Tuesday August 12th was a hang out day for us. I needed some chill out time - doing the Olympics is a lot of work - lots of walking, lots of figuring out which way to go and then walking further!! (but of course all worth it!)

So - after Starbuck's in the morning - we played on the Olympic ticket website - Co Sport - the official ticket seller for a number of countries - said that they would release tickets as they became available. It is an annoying process because you have to click every single event to see if there are tickets available. So - those of you who know me - know that I kept at it until I had success!! We found fencing tickets for Wednesday the 13th. The cool thing with this is that finally we will be able to get into the Olympic Green.

The Olympic Green - you have all seen it - but we have not - you probably have seen much coverage on it - with lots of commentary about what everything is. But we have not - so we are VERY excited to get up there. (and yes Chris - to see if we can visit with Matt Lauer!! - or at least get our picture with him!) We are heading up there to archery this morning and then to fencing tonight.

We are excited to be taking two new friends to fencing - a young couple - the son of Rick's high school classmate and his girlfriend. We had dinner with them last night - they are great folks and we really enjoyed our time with them.

So anyway - when we went to pick up the tickets - we hung out at the ticket office visiting with people from all over the world - talking about who had been to what event, what to do in the city, etc. To me - that is one of the special parts of the Olympics - being able to connect with so many people - all with one common passion!

Now - the wild and crazy part of the day - Rick had the crazy idea to go to the Silk Market! A few of you told me about this place and each said that it is hard to describe - you are right - I am not sure that I can pen the experience! It is a large building - with 6 or 7 floors - each floor filled with hundreds and hundreds of vendors - each selling their wares. All I could do was walk around and say "oh my gosh" - each vendor saying - "you lady - you want ______ "(whatever they were selling). We ventured to the top floor where they were selling the real pearls (my girlfriend wants pearls) - and it was larger stores - less aggressive sales, but higher dollar products. I understand that the prices of these pearls are very reasonable. Of course, if my shopper girlfriends were here - they would be able to tell me what the best deal was.

We went back to the lower floors to shop - I wanted a pretty hair clip that all of the girls here wear - so we found a booth - we pulled into it and started bargaining. Rick and I have an arrangement - I pick the item and he bargains - what a process!! I actually never got my hair clip, because you have to be willing to walk away - and we did for that deal.

We will go back again - because it is so amazing - to watch, to shop, to bargain - to experience the very Chinese practice of bargaining for the best price. One new friend who lives here explained to me that she does not shop that way - that it is too much work for her and that she would rather shop at the malls and just pay whatever price that they list.

After the Silk Market - we went back to the 9 Dragons Youth Hostel - to hang out with some of our new friends. We had dinner with Adam and Ting Ting - it was fun to be in a restaurant that they could order for us - rather than just pointing to something on the menu! Since they live here - they know all of the great, inexpensive places to eat - so we had a great meal for a great price! Then Rick and Adam went to an Olympic Boxing Match and Ting Ting and I hung out at the hostel and visited with people from all over the world! What a great experience!!

Okay - off to archery!

Until next time
Christina