5/13/2012
Happy Mother’s Day!! Today was our free day, yet it was quite busy for a free day. We started the day off early by going to the pearl market. We got there by the Beijing Subway System, which was not my favorite. There were so many people, so we had to squeeze together to fit. It was cool to see a different subway system, though. It was not too complicated either, which was good. First, when we got to the pearl market, me and three others went to McDonald’s for lunch. It was much different than the McDonald’s in the United States. The décor was more modern and there was a separate station for desserts and coffee. I enjoyed it a lot. Then, we went inside and started our bargaining. I have never been harassed by a sales person before, but going into the pearl market changed all of that. I was looking at purses, but I wasn’t really interested in actually buying one, but the saleswoman insisted on showing me all these different styles and colors even though I showed little to no interest. Then, as I was about to leave she wouldn’t let me. She grabbed by arm and was blocking me from leaving the area while yelling in my face, “What wrong with you”. I was very shocked. Finally, I managed to get out of there. I can say I’m a little scarred from that (only kidding). After the pearl market, I went back with some others because we were very tired.
At night, we went to the Water Cube, which was where all the water sports for the Summer Olympics 2008 were held. They built a water park inside of it after the Olympics, so that’s where we went. It was so sweet. There was one slide where you literally started standing up and you fell straight down—scary, but so much fun. After the water park we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.
lichtmanplus3china2012 