Chapter 26 - An Easter What???

HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY!!!!!
Well today was my very first Easter in china! Not every day does that happen! So for my very first easter in China I decided to go all out and even bought myself a bunny! He is black, white, and fluffy and he is all mine! Got him super cheap and it was sad to see him and all his brother and sisters all tied together waiting to be sold. If I had enough money, I would have bought all of them but I was only able to get this one. After I had bought him for a corner vendor I needed some dinner really badly. Well I stopped at this lady that does this stir fry and you get to pick what you want out of her selection of food on her little kart. Well I got some rice, carrots, potatoes, meat and egg. Reminds me of the stir fry that would make for the family on rare occasions. ;-) Joking Mom, but the stir fry was always good and its great to have something here that reminds me of home.
While I was waiting for the stir fry to cook I saw that this lady had a huge pile of spinach or cabbage. I asked her, well more like gestured with my hands if I could have a little for my new fuzzy friend that was in his cage. She finally got the hint and gave me one leaf. Which was way more than enough. Well this little guy had the entire leaf eatin in the time that it took us to get our food. The poor little guy must of been starving! So I "asked" again if I could have another and she went to town. Grabbed this bag and started cramming as much leafy green vegetables into this bag for the rabbit. This was awesome and it took a little worry off my hands. The rabbit has been loving every leaf! So he and I are very appreciative of that ladies simple act of kindness.

Well this morning was Easter Sunday and what better way to celebrate Easter than with a real bunny scampering around your bed. Well that is how my Easter Sunday was spent. Listened to church, did some cross stitching and played with my new and so easy-to-love friend! I haven't come up with a name for him yet, but I do know that I plan to have a Chinese and an English name for him.

After church I was able to put my creative mind to use and built the little guy a house. I used the box that my birthday cake came in. It is pretty big so he has something to grow into. I cut out a door and then went one step further and made a chimney out of a toilet paper roll. Now he has a house, bedding in the house, food and water dishes and even has a room in our flat all to himself.

Thats right a whole room! He was in my room but he was grinding his teeth at night or doing something so I figured we have the room to spare, why not let the rabbit have it? So now he is a spoiled little rabbit and eats galore. I think that he was starved before I got my hands on him because he eats SO much! I keep feeding him because I don't want he to feel like he is starving! (Plus I can feel his little ribbies when I hold him!)

So that is how my wonderful Easter Sunday went! I got to celebrate Easter with a great church, beautiful weather, my cross stitch project, and my new friend rabbit.

I really need a name for the little guy! I really do! Any ideas from anyone. Let me know. I hope to hear from some people soon. Have a great Easter! Thank you mom for the the Easter Candy it was like I had found my easter basket. Well I better get going but I miss and love you all! Talk to you soon!
Love,
Jordan
p.s. Mom's note - Jordan has always loved animals. It will be hard for him to part with this pet when he is headed home.

Chapter 25 - My Chinese Birthday

Hello Everybody,
Well it I am a very lucky person to be able to celebrate a birthday outside the states. So Happy Birthday or in Chinese would be .幸福的 weird seeing it like that!

Well my birthday morning started by of course a little rain storm. I can only think of maybe 5 birthdays that it hasn't rained on my birthday. Now I don't have a problem with that because I love the rain! Well I got the opportunity to sub for Stone's classes! Senior 3 students...so this class is supposed to be the kids with the best English. Well earlier in the week when I taught them, I told them it was my birthday and they remembered! So through the weekend I got to hang out with some of the students! This was awesome! We went to the city park, had a little picnic and pictures, then had lunch and did some shopping. I bought some candy for me to splurge on birthday night.

