I Witness the Pandemic

The Great Scene of Rising Sun in the Morning[^1]

Introduction

A few years later I was to recall that distant time, as I wrote this post, when I enjoyed travelling in Japan but could not imagine how harsh it would be in the coming months.

(Please bear with me as I was just wanting to learn a little bit from Gabriel García Márquez and how to deal with the tricky grammar and tense.)

1 Peaceful Dawn before the Storm

The usual Spring Festival came once again in 2020, calling my plan to visit Japan for a whole week just before hearing the news about the lockdown in Wuhan, a big city in central China where more than 10 million population lived at that moment. At that time no one in my falimy would come up with an idea that this might last long even though it sounded like so severe based on the experience of SARS in 2003. We believed that we could cope with that.

Just a few days before we set off, my family only bought some casual face coverings. ‘Nah… It was impossible to buy as every surgerial mask was sold out.’ They said. During our journey to the international airport, we found that all staff of tube wore masks. Personally I was a bit worried but still looking forward to my travel. I thought everything would be fine after my journey.

2 Looking back Home in Japan

At the moment when I arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, it was really crowded at the waiting hall where people were standing around the arrival exit and the guides were happy to help visitors like us. We were so excited there. Google service, the most significant part of the Internet, could be accessed so I had been prepared for it with my smartphone.

Everyday I learnt about the news from China that there were significantly increasing cases of an unknown kind of SARS and finally people called it COVID-19. I felt stressful, eating much food. Japanese food was a kind of my favourite but it could not fill with my broken heart. My family contacted some members staying at home, who watched the house without going for travel just in cases. They said they were safe and grabbed some life essentials and face coverings, which became the most valuable essentials at that moment.

Obviously it was sad in some ways that people could have started defeating the pandemic earlier so that there would not have been so many doctors and nurses, who stayed in Wuhan with residents being lockdown, sparing no effort to help and support people. Some of them were killed by the pandemic and some were seriously ill due to infection, as what I knew about from news. Japan was so quiet and running as usual. We cared about ourselves and tried keeping social distance with tourists from China, which sounded ridiculous but it was said that a local guide in Osaka was infected because of a Chinese visitor in the same tour coach who might have carried the virus. We were so frightened, having no choice but just keeping social distance with them. Individually I knew it was quite shameful to do so but I did not know what I can do except that.

3 Face Coverings

Face coverings, surgerial masks and many related things were almost sold out at that moment when it was Spring Festival and obviously no one working in factories to produce masks. As we know, China was called ‘Factory for the World’ and she produced masks occupying reasonable propottion in the world. At the same time, Chinese all over the world actively supported people in China to defeat the pandemic so they bought as many face coverings and medical protective clothing as they could and donated them back to China, which was graceful but also consuming. As a result, medical essentials relating to the pandemic were in severe shortage, which greatly affected the whole world.

During that time people on the news were reported to worried about the shortage. Residents could not do anything without masks because on one hand they had to keep away from the virus. On the other hand, local governments and communities urged people to do so. Actually the former came first. No one dared to take risks. Some members of my family stayed at home and all day long kept our house safe. They were our home-fighters.

When it comes to my real situation in Japan, what I remember most is the time when I decided to travel back to Kyoto and seek for face coverings. I shared my idea with my family and they discussed for a while. Eventually they agreed and I told them to say in a superstore, which belonged to the largest supermarket company, AEON, in Asia. And then I went, travelling by trains.

I checked Google map beforehand and found a store located in Fujinomori so I tried taking an adventure. I felt an interesting feeling hard to describe when I hopped up the train, observing visitors with masks around me and then deciding whether to find another seat or not. My mother kept telling me to wear my face covering. ‘You don’t have to worry about it. That is essential for use.’ She said but I could not help going against her. I was conerning about the flight back home where we would really need to wear coverings.

It looked like a silent battle, where every tourist from China with masks was hunting for potential face coverings from supermarkets to convenience stores. Fujinomori was my last chance so I would try my best to keep it secret. (Until now when I am writing my post!) I pretended to be one of the locals and found another carriage to sit, just to avoid contacting too many international visitors. A lady sat behind me, which I found it so… interesting!? (Well you know in China no girl sit behind me.) Anyway, I stayed alert and paid attention to anouncement during the whole journey before getting off the train at Fujinomori Station. I felt some visitors quite confused noticing me but I was too worried to watch back to check whether it was really or not. Although I was in a hurry but stayed calm in my peaceful pace, walking towards where I wanted to get to.

