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While the Chinese were honored to have two teams of American professional baseball guests in their capital city -- and treated them like royalty from the moment they arrived -- they were a bit skittish whenever players wanted to “go against the schedule” and venture out on their own.
Anytime any of the players tried to leave the hotel on their own, appointed “guides” would tag along with them. It became a game after awhile for the players to see how quickly they could shake their guides and be truly on their own (with Andrew, ironically, as one of the ringleaders during these times). But the guides were a determined bunch, sometimes even trying to get physical, if that were possible, to keep the players from going down certain streets, etc.
On one brisk afternoon, Zarzour and a few of his buddies decided to head out for a bite to eat “on the town.” The exhibition games were over and the season opener was just a few days away. There was time to kill and everyone was feeling loose and looking for a little fun. Zarzour’s group, after dropping their guide, happened upon a neat street full of cafes, shops and little restaurants, buzzing with activity and mostly young people. Andrew looked up at set of tables near a popular rice-noodle stand and was amazed by what he saw -- something he certainly did not expect to see on a side street in Beijing, China.
Someone was wearing a North Carolina Tar Heels windbreaker. The richness of the sky blue jacket stood out immediately against the mostly drab colors that everyone else was wearing. And the interlocking “NC” on the jacket was unmistakable for his hometown team.
But the person wearing the jacket wasn’t Chinese. She was most definitely an American, in her mid-20s, with curly light brown hair, with a hint of red intertwined. She had bright green eyes, fair skin, a hint of freckles beside her nose and an infectious smile. Someone at her table must have said something funny, because her whole face lit up and she let out a joyous laugh, again quite a contrast to the rather subdued environment around her.
Zarzour couldn’t keep his eyes off of this woman wearing a jacket from the college he nearly attended on a basketball scholarship. She was … well, if Zarzour was being completely honest with himself, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life…
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