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As we were walking down the street past all of the vendors I bought a few things. I bought these candy/cookies necklaces that are a tradition in Serbia for children to get during holidays and parties. I also bought some art that a street vendor had made. They are just black and white pictures that are three dimensional and pretty striking images. I am excited to take them home and have them as a piece of art in my apartment to always remind me of my trip to Serbia.
Once we were done shopping we went back to the fortress to walk around a bit and sat at the café at the top of the fortress to drink some coffee and I had a snack. I tried to pay 2000 dinar for a piece of cheesecake that only cost me 200, thankful Ljiljana double checked and got me my money back. I also had the honor of being serenaded by Danko and Ljiljana. Apparently there is a Serbian song about a girl named Christina and that song got stuck in our heads and was sung for three hours straight.
After we left downtown we went to the Men’s Basketball game against Russia. It was super close game and the US lost by 1 at the last second. So now we will play in the Bronze Medal game. It was a bummer to watch and we really should have won that game. At least we made it that far and we can still win a medal, that is what you are supposed to say to yourself to make it feel better right?
Cao,
Christina
JULY 10 Cao,
I have a lot to catch up since I have been so busy, but I will do my best to fill you in and let you know what I have been up to.
On Tuesday I went out to Taekwondo to see the final day of competition. I saw two of our female athletes compete and one of the fights went into overtime. It was very exciting but unfortunately our athletes did not win, but it was exciting and this was the first taekwondo event I have ever seen. Last that night was a Men’s Basketball game, USA vs. Serbia. It was a very heated game and the USA won by 2 points. All of the other US athletes went to the game as a group and dressed in red, white, and blue, wore USA colors, and painted their faces. Throughout the game they received some not so sweet receptions from the rest of the crowd, but it was all in the heat of the moment and part of the game. I think that game (with it being so close and all of the athletes going together) was a really special moment for the US Delegation and an experience that cannot be replicated in any other sports organization.
On Wednesday I had to wake up at 3:30am to show the Taekwondo team off on the bus to the airport to make sure they made it to the make their departing flights. Suffice to say I spent a lot of time during the day sleeping and did not do anything too exciting. That evening the staff went to dinner at a beautiful restaurant on the top of the fortress. It has a beautiful view of where the Danube river and the entire town. We had dinner around 7:30pm so we got to see the sun set over the river and it was amazing. I felt so content sitting on an outside on a deck of the fortress on a clear, warm night watching the sunset over Belgrade and the Danube River drinking my glass of wine. Tough life, I know. It was also a wonderful dinner. I have some turkey that was grilled and a pasta dish accompanying it. If anyone ever visits Belgrade, this place is highly recommended. Also, seeing the fortress at night was very special as well. It was lit up and it was crazy walking around and hanging out in the beautiful building that was built thousands of years ago and has so much history behind it. It is a sacred feeling to be standing in a place where soldiers have stood years before fighting and defending their country. Yesterday during the day I went downtown and went sightseeing with Gary Cunningham. We went to the fortress to walk around and see it in the daytime. Outside the front of the fortress they were digging and building tracks for the electric bus that runs by there. When they were digging they actually found some artifacts from when the Romans had built a street there thousands of years ago. Needless to say the construction for the tracks have stopped and it has now turned into an archeological site. So not only did I get to see the fortress, I also got to see an archeological dig.
After we walked around the fortress we went down a walking street, which runs down the center of downtown. They have vendors and restaurants lining the street and is a great place to people watch and buy souvenirs to take home back to the states. We also walked quickly through Old Belgrade (we had dinner there a few nights earlier) and it was magical to see during the day. The cobblestone streets, the old buildings and structures and some of the oldest restaurants and cafes in Belgrade were amazing and unique from a lot of things we have in the United States. Lastly, we went to see the temple. It is the biggest temple in the Balkan Peninsula and has taken ten years to be built and it is still not finished. The outside is complete but the inside is still being finished.
After I spent some time in the office (I do need to do work sometimes!) we went to swimming to see some the USA Athletes compete. The pool is unique in that there is a huge swimming facility, an indoor and outdoor pool, right smack in the middle of the city. The swimmers have been doing an awesome job in the games and I have won more than 6 medals so far!
Ok, I think I have caught you up to speed! Today I think I will do some more shopping today and the Men’s Basketball team plays again tonight, but tomorrow I will let you know of all my adventures!
Cao!
Christina Cao,
Happy 4th of July! Celebrating Independence Day is not the same when you are in Serbia, but we have made sure that we have lots of flags and decorations so at least we can show our pride for the United States.
Yesterday I attended both the Women’s and Men’s Basketball games. The Women played first and they played Serbia. It was a heated game, with some fans getting into it, some questionable calls and some rough play. In the end, it was a good game, the US won but Serbia is a very good team.
After the Women’s game I went to the Men’s Basketball game. Their venue was far away, but at least on the ride over I got nice mini tour of the city and got to see some of the more rural areas of Belgrade that I would probably not be able to see otherwise. The gym was nice, but very small. The Men’s Team played Finland and they won. It was a good game for the team but the competition coming up should be very tough.
After the basketball game a couple of us went to a restaurant that is right on the Danube river. It is such a nice area. There is an area that would be our equivalent of a “boardwalk”. It is right on the river and there is a walkway that runs the entire length and along it they have floating restaurants, cafes, bars, and clubs. There is a walkway from the land that takes you over the river into the floating restaurant. It was pretty cool. I had some Serbian beers and Serbian food in a floating restaurant on the Danube River. When in my life would I ever think that I would get to do this or experience this!
On July 5th I went to the Water Polo game. The Men’s Water Polo team played Hungary, which is one of the best teams in the world. Unfortunately, the Water Polo team lost 9-8, but liked I said Hungary is a great team so that was a decent showing on our behalf.
