stack of boxes in the shop and
then hurry and close the garage door thing! I bet in the morning they go to open their shop and the instant they open that garage
door a huge stack of boxes or pipes fall to the ground because the
chinese use every inch they can. Would be interesting to see how they
would use a storage unit.
After I got the email from Matt to get some pictures of some shops
around town, this particular shop came to my mind. It has to be the
smallest shop in town but the lady that runs it is so sweet!
First about the shop... Seriously the shop is no wider than 5 feet and
10 feet deep. This lady sells umbrellas, toys, and some other nick
nacks. Times that I have walked by I have seen her be just so sweet with little
kids. Like when there were 3 kids plus 2 moms and this lady all in
this tiny shop... she was more than happy to do business and welcome them
into her crowded shop.All through town there are these shops that are the main source of a families income. They live off what they sell. Sometimes when you
are walking through a shop you will see a bed in the back and it is
probably for the whole family. It has really opened my eyes that we
should be thankful for the simple things in life. If its having
our own room, home away from work, a house with so many square feet,
or even a garage with an attic above. Its such an eye opener to
see a people be so happy with so very little! I hope I can take what
I've learned from this amazing place and put it to use in the States.
I miss everyone like crazy! I miss the good laughing times. Like the
laughing that happened on skype with Mom, Janae, and Jill! I miss
those sort of times but soon enough they will be happening again. I
love you all and you are in my prayers.
Good night. Jordan

Chapter 31 - The "Pit" Bike

Hello again Everybody,
After a super hot and humid day walking in town, I was walking on the
pathway back to my flat to get in my room where the super cold AC
awaited me. With the sun beaming down on me causing me to sweat and
then run down my forehead into my eyes. Making my eyes very
itchy and irritated on the walk home my eyes were slightly open or if not
closed. As I got closer to the school I could hear a motorcycle. I
couldn't see it but just from the sound of the exhaust I knew it was a
different motorcycle from the other motorcycles that you see every
where.
As I rounded a corner the sound got louder and I could hear that it was
coming right at me. Now I didnt care about the sweat in my eyes I
just wanted to see this bike. Well finally this Chinese guy flew
past me on an actual dirt bike! My heart started to beat faster and I
was getting all excited. This has been the first dirt bike that I have seen in
a very long time! Well the guy got off and I was looking at the bike trying not to drool of course, but was in aw that this was a dirt
bike, here in China!
Now most people don't know but the name for these types of bikes are
called "pit bikes". They are dirt bike that are shrunk and even older people
can ride them with no problem. This bike was a Chinese model pit bike and
was completely street legal. It had turn signals, head light, brake
light, and even a horn.
As I was admiring this pit bike the guy
gestured for me to ride it! Heck ya! I will never pass a chance to ride a motorcycle. It was hard to comunicate how the gears worked but I
decided to just ride and figure it out on my own. Jeff so you know the gears are the complete opposite that we are used to. The gears were N,1, 2, 3, 4 ALL DOWN. So I got to ride this pit bike up and down the street in front of my school.
It felt really good to be back on a motorcycle and it was a reminder of
how much I have missed riding. Riding up in the mountains getting
away from the stresses in life and just being free. Its hard to
explain but in plain and simple words. Riding helps Jordan with stress
and brings him much happiness. So to be able to ride some random
strangers bike for only a few minutes I was able to get that feeling
that I've been missing the past 3 months! Also cool that is was the
same feeling that I get in Boise. So it was cool to experience that
feeling in China. Definitely a chance that probably wont ever happen
again.
Well I hope all is well with everyone and please remember if you want
certain photos please let me know. Oh Matt, I got the photos you
wanted and that will be my next blog.
Love
Jordan

Chapter 30 - Farming in China

Hello Again Everybody!
China is a wonderful place and this country has so much to offer to the world. In fact it does offer so much to the world. Well in exports to other countries. Rice being the biggest one. I never really knew how rice was grown until I came here and saw the many fields used to grow rice.I pictured the Chinese farming with an cow or a horse doing all the work. Well now, my eyes have been opened to the true way of Chinese farming.

