SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL DAYS

Class has begun. My students are wonderful and seem to be more eager to learn English than I ever remember being eager to learn anything. My class is Cross-Cultural Communication and is geared towards students who are likely to be traveling abroad at some time in the future. The topics always bring up some interesting conversations and I usually walk away having learned more than I have taught. We also have three conversation groups through the week (a chance for students to practice their English in a less formal setting). Today was our first one and we covered a broad range of topics from favorite foods (which included noodles, pizza and snake) to mountain climbing (which one of my students is doing over this coming holiday week) and sights of interest in China.

Here are some pictures of my students . . .

The BIG three four!

For six months of every year I can gleefully and honestly boast that my wife is much older than I am. On March 12th she turned 34 years old (which is not nearly as old as it used to be) and this past Thursday I joined her. Even following six months of youthful boasting she treated me to an amazing, wonderful birthday filled with Chinese delights.

She arranged for Rachel to be taken care of during luch which was our first time "alone" in at least two months. We began at the Brazillian restaurant on the first floor of a five star hotel. Two words . . . meat, good. My love for protein was fulfilled as one by one meat was brought to our table and sliced onto our plates. Seriously, this was the best idea since steak. Roast beef, prime rib, chicken, pork, little bacon wrap things all without even getting up. Incredible meal, nice atmosphere and the total bill was about $14 US.

Then we went looking around the hotel just for fun. Thought we might get a massage at the hotel salon but evidently they don't cater to men. So we stumbled into the rec room, filled with ping pong tables and two enormous pool tables (snooker). We said we just wanted to look around but evidently that mean we want to play snooker. The girl at the desk got out the snooker balls and set up the table for us. Problem number one: We have no idea how to play snooker. Problem number two: People were watching us play. So we pretended we knew how to play snooker, had a coke and when no one was looking we threw some balls in the pockets because the game was taking a really long time. The we went to another hotel and got a massage.

We then came back to the rec room to meet our teammates and our daughter for her first game of bowling ever. She's a natural . . . 36 on her first game! We had a blast with our new friends. Just a contrast between bowling in China and bowling in America for you bowling enthusiasts. We had a constant wait staff bringing us drinks and watching us bowl (they even joined in "Happy Birthday"), they brought me an amazing fruit plate with little fruit animals and they cleaned every shoe when we were done. When's the last time you got that kind of service at an American bowling alley.

Then we crossed the street and ate at Happy Tom's pizza buffet which is just below what used to be the world's second largest ferris wheel (I think it's number three now). Leave it to my wonderful wife, who is for the next six months the same age as I, to make growing old a blast. Great day!

Things you don't see every day: Episode One

Got passed by a tiger on the way to the store yesterday. Taxi driver slowed down so we could take a picture.

A quick Rachel fix

Here are some pictures for those of you needing a quick Rachel fix (grandparents, friends, random blogsurfers etc.).














New friends Jadlyn and Ellie


















Playing on the playground type thing.




















Rachel and Mom on "Walking Street," Rachel's random new friend (never talk to strangers unless they offer to splash your feet in the water, Kung Fu Rachel and McD's playland.

Stay tuned for more of the cutest little girl in at least two countries.

Signed - a totally unbiased father

Large Order of Deep-Fried Rubberbands, Please.

Just so you know. . .

If ever you are in China (interpret: open invitation!) never, and I repeat, NEVER assume that items which LOOK like onion rings in the freezer section at the Metro (import) store are in fact ONION RINGS!!!!... for if you do, you shall be sorely disappointed when after looking forward to onion rings all day, and stinking the apartment to high heaven because apparently cooking oil in China MUST smell like well, not cooking oil . . . after all that, you find, to your dismay, that they are infact NOT onion rings at all, but some mysterious substance that resembles the texture of a rubberband and tastes, like, well, A RUBBERBAND!


