Can I Share a story and a photograph about my first time traveling abroad?
Leading up to my trip to Beijing in 2009 I’d seen tons of headlines that talked about how Beijing was quarantining travelers who had a temperature right at the airport. I couldn’t help but wonder, would I be quarantined? Did that mean being confined to an international hospital? A hotel? A local hospital? Would they speak English?
It was easy to focus on all the negatives…
I was nervous on the flight, something that wasn’t helped by the passenger next to me who told me he designed the landing gear and we’d be the last to die if something went “wrong”.
Really, guy? We’re flying over the arctic circle…
Every time I thought about the word “quarantine” I pictured 28 Weeks Later. You get quarantined to keep from infecting others, right? But in the movies the people who get quarantined usually have some life-threatening infection.
There were a handful, maybe 3, other people on the plane who were coughing constantly throughout the 14 hour flight. Surely being confined to a plane with other sick people put us all at risk of creating something more sinister than Swine Flu. Maybe Swine Flu Version 4.0.
When we got there it hadn’t really hit me that I was on the other side of the world yet. I was still worried about being “cleared” to enter the country. I handed my passport to a woman with neatly bunned up hair wearing a surgical mask. Then I walked through the temperature gauge just like everyone else. No trouble.
The next thing I saw took my breath away.
It was the airport. I immediately felt awe struck at how beautifully laid out it was, how symmetrical, shiny, open and majestic it felt walking through.
Here’s a picture:
I was on my first trip outside of the United States, save for Canada, at the mercy of a foreign country, its people, their customs, their food, and their government. I couldn’t just go back.
This view was exactly what I needed to ground me. How could you not want to write a story about this place?
Just wanted to share because, while Shitty Beijing Bike is fiction, it was inspired by the majestic beauty of the real China I spent 4 months in!
Will Ruff is currently working on completing his book Shitty Beijing Bike. Which if you’re interested you can be apart of the focus testing he’s putting on right now by visiting the following the link: http://shittybeijingbike.
About Will Ruff
Will Ruff is a writer for Rookerville from Austin, Texas, where he fails at launching startups, writing books, recording music, and otherwise. He's a raconteur at heart and filmophile and soon-to-be self-published author.
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