First off its not a cow or horse doing the work but its an ox! These things are huge and they stink!!! Oh and always dirty! I have never seen a clean one! They are controlled like a horse in the states but instead of a bit in the mouth, it's a rope that goes through the nostrils of the poor animal :-( But it has to be done so the farmer can direct the ox to do what he needs done.It was cool to see the farmer control this massive animal with a single rope, he was also saying words in Chinese but I dont think the ox understood because all ox hear in English.

Now behind the ox there was this contraption that was being pulled and I think it was like a rake catching all the dead sticks and unearthing the ground beneath the water. Thats right water....the entire garden is under about a foot and a half of water!This crazy farmer has to control and steer this ox, watch the massive rake so it doesn't catch his bare feet, and also walk through a foot and a half of water with like 6" of mud under the water!
A lot of hard work for a product that is served with every meal of the day! The white gold of china! They sure love their rice and each time I am eating it, I wonder why doesn't China just stop the whole chopstick thing.
They need to stop making chopsticks and then the country would convert to a fork and spoon and it would be much easier for them to eat their white gold! This is just my thought. Maybe this is me just getting frustrated at eating rice with chopsticks! hahaha

Seeing this farmer work so hard in the sun made me miss home and working hard in the garden with mom and dad. In fact I miss working hard, I really do! Its so cool that work ethics here are more on the upper hand. Yes the Chinese might sit around and play cards or mahjong but when it comes to work, they work hard.

Back to the farmer and the ox...I said that the ox was doing most of the work. That is not true. That farmer was soaked with sweat from head to his muddy feet. He was one true hard worker and he was in his late 60's too! I try and let the Chinese teach me something new everyday and today's lesson was that the Chinese have taught me to keep up the great work ethic! I learned at a young age to work hard and I thank my parents for teaching me a great trait that will always help me through life!

It is great that China could remind me that I do have this trait and I never back away from a moment to work hard. In fact I was asked to help a friend to help clear out weeds to expand their garden! I am excited for that and I will make sure to get some pictures.
Love you tons
Jordan

Chapter 29 - The Yizi Chair

Hello Again Everybody,
So in China its starting to warm up and summer is starting to show its true potential in these parts of China. Summer is sure going to be a hot one! Now where ever you look in China you will always see these stools. Everyone uses them. I sit on one each time I get my shoes shined. At every card table there are at least 4 of them if not more, and they are on the front porches of houses. These wooden stools or chairs or "yizi" in chinese, are very popular. I was lucky enough to stumble across a shop where they are made. Now every "yizi" or chair I thought was made by machine! Every single chair is made by hand!!! No metal nails, all wood! Don't forget that the crafter himself was like 70 years old! So everything from importing the wood, to shaving all the bark off, soaking them in water to make it bend was all him. Luckily he did have a helper and that was his sweet old wife. The 2 of them worked together to get the chairs completed in record time!I stood there and watched them work together for quiet awhile. He has been doing it for so long that no exact measurements were needed to make before he started and carving or making cuts in the chairs. No drill press to help make a perfect holes. He used a beveled chisel to make his own perfect sized hole. Their system was like they made the back rest and the seat part were made at different times and I happened to catch the part where they were attaching the backrest to the seats. I said no metal nails and that is true, they used these wooden nails. In the short 15 mins I was there together they finished about 6 stools! After that the finished stools were set aside and there they waited to be stained and finished!Most all chairs are stained and dyed to this reddish cherry wood look! Instead of the natural looking wood. These chairs are really cool. Not the most comfortable things, but they are lightweight and so easy to carry around and it beats sitting on the nasty China ground. If I could, I would buy one of these chairs and bring it back but there is no way that it would ever fit in my luggage ;-)
It was cool to see this cute old couple working together to make a item to sell and supply for themselves. Also on my little walk I saw another cute old couple working diligently in their garden. Again couples creating something together and spending good quality time together all to benefit themselves and their families. I've noticed that alot of the older Chinese folk spend their time together doing such activities like chair building, gardening and even today I came across a 77 year couple playing badminton. So I added a pic of the couple working in the garden together. I hope that someday that when I'm older that I can be like the Chinese and work together with my loved one, having a great time with her for the rest of my life.
I love everyone and miss ya tons! Please if you want any questions answered please dont be afraid ask. Hope to hear form you soon.
Love,
Jordan