Trouble Over the Pacific

We had some trouble over the Pacific. Not engine trouble -- thank God for that. Travel by plane is among the safest methods available per mile traveled. Someone came down with flu-like symptoms in a region of the globe where swine flu is a real and present danger. I managed to get an aisle seat over the wing on the right hand side of the plane: seat 32H. After we touched down, a team of about a half-a-dozen medical personnel boarded the plane wearing medical blue shower caps, surgical smocks, facial masks, and surgical gloves. The hovered helpfully around a seat located behind the wing and to the left. The flight attendants handed out sheets of paper requesting the names, seat locations, contact information, and itineraries of the other passengers. We passed back the sheets to the medical attendants before we were allowed to leave the plane.

Before I left to China, I had to get a visa. While I was getting the visa through a visa service, I was emailed an extension question from the Chinese Embassy: where have you been in the previous month? The paperwork upon entering Canada had the same question. I wasn’t asked these questions last year. The paperwork passed around by flight attendants contained the same question. It is apparently designed to help backtrack the spread of infectious disease. It is likely that this event will make travel across borders more difficult for the next several months.

Note to self: buy some pocket Purell while I’m in Hong Kong. Use generously.