The news had spreaded so fast. Arriving at the local store, I found there was a kind reminder printed on white paper, hung at the entrance, saying ‘Only one set of masks per customer’. I felt myself so stupid. I could have called my sisters coming with me. Anyway I grabbed my last chance and spent ¥110 for 5 face coverings. (I can’t remember the exact number now but it was cheap with its content compared to other kinds of masks.) And I went back, taking the same route of train, falling asleep before getting to the terminal.

In a word, I could have persuated my mother to buy sufficient face coverings in Tokyo just before the shortage but I was so stupid at that time. And my aunt was so stubborn and assertive that my mother, her senior sister, even gave up to her younger sister, choosing to waiting till we went to Osaka. However, as you readers know, everything was too late. No mask, no cheap mask, no surgerial mask. At that moment I was angry with my mother and complaining about her. Now I feel so guilty since at that time I was too silly and weak to say a word, to protect my family!

Thankfully after our flight was changed when they said so without any expectation in advance, we fianlly jumpped in to the plane back home. I did not know how to say it, escaping from or putting ourselves into hell. My mother said we had to go home because it was impossible to spend extra money staying further.

Face coverings, money, the pandemic. They eventually crashed into my daily life.

4 Lockdown

Once arriving back home, I felt ‘coming back’ like walking into a huge cage. Taxi drivers and guards were a bit alert about us as a piece of news reporting that a great number of people in Wuhan had escaped to surrounding areas and even further to overseas. We just explained that we finished travelling in Japan and came back. At least they believed us. Well, that was the last happy Spring Festival, followed by the long-lasting massive lockdown.

My college told me to stay at home and keep going with my courses online when it was my first time to use Tencent Virtual Meeting with my professors and classmates. Everyday there was new updates for the application.

I could not do physical exercise as usual but at home whilst I felt so stressful to eat a lot, getting overweight. Amazingly we did not have economic crisis as soon as possible at that moment. What we had to worry about was the places to buy essential supplies for daily life but it was not really a big problem in a big city, compared to some places in countryside as the news or rumours said, where the situation seemed to be quite severe and intense.

Young people were reacting so quickly and they well prepared unlike me, keeping persuading my family to take fast actions. At the very first few weeks we were really nervous about the face coverings and stayed at home as possible as we could. However, we needed something to eat so my mother insisted she go outside and do shopping as usual except for wearing a reusable, old-fashioned fabric mask. I just stayed at home really like a child without any independent ability awaiting life essentials, which was shameful to me.

Time flew fast. I stayed home for more than five months and finally was offered a placement by a company. At thay moment the most tough time had passed so the local economy was urging to re-open. I caught up the bus at that time, I think.

During that period of lockdown, I had a valuable chance to spend plenty of time that was absolutely more than usual studying how to use computers and surf the Internet. At the same time I learnt building my blog hosted on GitHub Pages, replacing my previously old blog, which was already abandoned due to her server shutting down.

Well. Therefore, here is a question: whether the pandemic and the lockdown is bad or, conversely, good? Now, I was thinking if I say ‘in a way it was good for me’ then there must be massive people voting against me and they must be so angry with my answer.

Anyway it depends individually.

5 Politics & Indoctrination among Ordinary People

Well, honestly this is a really tricky section that I was hoping not to talk about but I think it may be fine to discuss a little bit of it. The following thesauruses are propaganda², newspeak³, indoctrination⁴ & publicity⁵.

Thesauruses

Propaganda

noun

1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
2. the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.
3. the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement.

4. Roman Catholic Church.

   a a committee of cardinals, established in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV, having supervision over foreign missions and the training of priests for these missions.

   b a school (College of Propaganda ) established by Pope Urban VIII for the education of priests for foreign missions.

5. Archaic. an organization or movement for the spreading of propaganda.

newspeak

noun

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) an official or semiofficial style of writing or saying one thing in the guise of its opposite, especially in order to serve a political or ideological cause while pretending to be objective, as in referring to ‘increased taxation’ as ‘revenue enhancement’.

indoctrination

noun

1. the act of indoctrinating, or teaching or inculcating a doctrine, principle, or ideology, especially one with a specific point of view:

   religious indoctrination.

publicity

noun

1. extensive mention in the news media or by word of mouth or other means of communication.
2. public notice so gained.
3. the measures, process, or business of securing public notice.
4. information, articles, or advertisements issued to secure public notice or attention.
5. the state of being public, or open to general observation or knowledge.