Had we been able to READ the language . . . this mistake would have been sweetly avoided, however in our eager excitement to find something, ANYTHING relatively american (interpret: deep fried junk food) in the freezer section . . . well, you can imagine our excitement, and yea, also our bitter disappointment upon our first taste of deep fried rubberbands.

I am debating whether or not to ASK someone who can read the package what we infact DID purchase, but i am afraid I, or someone dear to me, may be scarred for life . . . we shall see, and we'll let you know.

P.S. I must apologize, before I realized this would be a wonderful example of our great cultural ignorance, I threw out the afore-mentioned deep-fried rubberbands and they were quickly whisked off to the trash bin outside by my dutiful husband...thus, no proof in picture form that they truely LOOKED like ONION RINGS...you'll have to take my word or come on over!

Pizza Hut saves Family Night

I never dreamed that the little red hut would be such a sight for sore eyes. It all goes back to our first night in our hometown. Things had been rushed and even chaotic for days if not weeks, so in our parental wisdom we thought Rachel might need a taste of consistent among a world of different. "We need a family night!"

Family night is a tradition that we hold close to our hearts and most importantly a tradition that our daughter loves. There are three non-negotiable ingredients to family night which can then be added to any number of outrageously fun activities. The first ingredient is, of course . . . family (insert "well duh" here). Mommy, Daddy and Rachel were all present - good to go on the family part. The second and third ingredients are only slightly less important than the first. One, popcorn and two, pizza. So our very first night in our new Chinese home I (daddy) was sent on a quest. I hopped on the bus to Wal-Mart in search of the necessary popcorn and pizza.

Two and a half hours later I returned to an excited little girl and an exhausted mommy. "I've got . . . popcorn!" Rachel laughed hysterically with anticipation. "And . . . McDonalds." I thought the thrill of a Happy Meal would cover the fact that I couldn't find pizza anywhere. Ummm . . . that didn't work. Rachel's face curled up with a broken, "I thought you loved me" look and the wailing began. Evidently, though she is not yet three years old, she is deeply traditional and family night has no room for substitute ingredients.

So three weeks later we get up the nerve to declare another family night. With a little more understanding of the city, some good direction and some help from an English major who told me what stop to get off at, I made it to the promised land. Pizza Hut!

I was invited to sit down to which I replied, "dow gow" (my attempt at Chinese for no, this is to go). The hostess looked confused and I quickly remembered I meant to say dow bow, not dow gow. I accidentally told her I wanted to pray instead of take it to go. I corrected myself and it made more sense. An hour later I arrived home to a much happier daughter, a beautiful wife and the best family night in a long time.

SUUUUUPERBLOGGERMAN!!!!

Faster than a Chinese Taxi!
More thorough than an airport security guard!
Able to post multiple blogs in a single day . . . every single day!


It's Superbloggerman!

Mild mannered marketing guru by day, and spandex wearing superhero by night (and sometimes by day), he is capable of providing fountains, yeigh, even volumes of cross cultural information to the poor, the down trodden . . . the blogless.

Fighting for truth, justice and the bloggerman way!


Seriously . . . if you want a ton more information and some fabulous insight about adapting to life in China check out our friends at www.kennedysonline.net

The Adventures of Bob & Pete

I developed a deeper love and respect for Orval and Wilbur Wright this past weekend. A friend and fellow teacher on our team (also named Jerry or small Jerry to tell us apart) invited me to Beijing for the weekend to meet some really amazing people (another time and another place). In the interest of time we decided to fly there on Friday but in the interest of money we decided to take the train back on Monday. The difference? Sixteen hours. What can can flown in two hours requires eighteen by rail. All in all a wonderful weekend. Met some truly phenomenal young men and women, taught some English, learned some Chinese, played some basketball, found some Crisco for my wife, attended the BIG International fellowship in Beijing (ID checked at the door, apparently I'm beginning to look Chinese), had a large DQ milkshake (could possibly be renamed a small milky shake) and boarded the train for home.

