This article comes from WeChat public account: Epoch Story House (ID: epochstory2017) , author: curator, from the title figure: Figure worm
The spread of the virus is faster than we thought. As of now, no province in China has escaped the spread of the virus, and confirmed cases have been reported in many countries abroad. The environment of panic has fostered prejudice and discrimination, but some warmth and nobility have also been shown. In any case, those Chinese who are overseas are more or less going through a different and usual period.
seven, Paris, France
“They all have strange eyes”
There must be discrimination. I have been in France for several years and I have never felt this kind of unfriendly before. Paris itself is a city with a lot of foreigners, so it has a high tolerance for different skin color races, but this epidemic made me feel some obvious differences. For example, the eyes of people around you will have some dodge or disgust, or they will obviously show some willingness to not continue to communicate with you.
European classmates around them will repost some of the fun food from the fast-handed on social media, such as eating live octopus, eating snake worms, rat ants, etc. This is the daily life of the Chinese in their eyes. Of course, I have good friends around me who are very familiar with me and kind, knowing that I am not eating like that, and I do n’t need to explain anything to them. But I have no way to forcefully explain something to someone I am not familiar with, and I feel very weak.
I will also talk about this with my friends, who quoted a news headline from the local media “Corona virus revives Nazi and racial discrimination in France” “> Roughly that) ,Can be regarded as a media attention to this phenomenon.
I went to the subway two days ago, and a lady was very drunk. She kept telling me in French, “I’m not a racist, I like Chinese.” People around her kept drinking. The incident itself is very delicate, because it happened in the environment where discrimination already existed, and her confession seemed to be a bit confusing. Of course, she was just drunk.
This is pretty good. A few days ago, there was news that the Chinese were kicked off the subway because they wore masks. Because France does not have the concept of “wearing a mask to prevent viruses”, they would think that wearing a mask means that they are infected and they are patients. Therefore, some Chinese overseas students have launched an activity on the Internet, which is mainly a photo of themselves wearing a mask on po , Claiming that you are protecting yourself and others, not the virus itself. There are also quite a few people involved in this.
Chinese who participate in activities online, not me
But it ’s not easy to buy a mask. I went to a pharmacy the other day and did n’t speak. The salesperson told me directly that all the masks had been sold out—when she saw that I had an Asian face, she knew that I was here of. The masks around the world may now be swept by Chinese. I bought it on the Internet, and one paid no attention. The price has increased five times and ten times, and it is still very out of stock. Now I feel some social pressure, and I do n’t even wear a mask or go out. Moreover, France has recently struck, and schools have also been closed. I think all Chinese are waiting now, waiting for all this to pass.
Sun, Minnesota, United States
“I feel more discrimination comes from the Chinese circle”
I’m from Wuhan.
I went home once during the Christmas holiday. At that time, I had heard some vaguely.According to the news of new pneumonia, I started to wear a mask when I went out, but at that time, I was far from expecting that it would develop so severely today.
I returned to the United States in January. The process of returning to the United States was accompanied by an outbreak. After returning to the United States, I started to have some mild cold symptoms, and it was getting better soon, but I was a little scared in my heart and decided to take the initiative to take a test.
I felt a little different when I was testing. Many hospitals in the United States have vomited, and it takes a lot of patience to seek medical treatment. Generally, you will need to fill in a list and wait. But after hearing about where I came from that day, the list didn’t let me fill out, and pulled me directly to the single room for a short time to isolate it. The doctor came to me for testing after he was fully armed and protected. The process of waiting for results seemed to be three days, and those three days were quite anxious.
Because in the United States, this detection system is not particularly complete, so I inquired about this in advance with the people around me, so that the matter of going to test soon spread. Discrimination and stigma also came at that time, and many came from the Chinese circle itself. Like us, in fact, there is a Chinese dinner in the Chinese New Year every year, which is regarded as New Year’s Eve. But this time, I received a call from the organizer, noting that I didn’t want me to participate. And my residents upstairs were prevented from attending, and they were a little bit blamed for my dragging them down.
