WHAT IS IT LIKE TO GO THROUGH QUARANTINE IN CHINA?

At first the thought of being confined to a hotel room for 14 days straight terrified me. I am someone who cannot stay indoors for more than 24 hours straight. Even a trip to the grocery store counts as “going out” for me, so you could imagine how much I dreaded quarantine. However, reflecting back on the experience, I would say I am very thankful for the entire quarantine process because not only did it allow me to slowly fix my jet lag, it also prevented me from getting sick, which usually happens when I am travelling to another country.

Although we do not have a choice as of which hotel we are assigned to, overall, I would say my experience was quite pleasant. The health care workers and staff were all very professional, diligent, and caring. We were delivered three meals a day, breakfast around 8am, lunch around 11:30, and dinner around 6pm. My hotel did not allow takeout food to be delivered, but if we ordered any snacks or small packages from Taobao, they were delivered twice a day to our door steps as well. We also had temperature checks twice a day where a health care worker would come knock on your door and measure your body temperature, you then report this to the hotel admin who would call your room shortly after. Lastly, we had to complete one more COVID nasal and throat swab test 24 hours before departing from the quarantine hotel, and depending on your arrival time, they would notify each guest as of when we can head downstairs to check out.

A day in the life of a teacher in quarantine.

I had to partake in regional induction training during the first week of my quarantine, which made the time pass by very quickly. Training also kept me company because there were many group activities where we had to communicate and brainstorm with other teachers from different cities across China. I got to talk to teachers with different years of experience and heard many interesting classroom stories. Training began at 10am and usually ended around 5:30pm-6:00pm, with a one-hour break in between for lunch. I still had a pretty bad jet lag during my first week of quarantine so I slept around 8 or 9 pm, and woke up around 4:30 to 5am, a very healthy sleeping schedule my grandmother would say. On the weekends, I spent half a day to just catch up with my family and friends back at home, either via video call or on WeChat message. For the rest of the day, I usually spent my time browsing on Youtube, completing puzzles, or doing some sketching to clear the mind. I also tried to squeeze in at least 30 minutes to an hour of yoga or light exercise every day. Since we do not have much space in our hotel room, easy static exercises are perfect to help loosen my muscles from sitting/sleeping all day.