public micro-channel number: Tsinghua fresh Times (ID: qingxintimes) , author: Zheng can book < / span>
Parallel world
There are no more people on the road, including Trafalgar Square, this London landmark, city center, sightseeing and parade destination. If you want to make an analogy with the level of excitement, it is Shanghai ’s People ’s Square. Can you imagine that there is no one in People’s Square?
More than 7 o’clock in the morning, Li Man, a graduate student of the London School of Economics and Political Sciences, put on a mask and dragged a 24-inch suitcase in the left hand wearing plastic gloves. Then, through the glasses and protective glasses, she saw almost nobody Trafalgar Square.
“You think this world is magical, do you know?” On March 13, three weeks ago, the square was still full of people, smoking, drinking coffee, and feeding pigeons. The impact of nearly 600 confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in the country. We are all familiar with other stories-the surge in cases in the UK, the government proposed “group immunization”, and then announced more stringent anti-epidemic measures, the slogan is “Stay at home. Save lives.” (Stay at home and save lives) .
This is the first time Li Man has gone out in the past three weeks. The purchased food filled the suitcase, and she packed another bag.
Looking forward, Li Man ’s “magic feeling” began in late January. At that time, the epidemic broke out in Wuhan, and the news was all in sight.Growth. People’s lives, like those masks and alcohol that have gone up in price and sold out, have been completely changed overnight.
Some international students mentioned the quarrel with their family members at that time. Li Man ’s parents insisted on having dinner on New Year ’s Day, 5 tables, and many relatives from other places. London was 8 hours earlier than in the country. She stayed in the early hours of London and the 30th day of the Chinese New Year. She called her parents who had just gotten up: “In case of infection to grandparents, grandparents, they are too old to live. Can you afford this kind of risk? “
Almost no one in Trafalgar Square
Image provided by Li Man
In February, the prevention and control measures for the domestic epidemic were gradually rolled out, and it seemed safe to be abroad-at least that is what the German student Zhao Fan thought. Mother asked her to hoard some masks, she disagreed, “China is so far away from Germany, it won’t be passed on at all.”
Who can predict the future? Soon, imported cases appeared in various countries, and the number of confirmed cases surged. After experiencing the bombing of domestic epidemic information, Chinese students are significantly more sensitive than foreigners. Zhao Fan, who was in graduate school, lived in a shared apartment. After the German epidemic broke out, she could not close the door. “I’m particularly afraid that someone will knock on my door.” In mid-March, she met a foreign roommate on the stairs. The roommate greeted her, she dared not open her mouth, and just waved her hand away vigorously-which she described as “fleeing from the desert”-she heard the roommate whisper: “So afraid?”
Masks are not easy to buy. She heard a Chinese classmate say there was a pharmacy, so she took a bus to buy two N95s. But on the road, she still dared not wear it, afraid of being discriminated against, specifically, “knowing that she did nothing wrong, but seemed to be inferior.” You may not understand that Zhao Fan thought this idea was “weird”, but she still thought so. She was surrounded by Chinese classmates who were called “viruses” for wearing masks on the street; someone made friendsCircle, saying that we must learn curse words from now on, so that we can fight back only if we encounter discrimination.
There are other examples. For example, in Exeter, UK, Chinese student Jia Li wore a mask and went to the street. When a foreigner came to see him, he yelled “Oh——” and ran across the street; for example, Toronto, Canada, is also a Chinese student Wearing a mask, some foreigners stepped forward and asked, “Have you ever been to Wuhan? Have you got a virus?” … not to mention the news that Asians wearing masks were hit on the streets.
The fact is that you can hardly count on others ’understanding unless the misfortunes you encounter also come to them. An international student in Boston, United States, the teacher mentioned the epidemic in China in class, and students from other countries expressed their opinions, only she sat down to tears; the epidemic broke out all over the world, and the words of the students became “I refuse to discuss this Problem because I want to maintain mental health “.
