[emacs] utf-8 files?

["Dan Bikle" <dan.bikle@gmail.com>]

Hi,

I'm running GNU emacs 22.0.50.1 on OS X 10.4.8

When I open a file with utf-8 characters in it,
they don't look right.

Does emacs have a command I can run which tells
the buffer to change its self so that it displays utf-8 characters correctly?

The way I work around this is sort of convoluted:

1. open a new and blank buffer
2. paste some utf-8 text [ from a browser usually ]
3. save

At this point, emacs asks me:

select coding system (default mule-utf-8)

The buffer behaves well until I shutdown emacs
and open the file a week later.

TIA,
-Dan