I've found a (place almost as good as) DiCamillo's in China!

For those of you not in the know, DiCamillo's is the family bakery in Niagara Falls that always has the best pastries, pizza, bread, biscotti, etc. So what if I'm biased? It's all delicious :)

Anyways, on a suburban adventure today, we stopped in at a local bakery for some treats to bring to our host. And something about this bakery just reminded me of DiCamillo's. Our CUC friends told us the bakery was very famous and was over 100 years old. And while it wasn't the same goodies that Laurina and Tommy DiCamillo made decades ago, it was all still pretty tasty!

Some cultural musings....

Just a couple different/unusual/mind-blowing things I've noticed in the past 12 days....

• You know the expression, "the world is your oyster"? Well, when you're a Chinese kid being potty-trained, the WORLD is your TOILET. Forbidden City? Sure, no problem...almost walked into a little girl's, um. pee stream (???sorry, that's kinda graphic) when I was traipsing through the monumentally historic palace. You know, it's the place that was FORBIDDEN to the Chinese for centuries. I just don't think the Ming and Qing emperors would be too thrilled with that. Same goes for Tian an Men Square. And any sidewalk/street corner in the city. Certainly takes some getting used to...and also a little more wary of puddles
• Chivalry is NOT dead in China. We constantly see husbands and boyfriends carrying their wives/girlfriends purses. And we're not talking a neutral man purse that Joey liked to carry on friends...we're talking sparkly, shiny, flowers, bows....some of the girliest purses I've seen. And in another show of chivalry, we saw a girl stop walking, kick off her shoes and demand her boyfriend pick them up...which he did!
• These people are PUMPED about the Olympics. Everywhere there are signs for the Olympics...I even saw some guy at ONS training wearing a shirt that said "The world gives us 16 days, we give the world 5,000 years." On the CCTV station (state-owned and operated) they ALWAYS have the countdown (19 today) running on the right side of the screen. Everyday, throughout the day CCTV has programs on ALL the Olympic sports--today was equestrian; and even a segment on "Olympic English." Today's word was tour guide.
• They are pretty mesmerized by us. Everywhere we go, whether we are in a pair or a large group, people are staring...and I'm pretty sure I've made some babies cry. Basically, we are just taking it in stride and trying not to let it bother us. I was talking to my friend Crysty about how funny it is when we see another Western-looking person, it's almost like Bingo! We have an unspoken nod or acknowledgement of some kind. Even last night, my friend Helen and I were wandering through the Sanlitun district and there was an American family (mother, father, pushing baby carriage) and I just wanted to walk behind them to hear someone else speaking English!

Shopping in China...I could get used to this

Woke up bright and early this morning (after getting in around 4:30 am) to head to the Silk Market, one of the biggest tourist attractions (althhough the locals certainly frequent it) in Beijing. The Silk Market is eight floors of clothing, shoes, toys, bags, suitcases, jewelry, home furnishings, Chinese souvenirs and SO much more.

There were three of us on the bargain hunt: Jennie, Laura and myself. We had heard from some of our classmates who had already been that the Silk Market was crazy and the vendors would grab your arm and pull you to see their wares and there was a lot of yelling. The classmates came back haggard and frazzled, exhausted from the experience. Naturally, I was bracing myself for those crazy morning-after Christmas sales (like I experienced firsthand at the Paper Store) where people go NUTS for Hallmark ornaments or anything that is 50% off.

We figured arriving early, and on a weekday would be the best way to avoid the crowds and chaos. After stopping at the dining hall for the CUC version of an Egg McMuffin we headed to the subway. We are pretty good navigators now. Just a few stops away, we got out and looked up. There it was: SILK MARKET....8 glorious stories.

Walking in the doors I was expecting to be bombarded. Instead we were all pleasantly surprised! Sure, the vendors were trying to get our attention, but mostly it was "pretty lady, want a t-shirt?" or "beautiful lady, tie for your boyfriend." To which I replied, "bu boyfriend." bu=no.

The first item I got was a pair of Victoria Beckham for Rock & Republic jeans. The salesgirl wanted them for 1250 yuan (about $180). Almost every salesperson has a calculator, so we just punched in numbers back and forth. I offered 125 yuan (a good haggling tip I read in one of my tour books--offer 10% of what they are asking). She asked "Dollars?"
I said "No! Yuan!"
Her reply, "You crazy."
She asked for my best price, I stood firm at 125. At that point I started to walk away...and she said "okay, okay. special price. 125." (and in case you're concerned, I was able to try on the jeans before I purchased them).

And that was how it went for the next 2 1/2 hours! We haggled, we were pretty ruthless...they called us tough ladies. Plus, our professor Shujen taught us the word for too much=tai guay, so we said that a lot--which impressed AND infuriated (I think) the vendors.

Walking out of the Silk Market with our purchases, Jennie, Laura and I felt pretty good. I don't think I stopped smiling the whole subway ride back! There is something so satisfying (but also oddly unsettling?) about setting your own price and sticking to it...is this what it's like booking a hotel on Priceline?

Emerson Students' Blog

As part of our participation here in Beijing, Emerson students are required to post (at least once a week) to an official blog...

click here to take a peek!

ALL pics have been uploaded to Picasa!

Here's the link to the Picasa web album...there are no captions, but they are in chronological order.

http://picasaweb.google.com/anna.sabella/ChinaWeek1

Food for thought...

Here are a couple of articles I've read in the past 24 hours about Beijing, Olympics, etc.

An International Herald Tribune article on Beijing's new, modern architecture:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/13/asia/beijing.php?page=1

An ESPN article about Olympic athletes and protests:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3487980&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

The somber side of the Olympics in China--homes destroyed for the sake of the Games
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2008/07/16/as_olympics_near_many_chinese_homes_face_wrecking_ball/

On another note, I'm incredibly thrilled the AL won the All-Star Game! J.D. Drew is on fire!!!

ONS Training--the reality sets in!

We had our two days of ONS training yesterday and today...and the reality has set in! We are in China, working at the Olympics...and working at, arguably, the most sought-after venue: National Stadium. (see pic above just in case you forgot how stunning it is).

We are the only students who will be there...the pressure is on! We know we have to step it up and kick ass and I think we are all anxious to get to the venue and get situated. For now, we have 5 days off until Tuesday, when training begins at the venue. Athletes will begin to arrive, and we will start doing interviews and preparing entries for INFO2008, the massive database created by ONS and Infostrada Sports containing thousands of athlete bios and statistics.

Tonight, we are playing ping pong again and then it's all you can drink at the Propaganda Bar (70 yuan...roughly 10 bucks). Tomorrow, we attack the Silk Market!