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Quarantine … keeping you close to nobody

Wednesday, August 16th, 2023

On June the 16th, 2021 we arrived in Hangzhou. After a long day, and a short flight, we arrived.

Here it got difficult.

They separated everyone, except mothers and children.
Like any family, we pack our suitcases with what we need. It’s not separated into hers and mine. Suddenly we had to organize the bags to prepare for our two weeks apart. Now we’d communicate through WeChat and Whatsapp.

Oh, everyone in their own room? That sounds like fun.

Had we known beforehand we could have prepared ourselves, logistically and mentally. Then there’s the financial burden of paying for two rooms.

We had no idea. Emily was pretty shaken.
We accepted that we couldn’t convince them to change the program. So we resolved to get through the next couple of weeks.
I taught. Emily chatted with our family.

A lot of blocks were in place, and the VPN wasn’t working.
There seems to be little concern for anyone’s mental or emotional state.
What doesn’t kill you … isn’t trying hard enough.
As long as the VPN was working we could open most sites. Emily was doing well. I was able to talk her through getting the VPN up and running on her phone and tablet. She could watch church services, participate in her fellowship, stay in touch with family, and watch Korean and Chinese dramas … so that’s good.

What am I doing with my downtime?
Watching movies, teaching (although this week has been mostly downtime) chatting with Emily, Wyatt, Adryan, and Grace.
I napped, which wasn’t usually planned. Sat on the bed to play solitaire and the next thing I knew, I was rested.
I started watching Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
It’s not a happy tale, but it’s engaging.
They’ve pulled the threads of a lot of different comic stories together, and it works.
If I wasn’t worried about Emily and our family, being isolated wouldn’t be so bad.

I spent the 2nd-week teaching and struggling to complete government-mandated health apps. The isolation has been taxing. Thankful for social media, but hate it at the same time.

The last few days were stressful. Lots of paperwork, real and virtual.
We had blood tests, and nasal and throat swabs last night. Nothing says romance like an extra-long Qtip.

Last Wednesday was our last night in quarantine.

On Thursday morning we were released. It was a bit more literal than expected as we had to wait in our rooms to be escorted to the elevator.

Emily called up to my room to ask where I was. I put a cheerful voice on to tell her I was waiting for my escort. My cheer became a bit forced in successive texts over the next hour.

Finally, at about 11:00am, I stepped into the hallway to see my Knight in Shining Hazmat about to release me from the Tower. I’d given up hope of staging a Rapunzel-like escape.
We’re in Shenzhen now. Enjoying the freedom of a morning walk, and being able to walk into a shop.
Our freedom is underscored, mostly by worry about family and friends back in Indonesia. Indonesia is currently undergoing a steadily worsening lockdown.

 

Flashback to our return

Wednesday, August 9th, 2023

On Thursday, June 10, 2021, we went to the National Hospital and did a test. On Friday the results came back negative. We arranged the tickets, packed our bags, and tried not to forget too much.

Friday was filled with classes and conversations. Adryan and I talked about the future. What could he do, more than what should he do? Wyatt and I talked about possibilities and responsibilities. For both of our sons, I’ve tried to show that it is necessary to be prepared. Only by doing everything you can, will you be able to adapt to things whether than merely react to the unexpected.

Saturday, Grace came over with our grandson Theo. It’s always good to see them both. Two of our grandchildren are in Melbourne Australia attending school. And another granddaughter works for the company owned by our daughter Grace’s inlaws. We had dinner with them a few days before we left.

Emily prepared lists of chores for both boys. Sometimes they seem little more than wish lists, but occasionally things do get done. The alternative, just giving in to the inevitable, may be less frustrating but it doesn’t really help anyone.

Emily and I had already decided that it wasn’t a good idea for the family to come to the airport. Large weepy goodbyes are not a good idea in the time of Covid. We arranged for a taxi. The morning was occupied by the faint memories of forgotten items. Thankfully, I’d remembered to wear pants.

The preparation before the flight, packing, tests, uncertainty, and general annoyances were stressful. Then yesterday the flight was actually early. The problem was the 90 minutes we had to wait at baggage claim. We missed our shuttle bus.

Thankfully, we were able to call the hotel and get another in 40 minutes. By the time we got to the room, we ate a late lunch and slept for a couple of hours. That was about 3:00pm. Then we chilled for a bit and then took a walk.

We had bought some fried rice at the airport, so that was our late lunch/supper.
Talked to Wyatt, Adryan, and Grace. Watched some TV. Thankfully we managed to sleep.

The next day … Sriwijaya Air had set up a medical tent in their parking lot. There we did the medical test. Two blood tests, and then two sets of swab tests for nasal and oral swabs. These results were processed by two different hospitals.

That night and the next day were spent completing apps. The apps were mainly in Chinese, so it was frustrating. Add to that a dodgy hotel wifi, and it was a recipe for frayed nerves. We had a nice dinner at a Thai restaurant. we got back and finished what we could of the apps. Just in time, the results came and we add to complete uploading what had already seemed like a lot of information. Emily’s app was finished by 8:30pm. Mine took until almost 11:00pm. After what seemed too long, both apps returned a green code which meant we could fly the next morning.

We were up around 3:00am. We were downstairs by 3:45. Emily sat and I paced around. The airport shuttle was scheduled for 4:00am. The shuttle arrived and we arrived at the Soekarno Hatta airport in about 30 minutes. Except for the check-in we were in a mostly empty space. We went through the initial airport entry scans and such. Then the group heading to Hangzhou appeared.

We discovered to our delight that there were now two more apps to complete. I’m not good at airports, as I tend to notice everything. It puts me on edge, and I don’t relax.

A lot of the time was spent filling in online forms for contact tracing and medical check apps. Eventually, we had three apps that we showed to various health, immigration and customs officers.

The young man assigned to shepherd us through the process was helpful, and professional and we were finished in time to check in. I also discovered that I had left my sweater on the shuttle bus. It was the one that helped me cope with occasionally hyperactive air conditioners, It wasn’t expensive, but I liked that sweater.

We survived the check-in. For the most part, the process was efficient and polite.

We finally boarded the plane at 9:30am. No music or movies to be had. Likely don’t want to throw away perfectly good headphones. So, that’s why sleeping was the better part of valour.
So, after nearly 7 hours we arrived at Hangzhou.

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Bio

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