After lunch I was given a huge cake and this huge bouquet of flowers. The flowers were lilies and these other purple flowers. Now I found the flowers even mean different things. The lilies represent the respect that students have for the teacher. At the end of the year all the students bring lilies for all the teachers to show them respect. I hope I am able to get a pic of these. I might get some myself ;-) Now the purple stand for friendship! Since the flowers were given by a friend!!! Now the 2 big green things in the back stand for long and healthy life! So the flowers were beautiful and smelt amazing!!! The cake was amazing! Pure white and full of fruit. Topped with fresh fruit such as kiwi, mango, oranges, passion fruit, apples and in the cake was a layer or chunks of pineapple and juices. Really good! Also had a bit of chocolate and chocolate sticks. It was amazing! Was such a huge cake that I decided to share it with some of the older students. So I had a very small get together and had some cake. Now there was like 8 of plus Lee and there was still leftover of the cake! It was huge and everyone had huge slices too! Very awesome and a great time to build a friendship with these students. They also gave me their own little presents. I received a LED watch with a yellow wrist band. This thing is pimp! A animal bobble head, and a piece of note paper with a funky looking pen. All shown in the pic!Later that evening I went up to the class rooms and was helping them with their English homework. The whole class started singing "Happy Birthday" in English and Chinese. I will have to see if I can upload a video of it on to youtube. After that all the students started giving me little gifts! It was cute, things like apples, rolls, origami and all were in pairs of 2. Because in the chinese culture it means good luck to give gifts in 2. So I got a bunch of little items. I was even give this famous and popular Chinese power ranger by this kid that wasn't even in the class room. There is a pic of him and I. Also this kid can sing...he has an amazing voice. He came into my class and started to sing for us and I had no idea where he came from! Also have a video of him and I will try putting that on youtube. It was amazing to personally see first hand how humble and selfless the Chinese really are. Definitely taught me that I can improve myself and if I strive to be like the Chinese I know I will be headed in the right direction.

Getting the presents and surprises from the Chinese was great but nothing beats home! I thank everyone who sent emails and spoiled me with a package! Was very nice to get pacakges from home with some sweets that ACTUALLY have sugar in them!!!hahaaha Got to say the sour skittles hit the spot Jill thank you so much! They made my mouth water like crazy because well one all sour things do that, and second they seemed super sour because I really havent had anything sour since I've been here. hahahah And mom and dad you sure over did it! This package is huge and the goodies will last me a very long time!!! To hear the "Happy Birthday" song sung by Kellie and her family put the cherry on top of my wonderful day! Thank you everyone for all your love and support!!! I hope that in some way I will be able to return the feelings in the near future! I love you all and you all are in my prayers!
Love
Jordan

Chaper 24 - My Itch to Stitch

Hello Again Everybody,
Well to let everyone know that China is doing well. Not sure how the rest of the world is doing but my little town of Huayuan is just dandy! We totally have spring weather happening and I'm loving everyday of it! It goes from a serious rain storm to a sunny day with a slight breeze. It is very relaxing here! Since I don't have too many classes I have quiet a bit of free time on my hands.

This can be a good thing or a very bad thing. Everyone knows that I love projects and to to be doing stuff with my hands. So during this down/free time I have been trying to find a "project" to keep myself busy. Well I have found a project and I am loving it! I have picked up cross stitching. Now all the girls and ladies know exactly what that is...guys not so much. So the next few sentences are for the guys to help them understand what cross stitching is. Plain and simple its a form of sewing where you use string and make a simple "X" with string and you do that over and over till it forms a shape or a letter and when you are done it will make a huge picture. Okay now that everyone knows what cross stitching is I can now move on telling how I came across my wonderful new hobby.

I had the itch to be doing a project or something (looking at a computer screen isn't very fun for hours on end). So I was thinking that a nice puzzle or something would do the trick. While walking down the main street in Huayuan I saw the cross stitching kits in the window and started to get interested. Since I had no clue what cross stitching was or how to do it, I went home and started researching. Looking on youtube and having these older ladies show people how to cross stitch through video. I seriously watched like 10 videos and then decided that getting this would help with my "project feeling". I also got alot answers from my mom and Kellie. Thanks for answering my simple questions about cross stitching! The next day I went to the shop and bought my very first cross stitch kit.
Now it is just a simple one that is 3 colors and not very big. Its a Chinese character which means long lasting happiness, good luck, blessings, and good fortune, Very popular Chinese character! In fact alot of gates to peoples' houses have this character! hahahah my blog main pic is me with this character on each side of me! Now I was SO excited when I got home and with conference starting this weekend it would be the perfect time to start my cross stitch. Like the times we would do the conference quilt with mom! So I got a good start on my cross stitch and every few seconds I get, I usually am working on it! In China these are pretty popular. (Well mostly by older ladies) but now they can add Jordan to their group. These older ladies sit at a table with like 3 or 4 other ladies doing their little projects and do it for hours on end! One of these days I'm going to put my cross stitch in my backpack when I am headed into town and I am going to sit down with them and have a cross stitching bash! hahaha So much fun!My little project is so small compared to what the Chinese ladies are doing! Their projects are sometimes 3 to 4 feet long!
My plan is to finish mine and when I get back to the states I will frame it. Maybe get some pics of me in China to go around it and frame it! So that I will always remember my amazing experience here in China and all the wonderful lessons that it has taught me! I love this country and everyone with it.