After the game the staff went out to dinner in Old Belgrade. After getting caught in a torrential down pour, we drove downtown to a beautiful part of the city. It is all cobblestone streets and has a very “European” feel to it. The buildings are some of the oldest in the country and it has so much personality and charisma. The restaurant we went to is called Three Hats and it is the oldest restaurant in the city. The décor is of a traditional Serbian house and there are musicians who play traditional Serbian music. The Serbian food was delicious! We had salads, baked beans, a cheese and meat plate as appetizers – all Serbian style of course. For the main dish we had a mixed meat plate that had different types of beef, fish, chicken. I am not a huge meat eater, but it was delicious. I was still full when I woke up this morning!
Cao!
JULY 2 Cao,
I have been very busy here in Serbia the last few days. I have a lot to share with you!
This past Tuesday was the flag raising ceremony for the United States. They do this prior to the opening ceremony. As each team arrives they schedule a ceremony for their flag to be raised in front of the University Village. There are 4-6 countries that share a time slot for the ceremony. I was in the meeting to pick a time for flag raising ceremony so I made sure that we were schedule with Greece. My father was Greek so the ongoing joke is me having to do everything and be everywhere the Greeks are. The other countries who were present during our flag raising ceremony were: Italy, Estonia, Lebanon, and Slovakia. Each flag was raised and the FISU Anthem was played. It was a moment that made me proud to be an American and was really cool to be a part of. 
Later that night some of us from the US Delegation were invited to an event at the German embassy. It was a very special event. The facility was beautiful and everyone was very welcoming. I got to meet the Ambassador and his wife and there were many dignitaries from around the world who were present. The German food and beer was delicious! They also had all of the athletes take the stage and put on a “talent show”. The German Taekwondo team got on stage and performed some of their moves and the Men’s Basketball team did some free style rapping which was hilarious. It was a great event and I felt so honored to be there! When would I ever again be able to go to the German embassy?
Yesterday, Wednesday, July 1st, the US Delegation was invited to the FISU lunch, again I was honored to attend. All of the nations were present and waiting in line for food I met so many interesting people. I met a young woman from Zimbabwe who is competing in Athletics. She is one of only two athletes from Zimbabwe who are here at the games. It is just so amazing to be able to interact with such a diverse group of people while waiting in line to get lunch. Perhaps my favorite part of lunch was when the Serbian band they had played a cover of Steve Miller Band’s The Joker. It is amazing sometimes to experience the influence and reach that American culture has on other parts of the world. And vice versa.
Last night was also the Opening Ceremonies for the game. There was a lot of hurry up and wait but despite all of the waiting it was a great event. All of the delegations walked in a parade from the athlete village to the arena where the ceremony was held. People were lined the whole parade route and there was music playing and fans waving every nations flag. Inside of the arena they introduced each country and the selected flag bearer walked on the arena floor with the flag. Alexis Grey-Lawson from the Women’s Basketball team (she plays for Cal I believe) was the US flag bearer for the United States. It was a VERY long ceremony, but the end was spectacular. They had a floor, which was like a projection floor. For example, they would have performers pretending to row a boat and the image on the floor would be water and a ripple would appear when an “oar” would touch the water. Or a performer would pretend to throw a hammer and the image on the floor would look like cracked ground, in sync with the time when the hammer would hit the ground. It was awesome! Really impressive and my favorite part of the ceremony by far!
All of those events are great, but I am very excited to see some competition soon! The Women’s Basketball team is playing Serbia tomorrow and the Men’s Water Polo team is playing Hungary on Saturday and I hope I can make it out to those events!
Good night! JULY 1
Cao from Serbia!
The World University Games are getting under way and things are getting very busy here in the Athlete’s Village. So far the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams have arrived but the remainder of the teams will be joining us in the next few days.
The USA Men's Basketball team has played a few games already prior to the start of the World University Games. They have played both Canada and Serbia already and face off against Russia this evening. I went to the game against Serbia last night with a few of the other employees and the local attaches that have been assigned to us (attaches are the local volunteers who stay with us and help us throughout the games). The game was something special to see and the Serbian’s take their basketball very seriously! The place was packed and the crowd was very loud and rambunctious. I don’t speak Serbian but I know the guys who were sitting behind me were cheering very loudly and it was not for the US! Unfortunately, the US did not win that game but regardless it was a great game to watch for anyone who is a fan of the game.
Perhaps my favorite part so far has been meeting all of athletes from around the world that I would never be able to interactive with otherwise. The diversity of the athletes and the village is so inspiring. I know it sounds sappy and canned but seeing everyone from all parts of the world and such diverse backgrounds come together and participate in an event such as this is awesome. I was sitting outside of the USA delegation office and some of the men’s volleyball players from South Africa sat down and started talking to me. Where else would I be able to sit down with three young men from South Africa and discuss our thoughts on the election of President Obama and American politics? It was enlightening to speak with other individuals from such diverse backgrounds and get to understand their point of view.
All of the Serbians in and around the village are very friendly and helpful with everything. They also seem to think that I am Serbian as well. All of the Serbians I meet speak fluent Serbian to me and I have to smile and explain to them that I am American and am not at all fluent in Serbian. The attaches have been teaching me some Serbian, but they have been teaching me “slang” Serbian, so every time I say something to anyone in Serbian they laugh at me. My vocabulary is pretty limited but so far I can say: “How are you?” – Kako Si, “Good” - Dobro, “Bad” - Lose, “What’s up?” – Sta ima, “Nothing” - Nista, “Thank you” - Fala, “You’re welcome” - Molim, “Hi” - Cao, “I’m Chillin’” - Kuliram, and “Why?” – Zasto.
There, now you too can be laughed at when you try to speak Serbian to people!
Laku Noch – Good Night!
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