Actually, I am a bit angry, because I do n’t have any obvious symptoms. Taking the initiative to test is also a responsible attitude to everyone. How can I blame me for dragging them down instead? I don’t want to have an outbreak in my hometown.
It seems that it is not just me who is suffering this alone. Hubei friends in the United States seem to be more or less required to be tested by people around them-even if they have returned to the United States from the country very early, theoretically infected The probability is very low. Even in school, someone from Hubei will report anonymously. In the mood of panic, some people feel irrational.
Foreign friends are more friendly. Colleagues from the United States and India, for example, will comfort me and ask me if there is anything in my family that can help me. Of course, they will also criticize the inaction of the local government, which may have something to do with their political ideas.
Records of Chinese friends in the circle of friends
I’m really worried about home. The family is currently in a state of not going out at all, and the materials are generally good, but they are worried about their mental condition. My mother called me that day and cried for a long time. I understand that she is too stressed. Every day, she sees news that someone has been diagnosed and even died not far from herself, and she doesn’t know when it will end completely, but she is desperate.
I hope now that after the epidemic is over, the US entry ban will be lifted as soon as possible. I want to take my family to the United States to relax, and by then, they must really relax.
Julianna, Birmingham, UK
“Chinese international students have spontaneously organized a group to report peace to each other”
I work in Birmingham, and the situation here is okay. Because of my working relationship, my colleagues around are British natives. They are more of a pity and sympathize with everything that our country is going through. . Then I will take the initiative to ask the current situation in my country. I heard that during the Spring Festival, Chinese people ca n’t go out and can only isolate themselves at home, expressing their regret.
But the United Kingdom is indeed a case of discrimination during the epidemic. Today in a group in Sheffield, I saw that on January 31, a Chinese girl was maliciously attacked by three people because she wore a mask at school. In fact, there are people with racial discrimination and colored glasses in various cities in the UK. They may be malicious to Asian countries themselves. After this epidemic, they will use this as an article to conduct malicious attacks and discriminate against foreign students. Not only international students, maybe you are Asian face, he will be discriminatory.
I think that if someone makes a discriminatory statement against you, then you can refute it loudly, especially if there are passers-by around you, the louder you are, the better, let the people around you know what you are going through, this person Why attack you. Because most British people have this kind of awareness of maintaining freedom and fairness and anti-discrimination. If you say this aloud, they will help you, but many Chinese students just dare not speak out and generally endure.
My graduate student, my hometown is Hubei. It has been one year since I started studying abroad.I have n’t been home for a while, and now I work part-time in a cosmetics counter in the centre of Nottingham. Her mood is also stable, although someone in the family has been isolated. We also discussed the epidemic on January 31, and she wanted to write a note of “China’s fuel” and paste it next to the counter, telling everyone what is happening, encouraging international students, and encouraging Chinese people.
I added a “Central England News Group”, which was established by international students in the central region of England. This group was established very early because there are indeed some international students who return to the country when they are on the Christmas holiday in the UK and then Christmas After the holiday, I returned to the UK to continue my class. This period happened from the end of December to mid-January, when the situation in Wuhan was more serious. International students staying in the UK are also very worried about whether there is a case of Wuhan students coming back with fever symptoms but not reporting, so this group was established, and everyone helped each other to remind each other. I remember there was a classmate who returned from Wuhan at Nottingham at that time and did not dare to go to the hospital for fever symptoms and stayed in the dormitory. The students in the group are worried about his safety and hope that he can take the initiative to contact the NHS (UK National Medical Service System) The problem went home.