Can't wait to do my next blog because its about my birthday!!!!
I miss and love everyone so much! Thanks for keeping updated on my blog and please if you have any questions or would like a picture of anything please let me know and I will try my best to answer it for you. Talk to you soon.
Love,
Jordan

Chaper 23 - Church in China

Hello Everyone,
Everything is going great! The weather is starting to warm up and it gets very humid. Luckily this Sunday had sunshine and it isn't humid at all, with a very slight wind which makes this sabbath day perfect!
Now since it is Sunday I want to tell you about my Sundays here in Huayuan. Well today I woke up and had a very yummy bowl of instant oatmeal. So good! I even had a second helping! After that I made my bed and got ready for church! Now getting ready consists of getting in Sunday best attire and even setting up our Sacrament. The Sacrament is very simple for us because well, its only for 2 people. hahaha. The water we use 2 plastic dixie cups which we fill with our purified water. (chinese water is nasty) Next for our bread we us these breads that look like Twinkies! It's true! Look in the pic its like a mini Twinkie.

No cream filling though :-( I wish...that would be one of a kind sacrament! So when its time to do the Sacrament Lee will bless the water or sacrament and I will do whatever he doesnt! Easy easy! Then we have like our own little sacrament.

Now we don't have Sacrament and call it a day. No we have an actual church. We are currently in a ward/branch. The ward/branch is pretty much all of China. Families to singles to people like me and teaching. We use skype to call into a conference call. The "head quaters" of the whole thing is in Beijing. They broadcast all throughout China for all of us to listen in. At 10 o'clock we call in and have a opening song then our president does ward business. Although there is never any because there are no new members and we usually go over the rules about the regulations of our religion in China. After that we sing a sacrament song, then the president mutes all the mics and we have about 7 to 8 mins of silence to do our little sacrament. Following that we have 2 to 3 talks. Since it is on skype there are some technical difficulties. As my family and Kellie know, skype is not that dependable to have a great connection. For the most part it stays good and I think that happens for a reason. The Lord up above makes it work so that we may be able to feel His spirit.
After the first part of church we have a role call and we see how many people were listening in on the call and how many people per city. Very interesting to hear how many people listened in and how far it spread. There are even people across the whole country of China. Next depending on what Sunday it is. We have Priestood every 1st and 3rd Sunday and the 2 and 4th sunday is Relief Society. So church is sometimes 1 hour, somtimes 2 hours long! Its very neat to see the sacrament broken done to the basics. No building to gather in, no one to prep the sacrament (except us), and its only listening to the speaker. No watching them! I am very thankful that we are able to partake of the Sacrament weekly and I look forward to Sundays not only because I dont have work but I get to feel the spirit so strongly!
I have been taught so many things while in China and this particular Sunday I learned the power of the spirit and the blessings that the Sacrament hold! It has been very neat to feel the spirit so strongly in my apaartment here in a tiny town called Huayuan in big ol' China! Being able to have the spirit in the home is sure a blessing and it makes me want to have this feeling with my own family in my own home in the future.
Well that is a normal Sunday in China for me. I love Sundays and they are always a good time to get caught up on emails or to chat on skype so dont be shy. Im waiting.
Love
Jordan C. Barnes