Concisely it has changed while people are talking about the pandemic and trying to find the root of it. I think it has already become a political issue but not a scientific hypothesis so it may be no use to discuss further.

Eventually people are still seeking for the original place where the coronavirus outbroke. I know some people say it is Wuhan, China but academically it needs strong evidence and concensus. One of other opinions says it originated in United States ‘from a long time ago’, which also needs evidence and concensus. (And I can’t find any of them now but if I find any then I will attach them after the post.)

In a word, the most certain fact up to now is the first case reported and leading to the pandemic afterwards came from the seafood market in Wuhan, China.

Maybe ordinary people just do not really care too much about this issue but it has to be admitted that the indoctrination affects people without obvious notice from the beginning and when it breaks out, something terrible may happen. Or some of people would say it is ‘propaganda’.

The true thing is the pandemic deeply hurt our family, our neighbours, our friends and colleagues as well as the one you really care about and love.

You know, personally I feel scary when hearing people surrounding me coughing so hard. I know two of my flatmates who are young and active gentlemen sharing their wonderful time with their girlfriends. They coughed a lot during the Christmas, especially when they were dating with their ladies. Jesus Christ.

So what does this section want to talk about?

1. Politics has intervened in the process of science;
2. People are angry with and discriminate one another just because of different perspectives and opinions;
3. Governments, mass media, social media control the thoughts of people, especially who may be not able to critically judge information or may be affected by their own emotion.
4. etc.

6 Politics, Benefits & Vaccines

It is important and not wasting spaces of the post or your time to put these following thesauruses here.

Thesauruses

Propaganda

noun

1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
2. the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.
3. the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement.

4. Roman Catholic Church.

   a a committee of cardinals, established in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV, having supervision over foreign missions and the training of priests for these missions.

   b a school (College of Propaganda ) established by Pope Urban VIII for the education of priests for foreign missions.

5. Archaic. an organization or movement for the spreading of propaganda.

newspeak

noun

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) an official or semiofficial style of writing or saying one thing in the guise of its opposite, especially in order to serve a political or ideological cause while pretending to be objective, as in referring to ‘increased taxation’ as ‘revenue enhancement’.

indoctrination

noun

1. the act of indoctrinating, or teaching or inculcating a doctrine, principle, or ideology, especially one with a specific point of view:

   religious indoctrination.

publicity

noun

1. extensive mention in the news media or by word of mouth or other means of communication.
2. public notice so gained.
3. the measures, process, or business of securing public notice.
4. information, articles, or advertisements issued to secure public notice or attention.
5. the state of being public, or open to general observation or knowledge.

In a nutshell, it is significantly beneficial for medicine companies (and even governing sectors) to develop the vaccine and bring it into practice, which mainly secures the health of people, the reputation of related parties and the potential recovering economy.

So in my opinion, politicians, CEOs and folks have great hope on the vaccine. There are several vaccines relating to COVID-19. For example, people in England may often hear about some of them, which are Pfizer, Moderna and ‘Chinese Vaccines’.

Let us make it in short, in western countries Pfizer and Moderna are more popular and certainly effective to most of people and in China their self-developed vaccines are more popular and also effective. Two different groups of people can only choose one side of vaccines. The indoctrination in different countries educate their people to trust the vaccines governing sectors have chosen and purchased, which makes sense. And there is some kind of propaganda that is indicating other brands of vaccines are of suspision, not worth trusting and in fact it was reported that some of people died after being vaccinated. There are so many issues to investigate before simply putting a conclusion whether vaccines are effective or fake and dangerous. I am not going to talk about that too much.

People make their own choices, don’t they?

7 Tragedies & Inconvenience

The first thing we know about the pandemic is that coronavirus can kill people. I knew about one of my classmates at undergraduate kiiled himself during the severe pandemic. At that moment I was too shocked to react.

It seems that tragedies like the mentioned above happened frequently before I come to England. My friends said to me that they had some neighbours, friends and colleagues died because of the covid. I even saw a picture posted on WeChat Moments that a friend of my friend’s died soon after she was caught by covid.

