In search of the lingua franca

I'd forgotten how daunting this is, sitting in the living room at home. Last evening, standing in my sweltering hotel room with the housekeeper, I was reminded of that reality-not that air conditioning is a necessity of life, but it would have been uncomfortable to do without it. The window in my room looks out into the courtyard, which is lovely, but the only way to get air is to open the window leaving full access to my room. Knowing that, I asked for help at the front desk, and this resulted in me standing there with the housekeeper. I speak no Chinese, except I know how to say thank you (this provokes a chuckle every time so probably I'm butchering it). The housekeeper speaks no English. And the remote is

After a lot of button pushing by both of us, air began to flow and I used my one word of Chinese. Today I shall endeavor to learn another word.

Fortunately for me, the areas of Beijing I'm likely to be in have a few signs in English for main streets, which is the only reason I was able to find my hotel. The subway is well signed, and announcements are in both Chinese and English. I felt a little overwhelmed upon coming up to the street at the station trying to find my bearings. Unlike many places in the world, people didn't stare, and I saw a few street signs in English so was able to figure out which direction to head. Of course, all this involved several minutes of wandering back and forth, pack on my back, map in hand, looking like the lost tourist I was. No one said anything, nobody approached me, and I felt, oddly, no risk in behaving so obviously lost. Several blocks later, there was my hotel, right where the map said it would be.

I chose this place in part because it is in an area of the city that still retains some of the hutongs from the old Beijing neighborhoods, but alas, progress has come to Shi Jia Hu Tong and there is construction all up and down the narrow little street.

Last night's dinner was an exercise in patience for the waitress. She patiently guided me with gestures and pointing what to do. You first establish a place at a table, all of which are shared with others. Then you review the menu, which importantly for me, has photos. So I ordered by pointing, she entered the order in a handheld electronic device, and then she directed me up to the counter to pay. Once that was done, I went back to my table, which I shared with a man who was alone, and a three person group that appeared to  be grandmother, mother and son, although I could not verify. We also shared no common language, so the only word I got to use was- you guessed it- thank you. Xiexie sounds to me like she-she, although given that Chinese has a lot of tonal distinctions, who knows what I am really saying? But people seem to get the intent, and they smile and say it back.