Chapter 22 - The Chinese Police

Hello again Everybody, I have to come to realize that one day in China is never like the next. You never know what to expect! I love this so much about China! It keeps you on your toes. Also there are so many opportunities to learn new things each and every day! Well, today I was walking back to my flat after teaching my classes for the day. Now so everyone knows there are guards at the front of the gate everyday,but it seemed like there were alot more guards on campus than normal. I started to wonder why there was so many China police officers. Well I got my answers shortly after that. On the basketball court there were about 55 to 60 police in perfect file lines. There were so many of them! Well I sat down on a concrete wall and just watched and absorbed everything that was happening. So all 55 to 60 officers were facing one guy. I soon was taught that he was the captain of the whole Huayuan Police Department. As I was sitting there a police car pulled up and of course I had to get a nice pic of it. Yes its a Toyota Camry but they use any vehicle for a police car. I have seen jeeps, motorcycles, VW Jettas, 4runners, trucks and even family vans. Well the officer that got out of the car saw me and came and sat down RIGHT beside me! Like almost on my leg...right up in my personal space! He could speak some English so him and I started talking and this is where I learned everything about the police in China. So I believe most of this information is correct. Apparently the whole 55 to 60 officers were in the process of being recruited. They had to stand at attention for 1 full hour!! Now standing at attention is no easy task. I know this because the guy I was talking to asked how long I could do it. He didnt think I could go longer than 5 mins. Well I took his challenge and he ordered an officer to make sure I was standing correctly. First started with my feet. Heels are together with toes pointing out making a 'V". Knees locked and everything tight up to your waist. Everything had to be tight because officers were walking around the recruits and jabbing the backs of the knees to see if they would buckle. Not good attention. Next your hands. You thumb was placed between the first and second knuckle of your pointer finger making your hand form a "U" shape. Now the the hands were at your side with you middle finger lined up with the crease in your pants down the side. Again, hands had to be tight to your body because the officer came and grabbed my hand and shook his head. Showed me that it had to be firm. Next was the upper body. This part was hard because I slouch! (I know its bad but I'm trying to fix it!) Straight back...the head had to be level and straight forward. Eyes aren't even suppose to move. Well after a few mins of getting my form perfect the officer start the timer. IT was so hard to stay still! With knees locked it didnt take long before I could feel the blood in the back of my eyes. You know the light headed feeling. I stayed as long as possible then I broke. The officer laughed at me, but said he was surprised that I even lasted that long. I lasted 9 mins. I wasn't the only person having trouble. An officer fainted and hit the ground! SMACK!!!! Concrete basketball court too! Others needed help walking because their knees had been locked for so long. IT was really cool to learn about the stance and how strict it really is. The officer and I sat down and we started talking about their uniforms. Black and of course their badge but they dont have titles. Like Captain, Sargent, and Lieutenant. They have numbers. So the guy standing in front of group was number #1 and the officer I was talking to was #3. So pretty high up in the food chain. Then they all had the same shoes. These little camo covered sneakers. You would think that an officer of the law would have some hefty boots on, not these officers...tiny, tiny shoes. I dont know why but they seem to like them because they all had them! This was such a great experience and also made me very excited for when I will start my own training to become a police officer. It was really neat to see the orderly conduct of all the officers. I learned so much and I am ready for the next day to see what China has to teach me! Love you all dearly and I will talk to you soon, Jordan Barnes

Chapter 21 - Krazy Kart Ride!

Today was a very fun day! I headed to a chinese style YMCA. This place is huge and is where alot of my students can be found while not in school. In one corner of the park there was a place where you can rent skates and go skating. In another corner there is a swimming pool. There is a full size soccer field, a running track, a little Fair for little ones, bumper cars and a building full of ping pong tables and badminton courts. There was also 2 full size basketball courts. So there is always a lot to be done at this place.

Before i continue with my story I have to tell another story real quick. So last summer the family made a church history trip. While in Palmyra, New York we were staying at this KOA camp. The camp had these bicycles that fit 2 people on them. Now they aren't like tandem bikes where you sit behind your partner, your partner was right next to you. Sort of like a paddle boat but its 2 bicycles and its on land and not water.

Well in Palmyra Derek and Jaron and I decided to rent them and have a little fun. We had a blast on these things! We rode these all over the camp. At one moment i was being chased by Derek and Jaron and we were cruzin! I came to this corner and i tried to fish tail around the corner. Well instead of fish tailing around the corner like i wanted, instead i came to a dead halt. With Derek and Jaron right on my tail...Derek (being the driver) had to react quickly! He did and swerved to the left scrapping a fence (left a huge scrape mark) and then had to stop before he and jaron went straight into the lake. Afterwards we were laughing so hard all 3 of us were crying from laughing too hard. I know that Jaron and Derek will be laughing when they read this because i am laughing about it just typing it. Also another incident happened. Jaron was chasing me and i decided to swerve from side to side. I guess i swerved too hard and flipped the whole kart on its side. Again more laughter and as i flipped the vehicle back on its wheel i noticed that i had bent the pedal and there was a tear in the canopy. We had many good memories on those things.


