Beijing was quite the adventure. My plane arrived 2 hours late, at 2am, and the cabby was still there waiting for me, which was nice. I was plannig to spend the night in the airport, but I am glad I got a real bed. The hostel was beautiful in downtown Beijing. It was an hour away from the airport and I was just exhausted by the time I got there. Then the hostel people wouldn't accept my US dollars as payment, and they had problems with my passport since I didn't have a visa in it. So eventually I got to go to sleep. I woke up early the next day to go off in search of the Bank of China so I could pay the hostel people. I wandered around lost for an hour, turns out I kept going the wrong direction out of the hostel. Eventually I figured it out and found the stupid bank, and got some rmb. Then since McD's was right next door, I stopped in for a much needed grease-ball breaky. Only $2 for an extra value meal, what a steal! Then I wandered around Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City for a while, until I was frozen solid. I had packed a nice mini skirt to wear in China, thinking it would be nice and warm. Was I ever wrong. It was -5C when I got off the plane. I had to buy a touque there because it was so so cold. Eventually I made it back to the hostel and to the airport, and home sweet home. I had a nice Christmas back home, though the weather is bizzar. There isn't even enough snow to ski!