Oh hello….. you.

I thought it might be fun to write a little post about how different cultures greet you.  First of all, I have met hundreds of new people and I am not good with names so I have had a lot of moments when I needed to humbly apologize and tell them I have no idea what their name is.  That being said, even if I know the name of the person, I never quite know what to expect when I go in for a greeting.  I am friends with so many people from so many different cultures that it has almost become a guessing game for me.  Do I hug them, high 5 them, pound them, give them a “bro hug”, kiss them, or do I just awkwardly walk up and say “Hey.”  I if you go for the kiss on the cheek during a greeting, is it just one kiss or one kiss for each cheek?  This may seem like not a big deal, but it definitely can be.  You should have seen my face the first time one of my Norwegian friends kissed me on the cheek before I left.  I probably looked like a “middle schooler” who just had his first kiss.  I was slightly confused and thought to myself “Wow that was bold.”  I quickly figured out the whole kiss on the cheek thing, but it definitely gave me a laugh.  There are so many options which can definitely lead to some very funny moments.  For example, some cultures do not acknowledge the “bro hug.”  It is kind of awkward when you turn a handshake into a half hug….  But ultimately, I don’t care because these moments are fun.  Whenever I feel like I do something wrong I simply respond by saying “sorry, I am American” and then they laugh and we move on.   Or when in doubt just give them a huge smile.   :) 

DREW KLEIMAN IS AWESOME!!!!

 

Psalm 26:16-18

“Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.  The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses.  Consider my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sins.”   

This is one of my new favorite verses.  There is so many different things that I love about it.  Every person can relate to the first verse.  Everyone has at one time felt lonely and afflicted.  That is a part of our human nature.  The world tells us a lot of different ways we can get rid of this feeling, but the truth is that all of the worldly will end up failing to take away ALL of your loneliness.  There have been times in my past where I was surrounded by so many amazing friends yet still went to bed feeling lonely.  I am now on the other side of the world and I miss all of my friends, but I feel less lonely than I ever have.  I recognized my feeling of loneliness and I gave it to the Lord.  He has given me a lot of strength as a man of God.  I have learned to love moments where I am alone because they present opportunities to get closer to the Lord.  A lot of people of this world have a fear of being alone, but I personally think it is nothing to be scared of because you will ALWAYS have the Lord.  Not only is the Lord always there, but he can make you feel more fulfilled and secure than any human could.  Your relationship with the Lord is the one relationship that you can be 100% will never end.  He is always there!

The second part of this verse is also extremely good for me because I tend to stress about a lot of things that don’t matter in the long run.  I give too much attention to the troubles of this world.  It is important that recognize that they are just that, troubles of this WORLD.  None of it is eternal.  I am continually trying to give my concerns over to the Lord because I do not benefit in any way by stressing about something.  No worries mate….  :)

The third part is great because it is asking the Lord to consider what you are going through.  I know the Lord always knows what is happening in your life, but it is nice to recognize the fact that he knows exactly what you are feeling and that he is there for you even when you make mistakes.  This verse helps my view of my relationship with the Lord because it acknowledges the fact that the Lord is not oblivious to my struggles.  He knows when I am struggling and he is there to help me and forgive me for my mistakes.  This is a very comforting thought.  

Shout out to my favorite new Aussie friend Aimee …..  Don’t ever be afraid to flash those pearly white teeth.  Your smile has power!   Tearna, you are a pretty sweet Aussie as well! 

People of this world....

Okay, so I am meeting people from literally around the world and I thought I would let you in on a few thoughts.  Hmmm where to start?  Lets start with the Germans!  I have become really good friends with a couple hard core Germans.  They are actually on a volleyball team with Eli and I.  We actually named our team "The Bloody Americans" despite the fact that we have two Germans on our team.  It is for that reason that we changed our name to "The Bloody Americans, and friends." :)  It is true that Germans are extremely competitive.  For example, Eli and I decided to play them two on two in beach volleyball.  At first we were just screwing around, but then it got serious real fast.  They were actually beating us by a few points about half way through the game.  This caused them to start a chant about their country that sounded something like this "We are the Germans! We are the Germans!"  It sounded horrible and kinda pissed Eli and I off.  In the end, the AMERICANS came back and beat the Germans.  And for the rest of the night we chanted "We are the Americans!"  They also like to ATTEMPT to steal girls.

Okay, so next I will talk about the Norwegians.  They are sooooo nice!  I actually know quite of few of them and they are all awesome!  They act pretty similar to the Swedish who are also extremely nice.  They seem to always be smiling.  ALWAYS!  I have met a few awesome girls from Switzerland and they are weirdly nice as well.  They smile and laugh at everything I say.  Great accents as well.  I think everyone smiles a lot more than the Americans!  Except the Russians. haha :)  One of the girls here is a Brazilian and she is the biggest sweetheart ever.  She is always super nice and always happy although sometimes I think she is smiling just because she does not understand what I am saying.  I have already talked a lot about the Australians in a previous post, but they still remain to be super friendly and truly worry free.  Lets actually talk a second about the Americans.  I love everyone, but I don't always "like" everyone.  I don't know why some of the girls from America think they are such hot stuff, but I feel like someone should tell them they are surrounded by beautiful girls from all around the world.  It is definitely easy to tell which guys are from a fraternity.  The "frat boys" and "sorority girls" tend to stick together.  They are nice if you separate them from "the pack," but that is not always easy.  So that is my summary of some of the people of this world.  We will see if my opinion changes, but I thought I would put my thoughts into writing so I can compare at the end. 
"We are the Americans!" 

My bedtime thoughts

·         Why do we do what we do?  I realized something tonight as I lay in my bed while listening to the song Kingdom Come by Hillsong.  Everything I have done in the past has been in an attempt to change someone’s perception of me.  Even when I created this post I was hoping to impact your perception of me.  What if I was that concerned with how the Lord “perceives” me.  Why I am so concerned with my “worldly image.”  There are times when I claim not to care, but the truth is that I do.  Even when it comes to my spiritual walk with the Lord, I find myself wanting to impress others with my spirituality.  My goal over the next couple months is to dramatically improve this.  I want the Lord to motivate my actions.  I want to be true and sincere in the way I act.  No more faking.  Winning the approval of all of you, the readers, is ultimately unimportant.  I love you all and I admit that I will probably never be able to “not care” what you think about me, but I hope that my priorities can become a little more Christ centered.  

·         The truth is that I have always been a “people pleaser.”  So of you may be thinking "what? you are selfish Jordan!"  I know that I have not always been perfect, but I truthfully care a lot for others.  I have recently found myself sacrificing my own happiness in hopes of improving someone others.  Why would I do this?  What makes me think that I have the ability to make someone happy or fulfilled?  It’s about time that I start showing the Lord’s true love and the only way I can do that is to be completely and wholly filled with him.  The Lord is a lot better at filling people up then I could ever be!  Despite what I might like to think.  Well those were just a couple of my thoughts tonight as I lay in bed completely awake. haha

·         Btw I miss you family! I have been so blessed to grow up in a family of God.  No one knows how to have fun like you guys do.  And I give a shout out to Brandon and Tyler Czock!  You two are studs and I can’t wait to see the men of God you become.  I am sure you will end up teaching me a lot about life as well as sports!  Keep living for the Lord!  Nothing else will "fill" you up despite what some friends may tell you in the future.  If you ever want to hear examples of that, just let me know! :)