Devon Winrick

December 7th Korla, Xinjiang

On December 7th our adventure in Korla continues. The big event that night is a dinner with family and friends as an introduction of our marriage.

Although I did not take pictures, the first thing we did was go visit some of my wife's friends. A couple blocks away in a big apartment building (with the lights off in the hallways, as usual), we ventured up to their floor. I didn't want to take a bunch of pictures of their apartment, but I snapped one - their Christmas tree!

Their apartment was really nice. People buy them, and then customize them with their own floors, ceilings, lights, etc. I guess it's like a condo.

I got to meet a couple families in that building that were close to my wife. One guy invited me to play an arcade game with him, and despite the language barrier we figured it out and had a great time.

Afterward we explored a market just outside the apartment buildings. At this point I still hadn't thought of the idea of writing a blog - so sorry about the lack of pictures - but I did grab a couple of the most important things. Kitties and cars.

Shortly after I spotted a group of wild dogs. You can see they've formed a pack.

You'll notice on the left of the fence is a card with pictures of two men. Those are the local party members that you can contact if you need to.

Then up next, of course, more food.

It wouldn't be a visit to China without using the squatty-potty, so I tried it. This was my first time using this kind of bathroom.

I was really worried I'd fall over backwards. If not that, then shit on my pants by accident. Luckily neither of these things happened. I will say it's a bit of a workout. You feel really refreshed after you poop this way because it's basically a mini workout.

It's rare for humor to transcend language boundaries.

Sorry to go from pictures of a bathroom to pictures of food, but here's our lunch.

This dish here you "make" yourself - you take the cooked meat, put it in the bun, add some spice and some vegetables.

Shrimp arrived soon after.

Walking home I noticed this car. People don't really customize their cars in China - it seems it's pretty illegal - but they do put stickers on them.

I suppose these folks are Resident Evil fans.

To wrap up the day - here's the hall where we'd have our dinner.

I must say, it was really amazing. A couple people I met spoke pretty good english and we got to talk a lot about China, and I think I made a couple friends.

My father in law introduced me to everyone, in Chinese, while I smiled and nodded. I felt kind of silly, but they all got a kick out of it. Evidently I did a good job.