So to see the very same vehicles in china was a shocker. I told Lee that we have to rent one and have some fun with it. We did and we started by doing a few laps around the track at this activity center. we passed 2 other guys that had rented one and we started doing these little sprint races. Tons of fun! After a few races of kicking their trash we passed them later on and ther kart is parked and they were sitting there smoking. HAHAHA it was great. We started chasing people and everyone was laughing and having a blast. Well then a dog came into view and you know me... I told lee we gotta chase the dog. We started chasing him and he ran into the center of track on the field. That wasn't going to stop me! Little did i know that there was a ledge between the grassy field and the rock track. It was about 5 inches and we hit it full speed. The front half of the kart made it up but we came to a dead stop and leaning to the front right wheel. I looked down and there was NO front right wheel! I just saw dirt and grass. Our wheel had completely broken off!

The laughter from me started immediately! hahaha It was awesome! Now there are a few pics of the wreckage and the opposite.

I have come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what country I'm in, I should avoid these sort of toys at all cost. Also there is a pic of 3 chinese boys in a kart. I took a pic because it is the very exact kart the I broke not a week ago! hahaha made me laugh out loud! well i hope everything is going well everyone. I miss you tons. Don't be shy...email me and ask me questions. I love you all and i will chat with you soon. Love Jordan

Chapter 20 - Laundry Day the Chinese Way!

Hello everyone! Okay so everyone knows I am doing great and am still loving China! Quite a few things have been happening. Like this weekend is Chinese Tomb Sweeping Day, or Qing Ming Festival. Now I work Saturday but will get Sunday, Monday and even Tuesday off from work! But the Qing Ming is the Chinese memorial day. A day where families get together and go to the tombs of the family members that have passed away. It will be nice to get a long break from work bummer deal i have to work on a saturday. So i remember someone asking how i do laundry. But before i tell you how i have to tell you a little story. so i had a good amount of clothes packed for the trip and the day of leaving i weighed my pack and it was like 25 pounds over. Threw out alot of clothes thinking i could buy more once i got here. So i came to china with 3 casual shirts, 1 jacket, 3 pairs of pants, 4 dress shirts, sock and underwear. So not alot of variety when it comes to my clothes but this means they have to be washed very often. Well i got lucky and my apartment actually had a washer. No in china, very few people actually have a dryer. So this has been the first time that i had to let my clothes hang dry. Now the washer took awhile to figure out because all the instructions are chinese characters. So it took a few loads to get how the machine works. I was able to find just a spin cycle. Took me awhile to match up the chinese characters but now after each load i put it through just a spin cycle which helps the clothes dry faster. So i was doing laundry today and thought i would show some pics of how i do laundry. Well on our back porch of my 7th story flat there is a cage place that is all setup for hanging clothes! except i found out real quick that clothes or hangers can be dropped and fall all the way to the ground! Well i dropped my sock but i got lucky. It fell on the window shade thing right below me. Okay,I have long arms but they werent long enough to reach my sock! I even tried. so i made my own makeshift reacher to get my sock back My reacher was a hanger crammed into a crack at the end of one of the mops for my apartment. It was hard to even get my reacher through the gaps between the bars but was able to get it through and start my mission of getting my sock back. Took a few trys but i was able to rescue my sock and finish my laundry! :-) Last pic is my backpack hanging from the window, my bed sheet hanging out the window to dry and the part that goes in the blanket drying on the chairs inside my apartment! yes my white backpack gets dirty but a nice wash makes it look good as new. I have always loved doing laundry and i still love it here in china! I think i like it more now than before. I also love the feel and the smell of the clothes after they are done being air dried. Might do it in boise once i get it back!!! I like it that much! well i better get going. got to get my lesson planned out for the up coming week. I miss and love you all very much! I hope to hear from everyone soon! Love Jordan

Chapter 19 - To Market to market to buy a fat....

