Life on Purple Mountain

(Photo shows Jesse's feet as they dangle from the ski lift/cableway that goes up to the top of the mountain.)

By Jesse John (as told to his mom)

Purple Mountain is where we live. It's called Purple Mountain because of the color of the rocks. At the entrace of the mountain, it has trees that are split to grow in 3 directions.

We live next to a hotel and we have free access to the swimming pool, ping pong, tennis court, and cheap bowling. I've been swimming 5,000 times! You have to wear swimming caps.

The name of the place we live is called "Dongjiao." I made friends with an 8-year-old named Justin and he has a brother named Nathan and he is 12 years old. Their dad is from Michigan and their mom is from China. They've lived here for 4 years. The other kids that live here are on vacation until school starts next week.

There is another boy named Martin. He's Dutch and he likes to play soccer. We played soccer once and it was really hot. If I go outside for 5 minutes, I start sweating like crazy. We bought popsicles but they don't freeze in our freezer!

We move into our actual house next week. It wasn't ready when we were ready to move so they let us live in another house. They are painting and cleaning our house. Levi and I will get a bunk bed in our room. The room colors will be red, gray, and white.

I like to eat "jiaozi"--Chinese dumplings--and Chinese noodles. The American food tastes alot different, like hamburgers and pizza. I like it here.