Welcome to the USA !

We made it to the US - but not without adventure.

I'm writing this Blog from Oakdale, California. It is about a 2hr drive east of San Francisco. Yesterday was the coordinated arrival of my wife & I from Wuhan, China and my two adult children from London.

Wuhan International Airport - now it's big, but very empty ! One restaurant that does Rahmen Noodles - not much else. One Duty Free. Lots of gates, lots of space - very few peo

ple or flights!

We were checked in and through immigration & security within about 30mins! Great, but now 2hrs to kill and nothing to do but eat noodles.

Flight over for us was uneventful, but a clear difference between Chinese & Western service. All drinks, including Cola, Beer etc. were served warm and ice ran out half way through the flight !

Now - the same comment about uneventful can't be made for my kids. Their United flight from the UK landed OK - in fact actually a little early - they even made the gate OK. This is where it gets interesting. What they say happened then was a rude awakening to life in the US.

The doors were opened and they were stormed by US Police - as my daughter said - with guns as big as she is (and she's almost 6ft). Probably an exaggeration, but if you are not used to guns that will be the perception.

They got told over the intercom to put their hands up ! - including the Children. If the Children cried, they were shouted at to shut up. Like that's going to work - a man with a gun shouting at a 10 year old to be quiet ! There were people in tears, some on the edge of panic attacks.

The aircraft restrooms were searched - door kicked in, gun raised & ready to shoot - just like a house storming action you see on the TV!.

They then all had to leave - taking nothing - hands up, being watched by the Police with their guns. Once off the plane, they were kept in a sealed area, that also meant no restrooms - I don't know about you, but that's the most common need at the end of a long haul, especially if you're scared ! They were told to carefully reach into their pockets and pull out their phones - while being watched by the a policeman with gun drawn. They were lent against the wall, spread eagled and searched.

Then - with completely no rhyme or reason, orders being barked at them by the police, they are let back on in small groups to collect their things. You would have thought Women & Children first to ease the life of the tired and scared but no - to difficult that.

For the people waiting - all we had on the boards were 'In Customs'. No advice and how long a delay or why.

Eventually my son gets an email stating the reason was a Credible Security Threat ! They say they were looking for feedback - but the email came from a no-reply account !

Welcome to the USA !

#Travel