Hello everyone!,
Well today i decided to go to the market. About a 30 min walk from my flat. Been told that i need to go here because you can find anything at this market. so this sparked my curiousity and sounded like a great journey! and oh boy it was!! well china little food markets have a smell to them. and i could start to smell that one of a kind smell! I think the smell comes from this mush they make with hot pepper and that mouth numbing spice. Like this stuff makes you hair nostrils curl and your eyes water! very strong smell!

well we started out in the produce section shown in the photo! Also i find it very funny, look at how nasty the floor is and also the dog in the market! now each lady had their own produce and their own setup.
So lady had spices, noddles, veggies, and other herbs. Now i continue to make my way to the the meat area. Now this was a total different experience. They had live animals...to dead animals. Fish, duck, chicken, rabbits, turtles & frogs. This was way more than i was expecting! And the smell of fish, old blood, and just a moist smell made it hard for me. I gagged a few times but was able to keep my lunch down. And of course everyone saw that we were taking pics and making sounds so people were like insisting that we see what they had to offer. Well we found the place where the live animals were being held. Okay so here is a list of the animals i saw. Ducks, chickens, doves, turtles(3 different types), pheasants, frogs, rabbits, a mole (yeah weird), snakes, dogs(for sale), goats(dead but still) and last and the most awkward a porcupine!! Well 2 of them actually! here is a pic to prove it!
it felt like a little zoo but in my mind i knew that they would be someone's dinner. Sort of sad but really cool to experience!
As we were leaving there was a mouse being chased by a dog. Right in the middle of the street. It is was weird but also kind of cool at the same time. yes the mouse did get away :-) A total different view on the food that people eat here in china. it's like they aren't afraid to show where the food comes from. Like in the States we are never really shown the butcher part of our food. Well if you are farmer or a hunter. But also the whole sanitation thing adds an effect. It is so nasty to see your food being prepared but a person with inch long finger nails and just a few inches off the dirtiest ground you can imagine. Totally different and it has really opened my eyes that is for sure!

Chapter 18 - Happy Day for Jordan!

I got word that a little something had come to me through the mail!! Well i had to wait 30 mins for the guy that had my package. (Was the longest 30 mins i've experienced in a very long time). While waiting, I saw the kids doing something weird on the track so i decided to investigate. all the kids were in groups with their classes. They were in a military form.
Like everyone in row and columns, and the leader or Sergent yelling out commands. My thinking is that they have missed out on their routine exercise session at 9 in the morning for the past 2 days because of the rain. so they were catching up! But it was pretty cool to see how the respected orders and actually enjoyed running and exercising!
Well finally my half hour wait was over and i climbed up the stairs skipping like 4 at a time! I was SO EXCITED!!!
I was handed this golden package! Not really golden, but just a normal vanilla envelope but is worth more than gold to me! Excellent feeling that has lifted my spirits and brought my happy level to the highest its been since being in china!! Thank you so very much!!!!
Love
Jordan

Confusious says....

-Pray for a good harvest, but continue to hoe, hoe, hoe.

-Reach down and lift others up. It's the best exercise you can get.

-Kindness is like snow; it makes everything it covers beautiful.

-Hearts, like doors will open with ease to very, very small keys. And don't forget that two of these are "I thank you." and "If you please."

-We are never so charitable as when there is no one but ourselves to blame.

-If you haven't much to be thankful for, be thankful for what you don't have.

-Each day is a gift. Receive it with thankfulness, Unwrap it with anticipation, and relish it with joy.

-Life is like a 10 speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use. - Charles M. Schultz

-If you have a clear conscience and good health, If you have a few good friends and a happy home, If your heart has kept its youth and your soul it's honestly, then cheer up -- you are still one of life's fortunate millionaires.

-Appreciation is like an insurance policy. You have to keep renewing it.

-If you think practice makes perfect, you have never tried to raise kids.

-May you have warm words on a cold evening, A full moon on a dark night...and the road downhill all the way to your door.

-Set a shining example today and tomorrow will be much brighter

-Friends are family you choose for yourself.

-The most powerful single thing you can do to have influence on others is to smile at them.

-The greatest ability is dependability.