We were able to get the hard sleeper seats (soft sleepers were sold out) which consists of a small room with six bunkbeds (two sets of three high). I got the bottom bunk and my friend got the middle. For the first hour the young man you see above (in the middle), I'll call him Bob, walked slowly by our room at least a dozen times, each time pausing to stare as if he weren't supposed to be looking but absolutely could not help it. I do believe it was the first time he had ever been so close to a wai guo ren (foreigner) and to make it even sweeter my friend is an African American. This kid had hit the ethnic mother load. Finally he found a semi-English speaking friend (I'll call him Pete) to translate and approach us. We became instant pals. Bob was the obvious ring leader and Pete was the curious yet embarassed middle man. I showed them the pictures on my camera and Bob couldn't grasp why I kept calling the little Chinese girl my daughter when my wife was obviously not Chinese. He asked me to teach him English. "The whole language?" That's going to take at least another eighteen hour train ride. Bob would inquire and when I would reply "Ting bu dong" (I don't understand). So, as could be expected, he would inquire more loudly. "Yeah, still ting bu dong." He was often frustrated with my lack of communication skills but remained diligent. After about an hour of conversation (or lack thereof) they moved on down the train for more of the adventure's of Bob and Pete. I was about 10% sad to see them go and 90% secretly relieved and exhausted. Evidently there was nothing in the train quite so adventurous, however, as the two Jerry's and so Bob and Pete returned to my bunk . . . for six hours. They talked for a while, they left for a while, they came back, they watched me read, they talked some more, Bob grabbed his sister and her camera phone and little Jerry counted 18 pictures of the cultural melting pot . . . the drill was repeated over and over.

I would have chosen the bright side and taken this as an opportunity to stretch my Chinese vocabulary but unfortunately, from what I gathered, even Pete had a hard time understanding Bob most of the time. I wasn't sure Bob would be my best teacher. So on the off chance that Bob met his goal of learning English this week and somehow stumbles across this blog . . . Thanks buddy, for a really . . . interesting cultural experience and for helping pass the time for the first seven hours. I truly missed you (somewhat) the final eleven.

Arriving Home!!!

our living room . . . at the airport and Rachel watching a movie on the plane . . . Rachel posing in all her cuteness . . . and our kitchen/dining area, yes, the fridge is barely taller than the table, it is NOT an illusion!

Hello friends!!!

We have just today gotten online and we are thrilled to be able to catch you all up on our happenings! It has been quite an adventure these past few weeks. . .

After spending an hour and a half on the phone trying to pay a seatbelt ticket received just the day before leaving the country, we arrived at the San Francisco airport with plenty of time to make last minute phone call good-byes and leisurely wait for our flight. Rachel watched anxiously out the window for our plane to pull up to the gate . . . I frantically looked for a good cup of coffee and our last truly american food for quite some time.

Rachel did remarkably well on the 13 hour flight! (thank goodness for dramamine!!! She slept about 6 hours)

After arriving in Beijing on Tuesday the 25th of July, we spent three days there in the Sino Swiss Hotel being oriented to our new company and surroundings. There we were able to meet a family and one single man who we will be working closely with . . . then on Saturday we headed HOME. As we checked in at the airport we were quite certain there would be several fees for overweight and extra luggage, but to our great surprise and pleasure, the sweet airline worker checked our bags right through . . . no fees, no questions, no problems!!! What a great welcome to the country!

We arrived to a wonderfully sunny and blue-skied day, temperatures nearing 100 degrees we are certain, but were quickly wisked to an airconditioned van sent and driven by an employee of the Univeristy. When we arrived at the university, we were given our choice of two apartments . . . the third floor facing the girls dorm, or the fourth floor facing the boys dorm. We quickly chose the fourth floor apartment as the mold problem was obviously less agressive there.