Han Lu studying in Tokyo, Japan (She will be studying at Keio University at the end of April this year as a graduate student) has a similar feeling The original phrase used is “The joys and sorrows of mankind cannot be shared.” She pays attention to the domestic epidemic news every day, and is in a heavy mood. She tries not to go out and buy all kinds of disinfection supplies. Although the Japanese friends around her will greet her, she only feels that her home is far from Wuhan and her family is fine. Real empathy is out of reach, “Like in a parallel world, the news I see every day is such a sad news, and my mood is so low every day, but for the Japanese, the epidemic in China is very serious, but it is abstract. . “
Indiscriminate bombardment is a great place for fear and anxiety to grow. Han Lu often hears the news of people diagnosed or experiencing new crown-like symptoms. The mentality today is, “Even if it ’s my turn, I ’m not surprised, but I ’m really trying to protect, and there is no way.” The milk tea group asked: “Is there any virus in ordering milk tea?” Some people suggested: “It’s really uneasy, you can pour it out and microwave it.”
When people are afraid, they always conceive the worst result. An international student in Georgia, USA, once used the mobile phone to watch the news and felt sore eyes, headaches, and chest tightness. After reading the article, this is the symptom of mild illness, “I will not be infected?”; Then pull down: “Because of the new crown Anxiety caused by symptoms such as headache and chest tightness. ”
Yang Chen, a graduate student at the University of Leuven, Belgium, had just returned to school in China in early February. A few days later, she started coughing, low fever, sore throat, and diarrhea, all symptoms of the new crown. She went to the local hospital for nucleic acid testing, waited for the results in a closed room, and used a telephone to communicate with staff outside. After waiting for four hours, my heart was raised for four hours, “The whole person is in the kind before the exam”Tense state.” It’s too hard to wait, but what else can she do? She dumbly searched for cases on the Internet, compared her own situation, and even made psychological preparations for infection. Fortunately, the result was negative.
It’s quite dramatic. When she flew back to Belgium years later, she was still lucky to “successfully run drug”, but unexpectedly, “just ran into another poison circle”.
The phone Yang Chen uses to communicate with staff outside the house while waiting for the result in the isolation room
Image provided by Yang Chen
Buying a ticket is like buying a lottery ticket
The poison is coming. Of course, the first reaction is to run. Just like you are playing a chicken game, what can be blamed? In particular, some international students live with foreign roommates, and there is no condition for isolation.
No one wants to be infected, including international students. But some people don’t think so, “returning to the country to add chaos”, “thousands of miles of poisoning”, they say so on the Internet. When Jia Li, an international student at the University of Exeter, bought a plane ticket, his father reminded him to keep a low profile when he came back, “You are not Qian Xuesen, people do not welcome you back.”
Talking about this, Jia Li’s tone was a little excited, “What’s wrong with me coming back, right? I have taken precautions myself, and I haven’t affected others. I obey the isolation method, and who is affected, right?”
The school responded one after another and switched to online courses. After being convinced that it would not affect their studies, many people bought air tickets; others held the belief that “there is no need to risk their lives” and interrupted their studies early and returned to China. For example, a 21-year-old international student directly dropped out of a language school in Tokyo.
It seems easy to make the decision to return to China, but the reality is not. In order to prevent and control the epidemic, the Civil Aviation Administration of China reduced the number of international passenger flights,As of March 29, each domestic airline operating a route to any country, and each foreign airline operating to China can only keep one route, and each route should not operate more than one flight per week; For flights departing from China, the passenger load factor should not be higher than 75%. It is estimated that the number of passengers entering the country by air every day will be reduced from 25,000 to about 5,000. There is a joke in the international student circle: Buying a ticket is like buying a lottery ticket. You do n’t know which class can fly; even if you can buy a fly, you do n’t know if you are allowed to sit 75% of the time.
