Amoy Wanderings

Girl flying a kite at the beach. It has been four weeks since the shut down began here in Xiamen, and we are healthy and doing well though we are in the dark as much as ever. We are still encouraged to stay at home, cannot have visitors into the compound, and need to wear a mask whenever we go out and will be in close contact with people. However, businesses are slowly re-opening and some restaurants and coffee/tea shops are allowing people to sit together (although even then they prefer people to sit in pairs at most). Schools in our area still have no projected start date. Here is a recent article that shows China’s current plan for re-opening schools . At this rate, I’m guessing our schools at the earliest will open in mid-April.  Sandy flying a kite. With the closing of all public meetings, people have been using alternatives to maintain contact. Our foreign fellowship has been posting weekly messages and songs so that people still can have connection. Sandy, Emi

"Wuhan jiayou! Zhongguo jiayou!" A commonly heard refrain of encouragement for Wuhand and China in the fight against COVID-19. Life has settled in to the new normal for us now. We basically are housebound, going out for walks usually in the evening (always with our masks on) but generally feeling like we are on a staycation without the fun aspect of a vacation. We are able to get the food we need and have stocked up a bit just in case food gets scarce, but for now it doesn’t look like we will be facing any shortages. The real challenge right now comes with the future. How bad is the virus really? How long will this last? When will school begin again? When will life return to normal? What will that normal look like? And this provides us a look into the cultural window of living in China.  So, as it stands, all schools are shut down by order of the government, and schools will reopen when the government deems it safe. Then, they will give us a one-week notice

It's only been a few days since my last post (What else am I supposed to do with all this free time?) but the situation here has already changed -- and not for the better. I could never even imagine the situation we are experiencing here could ever happen in the US or any other democratic country. You may have heard how people are basically stranded in their houses, and if you haven't, here's a good article that discusses it. Housebound Chinese Cope with Being Cooped Up Bleach water streaks on the elevator door -- as if we needed one more reason not to touch things in public. On it's face, being stuck in the house doesn't seem too bad; many of us have experienced a bad snowstorm accompanied with power outages -- a little frustrating and an inconvenience but usually short lived. But let's expand the situation a bit. Now imagine that all the public spaces have been shut down -- parks and malls in particular. Add to that your housing is an apartment in a