Day 10

The only scheduled meeting of the day was at the US Embassy in Beijing. We all cleared security and then were lead into a meeting room where were able to have a Q&A meeting with officials of the embassy. It was a very interesting meeting to the point that many of us are even considering possible careers with the State Department.

After the Embassy, we began our ‘free day’. Although it was free, we all chose to stay on the bus and go see the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube.  It was cool to see first hand where Michael Phelps and all the other Olympians competed.

From the Olympic Park many of us went to the Pearl Market. It was similar to the Silk Market in that there were lots of options but very different in that it didn’t feel quite as busy or pushy. It was our second day bartering so we all seemed much improved. As great as it was to be better barterers, many of us so greatly enjoyed that we may have gone a bit overboard. Packing it all home will be quite interesting…

-Nikel-