There are a whole lot of Chinese people here...

When I planned this trip, I thought the month in NZ and Oz would sort of break me into traveling and then I'd be ready for China.  In reality, NZ and Oz just spoiled me and I don't know that anything could have made me ready for China.

I traveled overnight and most of the next day to get here and I remember thinking that it was oddly fitting that the plane was completely full.  Maybe I should start getting used to the crowds!  I also had a moment on the plane (Malaysia Air wins best stewardess uniforms thus far) when I was given a sandwich to eat and I thought "I have no idea what this is, but I hope it is good."  This would also be foreshadowing my Chinese experience.

Somehow I got off the plane, on a bus, off a bus, and found a hostel.  Granted this took about 3 hours, I walked in circles and it was pretty hot, but I was just happy to have succeeded in the endeavor.  (Btw my room here costs a whopping $5.20).

Back home I spoke to a lot of people about China and the one topic that always came up was the food.  Chinese people inevitably went on and on about how great it was and Americans inevitably talked about how much weight they lost b/c they didn't eat.   I could never reconcile these two in my head but now that I'm here I get it.  If I were with someone who spoke Chinese I'm sure that I would eat like a king, since I'm not, I'm scared to eat anything.  The language difficulties, paired with the pure foreignness of the food, paired with concerns about not eating something that will make me sick, leave me sort of hovering and hungry.  I end up at mall food courts were the food is easier to understand but not that great.  (Imagine if I judged American cuisine based on mall food courts?)

Luckily, a guy from my hostel let me follow him to dinner last night and I had a heaping plate of noodles with beef (I think?) for a whopping $1.50.  Unfortunately, he probably wouldn't want me to eat every meal with him.  I'm hoping I get more used to everything and stumble upon some of the deliciousness that is the food here.  I have yet to break down and eat western fast-food but I fear the time is coming soon.  I passed an Outback Steakhouse today.....

Overall, Beijing is a difficult city.  It has giant, alienating 8-lane highways, it's extremely smoggy and dirty, and in my day and a half of wandering I never found any sense of cohesiveness or personality.  Getting off of the main roads into the little alleys and their little stores was interesting and I did some some amazing Ming dynasty architecture in the Temple of Heaven complex.  Tomorrow, Megan joins me and I'm looking forward to the Forbidden City, but I don't know that this will grow to be a city I love.  I'll keep you updated.