Quarantine – Part 2

As I’m eagerly awaiting my impending release (freedom is around the corner!), I thought I’d share some more of my experiences in confinement.

In my first week, I developed a routine. Get up, take temp, wait for breakfast, grab it off the blue stool outside my room, wonder what the food is, eat, put the garbage outside my door, wait for lunch, grab, eat, put out garbage. Then, it’s time to take my temp again, wait for dinner, eat, and go to bed, since I’m not allowed to put out garbage after 6pm and often finish dinner after the deadline.

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Luckily, the pandemic prepared me to sit inside and watch videos all day. And taught me that the outside world is scary, but I can unlearn that one when the pandemic is over and I start traveling, again.

But, waiting is still really, really boring.

To make the waiting easier, I watch videos, work on my Mandarin, spy on what is going on in the hallway through the peephole, and, every so often, someone’s door alarm goes off. It’s a very exciting life.

So far, I’ve seen them pick up the garbage, deliver the food, figured out what the vacuum cleaner sound was (the employees have some sort of sprayer that they use to spray something in front of them when walking). And, the most exciting thing – I saw a neighbor leave. Freedom is possible! And I’ve heard people arrive.

I did have a daily mini-blackout for a couple of days. The first time it happened, I was very confused. I didn’t know what was going on. The power in my room, and possibly the whole floor or building (I don’t know, I’m not allowed out of my room), turned itself off and refused to turn itself back on for about 20 minutes. And, while the instructions on what to do if I needed help were on the papers I got, it was dark out and all my translation apps need a source of light that doesn’t come from my phone’s flashlight. Guess I should have written those instructions out in English…

I was also unlucky enough to be in quarantine for Chinese New Year. But, the people that make all my food decided to be nice and give us some special treats, like dumplings, candies, and lots of ‘Happy New Year’ messages.

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To start my second week, I got another message from the Medic. They wanted me to pay for my second COVID test, to be taken the day before I get out. It was 80 yuan. 80! That’s about $12 (US). My COVID tests before I left, in San Francisco were over $500! Talk about a mark-up.

Unfortunately for me, they wanted me to pay through WeChat, which didn’t want to work with my American credit cards. After a quick chat, I will be paying with cash, which I was, thankfully, talked into getting a year ago when I was first going to China.

This time, getting stabbed in the nose in quarantine wasn’t as bad as the other two times. Mostly because this time they swabbed my nostrils and didn’t try to stab my brain. It still wasn’t pleasant, but there was no going after my brain. To make up for it, they added a mouth swab and tried to see how far down my throat they could get it. Some days having a gag reflex is not a good thing.

In addition to all the waiting, wishing, and poking, the end got closer and I was given my release time (8pm). I started planning my escape to Shenzhen, finally. But, because it was so late at night, I wanted to talk to my employer and see if they wanted me to come in at like midnight or just wait until the next day.

Instead, they gave me some bad news. If I head directly to Shenzhen, I’d have to spend another week in quarantine. Shenzhen is requiring a 21-day quarantine, unlike Shanghai’s 14-day. However, if I were to spend that week in Shanghai, I’d be free. No extra quarantine when I finally make it to Shenzhen.

I can’t spend another week in quarantine. It’d just be too much. I want to go outside. I want to choose what I eat. I want a burger and fries.

I also don’t like Shanghai. I visited it many years ago on a vacation to China and wasn’t that impressed then. I’ve already seen most of the tourist attractions. I don’t want to spend another week here. I want to start living in China and get a residence card, an apartment, and start work.

But, if I have to spend an unplanned, and un-budgeted for, week in Shanghai, I’m going to Disneyland.

And, hopefully, never come back. Or, at least, never getting stuck here again.