Just arrived

The plane ride from NY wasn't as bad as we thought it'd be. 2 hours to Chicago then 12 to Beijing. The airline made some lofty promises for their entertainment segment announcing they'd be showing 6 different movies-- so its a long haul but at least we'd have a decent diversion right?...they ended up showing two-- one of them three times (Mr. & Mrs. Smith).
So we get to Beijing around 230pm and jump in a cab. Not to sound egocentric but we truly thought English would be spoken here. But our instructions of "Far East Hostel...Xuanwu district?" only garnered a polite smile. Made us a bit nervous, but we pulled out a map and just pointed to Tian' anmen Square, figuring it would be closer to our destination than the airport and we'd try to find our way from there. Midway through the 45 min car ride (120 yuan= $15) we got our heads together and thought to call the hostel with our cell phone and have them instruct the cabbie. Worked brilliantly.
Accomodations were decent. Quaint, clean, only 4 to a room. We were thoroughly beat from the flight so just showered and took a nap. Got up to search for dinner finding a lone outdoor cafe, with no foreigners around-- I could only imagine the dollar bill signs floating above our heads. ended up getting some meat on a stick-- dont know what kind of animal it came from, but it looked to be of the non-domesticated type (I really can't distinguish cooked meat, but we just want to convince ourselves). -- and I'm pretty sure we got taken-- 5 kebabs and some pork balls for 40 yuan-- which is only about $5 US, but for China that converts to "American suckers". But it being the first day, we're just trying to get a gauge of costs and how to haggle and hopefully we dont get pointed and laughed at the next time we walk away from a purchase transaction.
So, the first day, harmless and low-key. We start our adventure tomorrow.

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