Hiya, folks!
Soooo, a lot has happened since my last post—both in terms of my life and the world. With much sadness in my heart, I decided to come home to the US because of the COVID-19 outbreaks in South Korea and all around the world. I really wanted to have my semester abroad, but I know that it’ll happen someday, and I’m grateful for the time I had abroad while it lasted.
First, I wanted to address a few things regarding COVID-19. While it’s most dangerous for older folks and immuno-compromised people, it’s still important to take care of yourself and others to help stifle it before it spreads to an astronomical level. You can help by washing your hands for 20 seconds, coughing/sneezing into your sleeve or a tissue (and then dispose of the tissue), keeping a physical distance between yourself and others, and being considerate of others. Click on this link for more information from the CDC https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
I understand that it’s easy to be scared of what’s going on—you just want to protect yourself and your family, so you resort to behavior that might not be normal for you. Or, you don’t want your life to change so you continue doing what you always do. Fear does that. But, I encourage everyone to think past themselves and about the bigger picture. There are shortages of toilet paper, masks, and other supplies that many people and, especially, healthcare professionals need in order to do their jobs. By limiting contact with others, you can help stop the spread of the virus. Please think about the consequences of your actions is all I’m saying.
Another thing that this fear and panic have brought out in people is subtle and overt racism towards Asian people—especially Chinese folks. Asian businesses have been suffering from a lack of customers, Asian people have been verbally and physically attacked, and Asians all around the world have been denied certain services because they’re Asian. As an Asian-American, this is all extremely disheartening for me to hear and read. To be honest, I was a little afraid of coming back to the US for fear of being looked at weirdly or treated badly because I’m obviously Asian. Just hear me out—try to recognize and acknowledge your biases and fear and then think about how you can not let those control you and your actions.
OKAAYY, so what have I been up to, you’re wondering?
Well, it’s been weird and ironically funny. So I was in South Korea doing my two-week self-quarantine in the dorms mid-February. There was someone that delivered food to me and left it in front of my door, and I wasn’t allowed to leave my room at all (except to open the door to get the food). Fast forward to a few days before the end of the two weeks. I had been mentally preparing for anything to happen because the COVID-19 situation was escalating in South Korea, and I knew it made my parents nervous. So a few days before the end, my parents and I decided that I should come back to the US. With the help of IPO, I was put on a flight back to the US the day I got out of quarantine in South Korea. Then when I arrived home in Alaska, I was put into another two-week quarantine because I had arrived from a high-risk country. FOUR WEEKS of quarantine…like I said it’s kind of funny how it worked out.
So, now I’m done with my two-week quarantine/isolation, and I’m planning on taking online classes until the fall. Part of me has been not wanting to write this because I don’t want to admit it’s all over. But, alas, even as the world is on fire, the show must go on. Thank you all for the support, whoever is reading this. I wish you all the best in these times of uncertainty. We can get through this together.
Best,
Alecia