Swine Flu Quarantine

I am writing the first draft of this blog at 5 a.m. by flashlight with pencil and paper while the others are still sleeping in :)

We joked a lot before we left that we may get quarantined in Korea or China upon arrival because we knew they were screening incoming passengers for H1N1 flu. Considering that Kevin, Kiana and Debi all had coughs and Kevin had a runny nose, we thought it was possible that they would detain us.

Before we landed in Korea and China, we did need to fill out health questionnaires - asking if we had specific flu symptoms. Entering false information could lead to 1 year imprisonment or a $5000 fine. We were honest and checked off that we all had coughs.

In Korea, after making it through the first quick temperature screening, they did pull us aside for additional questions - "Are you taking any medications for this cough?" "How long have you had the cough?" and "Are you staying in Korea?" And they took our temperature again. Then they let us go.

In China, all passengers had to stay on the plane while they did a temperature check of everyone - laser to the forehead. We also had to fill out more specific questionnaires, including our seat # and where we were going in China. After we got off the plane, we had to pass through a health checkpoint. We got pulled aside immediately because we were Americans. We saw a nice woman who took our temperature again, gave us information written in Chinese about the H1N1 flu (wonder what it says???), and let us go on.

So here we are....