Once getting onto that plane from Vegas to Bellingham it was like stepping into a different world.  The first thing to notice was that everyone on the plane was white, including myself, and that was a culture shock having lived in Asia for so long.  I got talking to some guy on the plane, and without really thinking I let slip with a comment that my work is in China and I'm here on holidays. 

That was a bungle and a half and it brought lots of looks on the plane.  The guy I was talking to said, "Don't say that too loud bro".  Some jokingly covered their faces, or maybe not.

I had to make a quick save and lie that I was here for over a month.  Another woman said, "Don't worry, he's good" after that comment.  News of the coronavirus was spreading fast and the US was trying its best to stop people entering from China, in fact it was already happening.

The airport in Bellingham was very small and I bought some lunch while the people said "Welcome home" and congratulating me on the trip to Vegas.  It was a short wait for the shuttle bus outside.  Once on the bus, I got thinking too much about that plane conversation as well as recent news headlines about the US banning travelers from China due to the coronavirus.  All of this was bad news because it then got me nervous about the Canadian border and what I was going to say.

The fact of the matter was that I had only been in the US for about 12 days.  This is less than the two weeks where they say you need to be away from China in order not to be a carrier with this virus.  In other words, I might actually have the virus and be spreading it without symptoms.

Based on all this, the border agents would surely grill me on my travel history and that's exactly what happened.  Long story short, I did not handle it very well.  It was one of the worst border crossings I can remember and I'll spare the details. 

The good thing was that I eventually got through and there was no quarantine.