Death, death and death. That was happening everyday in England during the most severe period.

When it comes to the inconvenience, I come up with the idea of wearing face coverings. It can in a way keep us safe but prevents us from looking at others’ face. Girl meets boy is like a lottery where people guess themselves lucky or not.

In some areas governing sectors require tracing codes to show when people are entering certain places like shopping malls, hospitals, banks, companies or so. Taking my experience as a example, Health Code is a interesting green QR code that really helps me after I step out of my flat. Everyone wants it green and never yellow or red. It is just like a symbol. I do not know how to describe it but some would like to say it is some kind of privacy breaker controlling residents. Well, it makes sense more or less.

Furthermore, like compulsory massive PCR tests, they are definitely annoying but people have to do that. In addition, many exciting events would be cancelled without any notice as they say so due to the pandemic. Besides those happening outside our houses, domestic hygiene is a day-to-day task for every member of a family which spends their efforts, time and money.

8 Economic Recession & Future

‘There is no economic crisis in Socialist China!’ Gay-gay Way says. (Terribly sorry but this is just a bad joke with a person who does not exist in real life and what they say which is fake.)

It is much harder to hunt for jobs one or two years after the initial outbreak of pandemic. The economic crisis in some kind may be coming. However, I am also noticing some of my classmates who have been offered good jobs like employees in local governing departments or large companies. It really depends and I think at least they are good student who really worked hard to obtain good marks at school so they deserve it now.

At the same time, some of them post some pictures showing they are driving cars, which is quite amazing. By contrast, I do not have one, taking bus and tube, which are worth millions of pounds but belong to the public! 😀

Graduate A has gained a safe position in the government. Graduate B has obtained a master student to read further. Graduate C has been unemployed for more than two years since their graduation. They all have a bright future.

9 Ocean & Waves

It was the first time when I travelled a long journey, which was ever longer than any other journeys I had travelled, from the Far East to ‘the centre of world’. Personally I think here is really the centre of world, where Prime Meridian is located. Many business events are held based on Coordinated Universal Time. It is nearly the same as Greenwich Mean Time, a standard invented in England.

The culture here originates from ocean, compared with another one which comes from land. UK historically explored the world by the sea, whose ships, vessels, destroyers and fighters travelling globally and building ‘the empire on which the sun never sets’. Her colonies were located broadly around the world, any part of which could be exposed to the Sun and that is why people called ‘the empire on which the sun never set’.

In terms of waves, they come from the ocean but can also come from the pandemic. During the first Christmas when I was living overseas, I stayed at home and avoid hanging out too much when it was reported by government that there would be the third wave of virus infection due to massive transport on the holidays. I felt safe at that moment while other students especially the locals were infected during a night event on campus. It led to a serious situation that lots of students had to self-isolate at accommodation on campus if they lived there. I was a volunteer during that time, being assigned piles of work to do. At the very beginning I worked hard to help and support them but some of them kept breaking rules and asking too much from me so I just rejected many of them afterwards. I had to protect myself before helping them throwing their potentially infected socks into the public landrette! Please forgive me, my Lord.

And then it turns to the New Year, approaching to the great March 2022, the very beginning of Spring in England. Infection is still a problem, even though we keep vaccinating people. Going pubs, holding parties at home… They can go crazy just for they have NHS. From Black Death to COVID-19, the nature has chosen those who are strong and energetic enough to stay alive in the real challenging world.

They are coughing, laughing, studying hard and playing crazy but I stay lonely.

10 Closing Words

I am not sure if I could say this section to be ‘conclusion’ because I have nothing concluded. I just try keeping casual and easy. This is just a post like a diary, more than nothing. (And I am more than nothing as well.)

Recently I have found it interesting travelling around where I live, which releases my stress. I can have a chance to waste my money and energy, occupying my time without thinking about sex and porn. More importantly, I focus on my work and life, every second, here, with the evil and lovely coronavirus.

God blesses Queen and England. God blesses us. God blesses you, and the poor me. 🐀

‘Take care.’

¹. This is a photo captured by Author. ↩

². https://www.dictionary.com/browse/propaganda ↩

³. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/newspeak ↩

⁴. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/indoctrination ↩

⁵. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/publicity ↩