It has been a crazy month now and I do not see it ending anytime soon (personally). What started off as a regular rather dull month because of the semester ending and many of us looking to fly back home for semester vacation or renew room contracts or decide the future course of action in terms of academia here in Freiburg, everything has suddenly come to a halt and how.
I and my group of friends decided to stop meeting outside initially during the 1st week of march after seeing and listening to the situation in Italy, to gradually meeting indoors and making sure the first thing we did was wash hands and face thoroughly and not touching anything in trams by 2nd week and having to stay indoors by the end of 2nd week up till now where we are just texting daily to the point of discussing even minute details such as spotting a pimple on the chin to celebrating grand events like birthdays over calls.
It is such an unsettling feeling of not knowing what will happen next but despite all this, it is rather surprising to me how we have adjusted ourselves here in over two weeks. There was a time when I did not have to think about leaving the room, going to grocery shop or even to the lab or to a friend's place. But now, going to buy veggies seems like a planned task.
We are only allowed to step out alone or in pairs, the maximum distance between people at billing counters are marked at 1.5- 2 meters with tape, and there is thankfully a restriction on the number of items an individual can purchase after people had resorted to panic buying and hoarding essential stuff. The only places open this time of the week are grocery shops and pharmacies along with some banks. The parks are closed and so are the playgrounds, we can, however, go out for a walk or run but again solo or in pairs although people here refrain from stepping out unnecessarily.
I/We receive almost 4-5 emails daily from the University authorities, UniKlinik and/or city of Freiburg explaining the current situation, trends, work, library restrictions and new rules that are being imposed. I feel it is essential as it stops false information from being circulated around. The last thing we want to get infected with & pass on during such crisis is rumors!
But having said that, there are times when I am essentially bored. The other day I was joking that I might soon be inception level bored because I do not stick to a thing for a long and I keep shifting, doing things without finishing them...probably because there is no more hurry for me to finish things? My days are filled with doing random AF things now. I can sleep, eat, read, draw and listen to endless music or watch videos (not in any order) any time because for me work from home at the moment does not exist. It is a perk (if you might call that) we can not use labor equipment, do experimental work as labs are closed, and being fully aware that most people are not entitled to these things. I am pretty much the only one on a floor meant for 14 people to stay in. I sometimes roam (lately decided to skate) spookily around the corridors. A good thing of having the entire floor to yourself is that I can pretty much cook up a storm in the kitchen without having to bother about others or leaving some pans and pots for them and wash dishes as per my convenience, take a bath any time of the day, or use washing machine anytime without having to wait!
If you are an international student like me or have one you will rightly relate to and agree that being an international student under normal circumstances is tough but during such times when you're away from home and are locked down in your respective cities, it is testing your resilience and patience on another level. I can completely empathize with the concerns of some of my friends from Asia, who want to wear masks here but can not or do not want to because people can be racists, to those who are from Europe, who are also right that a mask won't help you if you're healthy. After all, we have dealt with these situations back at home differently.
But amidst all this uncertainty and gloom around, I am touched by little, kind messages from people. I barely stayed a semester in Lyon, France but they were the first ones to text and ask about my well being. The other day my classmate from China was texting her labmates in Italy where she had an exchange semester and was taking updates, minute by minute and informing us that Milan was put under lockdown while we were still roaming together here. I received a text from my professor from bachelor's asking me to be safe and eat healthy to improve my immunity. In fact, our class group too, if I might say, is quite active.
And having updates from friends and colleagues from school, college and work is an added bonus. Of course, none of us can actually be physically there to help each other, the only thing we can do is to text or call and ask and hope for the things to be better soon. If you have already not done that, I suggest you do!! Not just out of formality wherein you're actually least bothered and have opted for this social etiquette out of some preconceived notion of niceness. If that's your idea of asking, it's better you do not do at all and rather exist peacefully at your respective place.
A simple message like, hope things are ok, this will be over soon, hope you are managing well there, etc. can sometimes uplift your mood. It might not mean anything to you, staying in the comfort of your homes whilst still trying to figure out how the lockdown in your city might work but on days like these it can cheer up and give courage to your friend/colleague/acquaintance who are managing things by themselves.
And lastly, kindly refrain from sharing and forwarding the wrong information :P We all already have enough on our plates. Stay healthy and follow lockdown rules. It is in the best interest of everyone. And do not spam me xD Cheers!!!
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