Since that day we have made several trips to Wal-mart (but the first 5 didn't count as we simply walked around in a daze taking it all in and picking up a few things here and there we "couldn't live without"). We now have a semi-stocked "pantry" and fridge, and all the cleaning, laundry and bathroom supplies we need. The most important shopping trip was a 6 hour day spent with my new friend Sara searching for a hair supply "warehouse" of sorts where I could find a curling iron. It had only been visited by one teammate previously and she only had very vague directions written on a napkin. However, the 6 hours was not a total loss! We did find "Italian Best Coffee" which is a very nice coffee shop downtown that served us wonderful iced coffee with the best whipped cream on top! We sat in wonderfully coushined chairs and sipped iced coffee in the airconditioned cafe for at least half an hour . . . "Italian Best Coffee" will be visited again in the future (granted that I can find it again!) But alas, by the end of the day I did come home with a curling iron (and clippers for Jerry).

They said to expect things to take longer here. . . but 6 hours to buy a curling iron???? Hopefully even that was an exaggeration of the rule!

Altogether we are adjusting well. We have made it through the jet lag stage and have had a few little illnesses to overcome, but we are on the upswing and looking forward to conquering more than just Wal-mart soon.

Finally, the pictures!

Noah & Rachel, the "mother-in-laws", Mande & La, the whole crew in Colorado (Rachel is the one turned backwards, I suppose checking to make sure she is still the center of her world)

Keeping up with the Joneses

Keeping up with the Joneses

Well, our time here in Colorado is now coming to a close. It is truly amazing to me that we still have room in our hearts for more relationships since we know that this means more good-byes . . . but apparently we do! We have made some dear, dear friends in our three weeks here. Actually, we have even betrothed our Rachel to a very sweet, sweet spirited boy named Noah! We have fallen in love with him (and his parents) while being here. My philosophy is that you can never choose a son-in-law who loves you too much . . .

Seriously, though, we have connected deeply with several of our cohorts here in Colorado. The Kennedys (Noahs family), the Ernos and the Clarks. I am hoping that as you read this you can also see pictures of all of them . . . I'm not great at this blogging thing yet. As I type this I am watching a video of all our kids and all the fun they had during these three weeks . . . tears fill my eyes at the good-byes we are going to say today. In the words of my dear friend Mande, "Are you freaking kidding me? We have to say goodbye today?!"

Next you hear from us we will be on Chinese soil . . . How exciting!

Keeping up with the Joneses

Well, we are winding up our time here in Colorado. I nearly cannot believe how close we have become to so many people in such a short amount of time! Rachel has had a great time going to class each day with Miss Delece. She has crafted, played, sung and learned alot about Jesus and loving others. It has been fun to hear her "teach" me what she has learned each day.

We have also recently betrothed Rachel. We are still working on the dowery, however we are quite confident in the match! We met a wonderful family here, the Kennedy's, who have four beautiful children. Their second is Noah. He is such a gentle spirit and very compassionate. We were afraid that he may get snatched up by some other, less deserving family, so we quickly got in good with the parents and cut the deal. We'll let you all know the details as they evolve. So far we are up to two cows and a gallon of mint ice cream. (of course, we are being rediculous, but we really do love Noah and all the Kennedy's . . . it has been a real G-thing!)

We have also quickly become dear friends with two other couples here in CO. The Ernos, and their three precious kiddos and the Clarks. Mande and I couldn't possibly be much different on the surface, but our hearts have come together in a beautiful way! I LOVE HER TO DEATH!!! I hate the part of my life that is built around "good-byes", but I love the part that allows us the opportunity to meet such awesome people! And in Mande's honor . . . "Are you freaking kidding me? We have to say good-bye TODAY?"

I am hoping that there will be some pictures attached to this post so you can also meet all our new friends from here in Colorado!

Welcome!

Hey, Here we are! We are trying out this "blog" thing . . . we want to keep you all up to date on life in the Jones Family while we are in China. We may not be very consistant in our "blogging" but we will sure try to keep you updated with pictures and the like.

Thanks for visiting us here! Your comments are greatly anticipated!