On March 26, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the “Notice on Continued Reduction of International Passenger Traffic During Epidemic Prevention and Control”
Zhao Fan is the one who dares to greet his roommate with a gesture, and is the unlucky egg whose ticket was cancelled the day before departure. This incident was discovered on the morning of March 28 when she woke up. You know, people’s grief sometimes lags behind, so until the afternoon, the classmate asked her when to take off the next day, she said “cancelled”, and the tears came down.
She didn’t give up, and continued to brush the ticket, and saw a domestic airline’s business class, which cost 40,000 yuan, more than double that of the previous cancelled one. Forty thousand yuan, she burst into tears. Why didn’t you buy the tickets as early as your friends who had already returned home successfully? This time, the family had to pay so much money inexplicably. “I think it’s super powerless, the ticket is too expensive, but I really want to go back.” The ticket won’t wait for her to consider it completely. The hesitated time is gone.
Continue to brush the next day. I got a 30,000-economy class that started on March 31, and this time I started decisively. She described her mood at the time: very excited. I asked her what she was excited about, “I smiled,” she said. It seems that laughter is a very rare thing that deserves special emphasis. She hasn’t laughed so happy for a long time.
But this happiness lasted only for a while. She began to worry about the cancellation of the flight, or that her temperature could not pass the test. On the day waiting to go home, she sometimes suddenly wanted to cry out happily, but she was afraid that the tears would spread the virus and could only bear it.
At more than two o’clock in the afternoon, she only slept for two or three hours the night before and arrived at the airport that morning. Has the dangling heart been put down? It’s very contradictory. She described it this way. It’s very accurate, but it’s very precise. You must be able to understand: I am getting closer and closer to returning home. I seem to know that I can return to the country, but I dare not be 100% sure until takeoff. I got on the plane, and I was afraid that I would be invited out suddenly. She did n’t want to misreport the good news. The radio said, “The cabin is about to close,” before finally telling her mother: “I ’m on the plane.”
There is also a graduate student of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Chen Lai. The number of “lottery tickets” she has not scratched is at least 4.
The first one, Singapore, transited on March 23, and a few days later, Singapore had a policy to prevent transfers; the second, bought as a spare, was transferred to Finland on March 21, when she thought One ticket was secure and the ticket was refunded; the third ticket was transferred to Kuala Lumpur on March 25 and the flight was later cancelled; the fourth ticket was transferred to Ethiopia on March 29 to catch up with the Civil Aviation Authority ’s policy and the flight was cancelled.
How far is the ticket? Chen Lai brushed the remaining tickets on the airline’s official website a few times. The hand to fill in the information was slow, and the tickets were gone. Some mothers in the country looked for tickets. One day they wanted to buy 48,000, and they asked after 30 minutes. The ticket seller said that it was 30 minutes ago, and the current price is 51,000, which cannot guarantee the successful ticket issuance.
She almost gave up. On March 26, she heard about the method of waiting to buy tickets, and packed her luggage in the afternoon and went to the airport to try her luck. That night, a domestic airline had a non-stop flight to Shanghai at 9 o’clock. At the end of the check-in at 8 o’clock, she realized that she had a ticket.
On the way to get the ticket, she saw several people waiting for the replacement. Someone asked for a business class ticket. The money in the card was n’t enough, and the person next to him shouted, “He does n’t want it, I want it!” She felt that getting on the plane was like Dennoya ’s Ark.
The moment I got the ticket seemed like a dream: “I’m going home, I’m going home.” But at this point, everything is not over yet. “It’s like a biohazard on an airplane.” Everyone puts on everything they can wear, protective clothing, masks, gloves, goggles, shower caps, and raincoats. Almost no one eats, and few people go to the toilet. The flight time was 11 hours. Chen Lai was thirsty and hungry. He couldn’t hold back. After drinking a bit of juice, he began to worry: “I will not be infected by drinking this juice in the end?”
