It is true that I have been stalling the updates of the blog, given that I am actually a guy with so much indoor time to spend. Believe it or not, it feels nice to have someone egging you on that pushes you back on course after an unofficial hiatus. This letter was written to recount the events happening between the 9th of March to the 15th, just for the record and the sake of confusion avoidance.
The Coronavirus - The Reactions
Starting months ago, there was an outbreak of a RNA virus that emerged from a market in the Wuhan area, in China (citation needed). Some people have been keeping an eye on it ever since its first days of emergence, while more people around the world were still more or less unaware of what was going on in the neighboring room. Who would then thought, that such a virus with only flu-like symptoms in most cases would wreck the society on such a large scale?
I certainly don't know about the disease to the extent that I will be able to doll out a whole essay about this topic, and even with such a narrow reader base, I don't want to put down more misleading information conjured up through my so-called half knowledge, so I would rather just remark how my family and friends processed the understanding of this disease.
On my family's side, we talked about the disease as a topic to brush through in the beginning, and since it was also the time when I was (trying to) put my entire focus on the marketing project, we didn't really talk much in general, but my mom told me that some people are already getting anxious about the disease because of the preceding SARS outbreak that happened just a couple of years before my birth; we told each other to take care. Then the disease started to spread, rather discreetly and efficiently until the first few confirmed case in south Italy. The coverage of this piece of fact had yet to be so wide in Taiwanese media, so I was the one who told my mom about the confirmed cases in Europe. Still then, the one eye trained on the topic of the illness was more or less half-closed. That was also the time when Jackey, his friend Jason, and I were talking and organizing the trip to Czech Republic after the block was over, and the solo adventure to Bordeaux I was planning to take on myself. All plans were still on right then.
Then, all prospects (that I employed to motivate myself to work through the block) about the Easter break went down in flames. The spreading of the virus was way faster in Europe due to the general low concern level people had over there, but my family became highly alert when the U.S. president are blocking the flights coming from Europe. My family decided that it was the sign that omened the escalating situation might have become too risky for me and Eliza to stay. With the upcoming holidays in the mix, we were requested to return home to stay out of the path as a spectator from afar.
My friends, on the other hand, have more varied opinions. My friends in Taiwan, who have had the same/similar stance as my family, have shown concern about the situation there in Germany, and one of the caring friends, namely Cathy, had even threatened me into wearing a mask for half a day, and that drew a lot of concerned glances from my dorm mates (a hilarious scenario though). They also sounded relieved that I was coming back, but also did they voice their concerns that I might already be contracted by the disease. As for my friends in the dorm, some were trying not to look too anxious about the disease but still asked me where I got my masks (I got them back in the previous September when I first came here; a mindless decision that turned out to be a good one) and guys like Johannes were initially brushing off any comments that indicated the potential severity of the virus, but you could observe a certain level of conceding and see how the opinions became more conservative. Still, it's never too late to change opinions. (Note: Johannes still gives a mocking frown whenever I wear a mask but it's done in a friendly way; I'm assuming it's something European) The Taiwanese guys in the dorm have been discussing about the possibilities of going back to Taiwan as well, and we ultimately decided that we were to head back together for the sake of having company. Aliang, the only girl in the Taiwanese group, had to stay due to her visa problems, sadly.
We eventually had our flights booked, but that would be something for the next week.
But what do I think? Frankly, I would rather stay in Germany than coming back. Not that I dislike the idea of coming back to Taiwan, but I was already prepared to stay in Germany until the summer break, and maybe my perceptions were altered living in an environment with not exactly a high awareness of the illness and its repercussions, and therefore I was not as worried compared to Yu, Jackey, and the other Taiwanese guys. Also I had doubts about the risk of coming back, more specifically, the question "What if I already am contracted by the virus?" surrounds this issue more than I recognized it then. We were told not to be worried about the virus, for we, as people from the younger, healthier generations, are far less likely to die from the Coronavirus, but I sometimes asked people what they think about having the possibility to pass on the virus to people who are in the high-risk group, infecting them with something of menace that might actually be fatal for them. No one would want to see that happen.
The Changes in Life
People decided that it was a good time to store some tissue papers. And flour became the next target, followed by meat products. That explained why most of them mentioned products are gone in the supermarkets. You can see how the products on shelves are swept away by a hoard of people feeling unsure about the sources of food for the coming month. People complained about the shortage as the stores must have been struggling to keep up with the rising demand. Doctors who are still in medical school as well as the retired ones are called to the workforce to enhance the number of people available to help with the situation.
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| People trying to get some wheat flour but with no luck. |
Fellow flatmates have decided, one by one, to go back to their own country and that included most of the Taiwanese people I have met in Germany, even though a fourteen-day quarantine awaits us back in Taiwan (which is what I am enduring at the moment)
Last week, I was still trying to come to terms that I would be leaving for Taiwan once again after mere three months, and I wanted to bring some more memories back, despite the consequences of being scolded by my mom. Was I not thinking it through? Not really. I really wanted to do something. Was I being disobedient and rash? Maybe. Yes.
Riding bikes (as opposed to taking public transport) with Johannes to the city museum, we spent some two hours going through all the paintings, china, other artifacts, perhaps spending more time in the archaeology section. My mom called to ask me about how I planned to head over to the airport, and I told her that I would be going by train, in which I would be wearing a mask and so on. I casually (and accidentally) mentioned my whereabouts without the knowledge that it would trigger a full-fledged, ten-minute lecture on my lack of concern for the disease. Johannes forcefully coughed next to me, from which I promptly dashed away so that my mom would not hear it. She demanded that I return home and take a "bacteria-killing" shower, to which I answered with a "yes"... which I didn't do right away.
By the way, this part is something my mom still doesn't know, so let's hope that she doesn't happen to pull up my website out of the blue and find out what really happened.
The guys planned that we would be going to the river bank for a lazy afternoon after the museum, so I went along, determined to enjoy the day to the fullest. (Very stupid decision, I know.)
Johannes and I went to an outdoor café and had something alcoholic while waiting for the other boys to show up. It was a guilty but a relaxing afternoon, after all.
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| I got white wine. |
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| People here really are less alarmed by the virus. |
End
Figured that this is my first time mentioning of the virus on my blog; might as well give it its brightest limelight. Next week will be my return and the beginning of my quarantine days.
Later!
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| Spending one of the evenings in the quiet school library; was a miracle that the security didn't come for us. |
Sincerely,
Hugo
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