The Bay of Sick Pigs

One of Ben’s friends came to visit during the swine flu ‘pandemic.’ As an American, he was a potential virus carrier and destroyer of society’s precious health. The school and education bureau knew that he was visiting, but they were slow to act on it.
I understand the fear China has with any virus. With its dense population, a virus can easily spread, especially when the people do not wash their hands with soap. Hong Kong cleans more public places. Shenzhen, on the other hand, only uses a health form. I have yet to see any sanitation precautions. On each side of the border with Hong Kong, there are tables for more extensive questioning and health examinations. One of the health form checkers mistook the “M” in “Mainland China” as “Mexico,” so he sent a friend to more questioning. That woman read “Mainland” and not “Mexico,” and had a great look of ‘my coworker is so clueless.’ China needs to teach those checkers how to recognize countries in English.
Now back to Ben’s friend. After four days of him staying at the school, he was told to minimize his contact with the students. He already had attended classes and students wanted to meet the new foreigner. He was allowed to live in the dorm, eat with the teachers, and sit in the teachers’ office, which confused me. It was okay for him to possibly infect the teachers (who would thereby infect students), but it was not okay to be in direct contact with the students. He was also allowed to hang out with Ben and me, so he could possibly infect us, and we come in contact with the students. It seemed like a failed attempt to have complete control, like the rules were half-done.
I am proud to say that my school has no cases of swine flu. The only visible signs of precaution are temperature checks at the school gate and ultraviolet in the classrooms. The guards check everyone’s temperature with a temperature gun they point at your forehead. It is a new toy for those bored guards; I am glad they have some fun randomly pointing the gun at each other. At night ultraviolet lights are turned on to sterilize the classrooms.