We learned a lot in Hong Kong about wearing masks, using hand sanitizer, and how to travel around a crowded city during an epidemic. It was all new to us. We felt reasonably comfortable but we stayed on high alert at all times. We learned how to pass through doors as a group (one person opens door while everyone else goes through the door and then the person who opened the door uses hand sanitizer), how to walk stairs (no hands), and many other things - it was an experience that I’ll always remember.

Meals during the SARS epidemic were also different. We had a farewell dinner across the street from our hotel. It was a very nice place and we enjoyed the meal. When we sat down, I noticed that we each had two sets of chopsticks, a white pair and a black pair. I asked our guide why. The answer was that one set was for offloading food from the communal dishes onto our own plates and the other set was for us to eat our meal. The two sets of chopsticks was a SARS addition. The restaurant was a very large restaurant, which we had almost completely to ourselves. The dinner was perfect except for two things. I was served a chicken’s head. Being a lifetime member of the ‘clean plate club’, I couldn’t decide what to do. I eventually tried the chicken’s head. I bit it and it bit me back.

We boarded a morning flight for the start of our way back home. This flight was from Hong Kong to Tokyo and the flight was only half full. We were instructed to leave our face masks in place during the flight. Then, as soon as we were airborne, they served us a meal. Go figure. Vicky opted out but I held the line.

A SARS Postscript. We landed in San Francisco some thirty minutes before we left Hong Kong, due to time changes. The prior week, President Bush had passed a presidential order that allowed the government to quarantine people with or suspected of having SARS. We didn’t know what awaited us in San Francisco, coming from Hong Kong. What we saw as we deplaned at SFO were big signs about hoof and mouth disease and stopping its spread. We were handed a small information leaflet about SARS. Then, at the baggage rack, there was a television video playing and telling us all about hoof and mouth disease again and how important it was to stop the spread. We wondered if we were much more concerned about SARS than the rest of the country.

This is the end of this trip. We had a great time in China and learned a lot about a lot of things. It also gave me a lot to think about.