Actually, life in the UK is still normal. Chinese international students do pay more attention because international students know how serious the situation in the country is and they wear masks. I paid attention to this news earlier. On January 19th, I reminded my family members to pay attention to the epidemic situation. The British actually do n’t have the habit of wearing a mask. It ’s difficult to buy a mask at a drugstore facing the street. I myself placed an order on Amazon on the 22nd, and the situation is getting worse. The masks are out of stock. For example, I bought some more, but they were all pre-ordered, and they probably arrived in early April.
I can still take a more rational look at the epidemic, maybe because my family is not in the severely affected area, and I have fewer Chinese people working from Monday to Friday during work hours. The British do not have this sense of tension, so my life is still the same. Some colleagues will be curious to ask if I can eat bats. I will patiently explain to them that this is not a common behavior in China, but the behavior of eating game is also did exist. I hope to tell them the facts as objectively as possible and let them know about China. The British misunderstanding of the Chinese may be caused by the mismatch of information. I hope that it will affect some British people around me, so that they do not look at China with colored eyes. This is something we Chinese should do during the epidemic.
Oli to Japan, Hokkaido
“Not a country is facing, don’t be afraid, let’s cheer together.”
I am studying in Hokkaido. Hokkaido has just confirmed a new crown patient. Although the Chinese New Year is also looking forward to returning to China, we dare not go home or return home during the Chinese New Year.
On January 28, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan issued this confirmation notice, meaning that a female tourist from China has been infected with the new coronavirus in Sapporo, reminding everyone to take precautions.
(Source: Sapporo Administration Website http://www.city.sapporo.jp/hokenjo/f1kansen/2019n-cov.html)
Hokkaido is not big, let alone Sapporo. The same person was in a small place in Sapporo. As soon as news of the confirmed case came out, masks and alcohol disinfectants were almost out of stock, and then began to restrict purchases.
Sold out notice posted in a shop in Kita-ku, Sapporo on February 1st: “I’m very sorry, the masks and disinfection products in this shop are all sold out at the moment. The next purchase time is to be determined.”
Chinese international students are busy buying masks from various channels and sending them back to China. The masks at offline stores are basically sold out. There are also masks purchased from various e-commerce channels in Japan and sent back to China to support their ancestors.country. Chinese international students have a high awareness of overall protection, and they canceled gatherings and gatherings. They also wore masks consciously.
Japanese media are paying special attention to this epidemic. The news of the epidemic situation has been rolling in the TV news these two days, including the latest news of the epidemic in China. Although Japanese officials have announced that “the nationality of patients with new pneumonia will not be announced,” many Japanese media will still report on the nationality of patients.
Another paradoxical thing is that Japanese netizens’ attitudes and remarks on this matter are very radical, most of them are “prohibition of Chinese entry” and “all artificial disasters” … but in real life, Although Japanese people often wear masks every day, they pay great attention to public health. This time, compared with the Chinese people who are almost “armed” to the viruses that may be lurking around, the Japanese citizens are not so “heart-conscious” at this time, and they don’t even see a trace of tension.
The day before yesterday I supervised the final exams for undergraduates at Hokkaido University. Few students wore masks, and the Chinese who supervised them all brought them. A Chinese friend also gave another Japanese proctor teacher to remind him to pay attention to protection. The Japanese proctor teacher smiled and put a mask in his pocket.
Of course, tenderness can be found everywhere. When a Chinese friend was doing a project, the uncle of the local government also comforted her: not a country is facing it, don’t be afraid, let’s cheer together.
Friend circles posted by Chinese students
There is also a story that touched me. A Chinese student friend worked part-time at the front desk of a Japanese hotel. He saw that tourists from Wuhan did not wear masks as a protective measure. The Japanese boss refused. The reason is: Avoid the illusion that customers “discriminate them”! Some people in Japan also like to wear masks, and their reason is very “Japanese”: to avoid coughing and sneezing to cause trouble for others. In China, the reason for wearing a mask is more “protect yourself.”
In short, facing the epidemic together, I always believe that warmersome.
This article comes from WeChat public account: Epoch Story House (ID: epochstory2017) , author: curator