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 thinking much let slip with a comment that my work is in China and I'm here on holidays.  It wasn't any problem to say that in Vegas but all of a sudden this brought lots of looks on the plane and the guy beside me said, "Don't say that too loud bro".  Some jokingly covered their faces.

I had to make a quick save and lie that I was here over a month and 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.

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.  I could easily pass as an American but I'd be soon crossing the border into Vancouver Canada where I'm from originally.  It was a short wait for the shuttle bus.  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. 

I started freaking out at the border crossing.  The problem was that I had only been in the US for about 12 days which is less than the two weeks needed away from China.  They would surely grill me on my travel history and that's exactly what happened, it was one of the worst border crossings I can remember.