Chinese might be a good language to pick up

Okay, I have a confession to make. Another reason why I created this blog is because I'm in China, and I'm waiting in my hotel room for the infamous Kunan to awake from his slumber. I arrived in Beijing yesterday, and I must say, if you don't speak Chinese, tough noogies. I was lucky enough to have my coworker, Cindy, pick me up from the airport. If she wasn't there, I'd probably still be driving in circles or quite possibly on my way to Mongolia.

My hotel room is pretty nice and modern. One obstacle that I ran into was of course, the language barrier. Within 5 minutes of walking into my room, the maid comes to my door asking me to fill out an inventory sheet. I had no clue what he was talking about and proceeded to say "wu bu zi dao" which means "I don't know." Ah, the joys of growing up with predominately Chinese friends does have its advantages. I hesitantly filled out the sheet (thank goodness numbers is an universal language), but as the maid left, he pointed to the fruit/snack combo on my table and said "mayo." Now I'm no linguist or Chinese translator, but I know "mayo" means "no" or "not have," so what he meant by that, I have no clue. Either those snacks are going to cost me a fortune, or the apples are made out of apple-flavored cardboard.

Upon my arrival I was starving like marvin. I decided to be adventurous and walk the streets of Beijing in search of some authentic Chinese food. Unfortunately, along with the authentic food comes the authentic language. I went into a local restaurant and again had the uncomfortable fumbling of introductions with native Chinese citizens. They politely sat me at a table, and I pointed to a few pictures on the menu, but yet again heard that word "mayo" after each dish. Not knowing how to speak or order anything in Chinese, I instead went to the local 7-11 and picked up a few trusty packages of instant ramen. How ironic that the very food I tell my dad to stay away from became my savior for the night, disguised in a neat, square packaged parcel. I have a feeling that mr. shin ramen and I are going to get to know each other quite well on this trip. Now may be a good time for me to expand my Chinese from the elementary, yet oh-so-funny "ni fang pee" to a few more working phrases. Okay enough of my rants, it's picture time. Here are a few shots of the palatial palace:

living room

kitchen

bedroom

bathroom

Oh yeah, one more thing before I go. The bathroom? All I have to say is that I feel like Richard Gere in American Gigolo.