The time to the quarantine point is nearly 1 am, and 26 hours have passed from Chen Lai to the London airport.
on the plane returning from London
Image provided by Chen Lai
You do n’t know what will happen tomorrow
When will this epidemic affect us? Some people say a few months, some people say a few years. For the international students we saw, it was at least 4 hours, 26 hours, 3 weeks, or longer.
The Belgian student Yang Chen who had the flu had already done the psychological construction of the infection at that time. After knowing that the nucleic acid test result was negative, he was “not afraid of this disease at all.” During her New Year’s return to China, she had already experienced information bombing, anxiety and worry. This time in Belgium, she didn’t want to go through it again, so she “started to be indifferent to these things.”
The weather in Belgium has been pretty good these days. The days are long and it gets dark at 9pm. Yang Chen and his friends were invited to go out for a walk. In the nearby forest or park, some people passed by bicycles or run, and most did not wear masks. The flowers are blooming, yellow, pink, and big flowers are dotted among the green leaves; the river flowing through is shone by the sun, shining with sparkling waves. “You will feel that you have nothing to do with the epidemic,” she said.
She bought a plane ticket to return to China in early May—it was more about chasing than fleeing. She wants to go back to “the place where her life is on the right track”, to return to the state of being busy, having friends and doing things. Belgium couldn’t give her this, so she went back to China.
Belgium, the river under the sun
Image provided by Yang Chen
Han Lu, who felt that “the joys and sorrows of mankind cannot be shared,” stayed in Tokyo because he was worried about the risks on the road. Before the epidemic, she and her Chinese roommate lived their own lives, and recently, the two of them have been living together every day-it is no exaggeration to say, that is “the life and death.” Fortunately, there are each other, because “in this case there must be a person around.”
And some people enjoy loneliness, such as the 22-year-old Tokyo student studying abroad. She lives alone in a rented apartment. She rarely goes out except for school. After the outbreak, she did n’t feel much at home. She was just on vacation but could n’t go out to play.
Someone also suffers from this, like Li Man who was isolated for three weeks alone and took a suitcase to the supermarket. On April 3, she called another Chinese student in the building to the dormitory and had dinner together. She has n’t seen a living person for so long that she described eating together as “so intimate contact”. The two drank milk tea, cooked instant noodles, added a la carte, eggs, and put a slice of cheese, is it normal? But they all said that this is the best meal recently.
Some perceptions have changed. “Unexpectedly.” Many people said of the outbreak. Li Man feels that everyone used to think that things were in the plan, thinking that they could know how the world would develop, and you would never have thought of the epidemic, and it told you: “It turns out that things will continue in this direction.” .
“You don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” she said. “If tomorrow there are aliens, I don’t think it’s impossible.”
Another impression is that I hope you can understand each other more. “Everyone’s situation is different. One person cannot be used to represent an entire group.” This was at the end of the interview. I said Li Man’s response when she had a good attitude. She mentioned the classmates in panic, “I do n’t panic does n’t mean people do n’t panic, my situation is quite safe, but people may be in a worse situation, and panic also makes sense.” Jia Li, “Not Qian Xuesen” also expressed Similar point of view: “Everyone is an independent individual, don’t label others.”
Five days after eating with friends, Li Man went to work as a volunteer to distribute a “health pack” for Chinese students. The package is labeled “The motherland will always be by your side.” Each bag contains two N95 masks, 20 general surgical masks, a large package of disinfectant wipes, and two boxes of Lianhua Qingwen capsules. Many interviewed stayThe student received the health package or has already claimed it.
Health Pack
Image provided by Li Man
April 17, U.S. time, “One World: Together At Home” (“ Sihai Ju Family “online concert) broadcasted synchronously around the world, with 100 artists from all over the world participating. Li Man watched the show, and the most direct feeling was globalization-globalization brought the epidemic and also brought this live broadcast, “Everyone is sharing the same kind of anxiety, and also sharing the same kind of resistance to disease.” / p>
People in the text are pseudonyms.
This article is from WeChat public account: Tsinghua University Fresh Times (ID: qingxintimes) , Author: Zheng can book