Things are getting stranger

The responses to our last post suggested we had conveyed a sense of optimism and a positive attitude in the face of trying circumstances. It is possible that was overstated by a little bit, but it was nice to be seen that way. So we have been on the fence about following up with a slightly gloomier post. It has been both interesting, and incredibly boring here over the past week and some things are getting strange.

School had initially been closed until February 17th, and we were expecting that to extend until March 2nd. On Sunday Irish and I went in to a meeting at school and learned the closure would be  extended to March 9th. With a full month away from school this would allow some people who wanted to get out of China the opportunity to travel.

We talked about it and there are a few things that make getting away complicated for our family. One issue is that my passport has less than six months left before it expires. I kept making appointments at the embassy over the past few weeks and then they would be cancelled because the embassy was closed. A lot of countries, most notably Thailand, will not let me enter with less than six months on the passport. We considered the Philippines but found out people we knew from Korea had been turned back at the airport in Manila because they had been in China. Vietnam has similar passport issues and is similarly unhappy with people from China arriving now. We thought about flying to the US but realized a lot of people might not want to see us for fear of contagion, and that we might have a hard time renting anywhere to stay, and that we would likely be expected to self quarantine for two weeks, and that it would cost a lot of money. So we decided (/it was decided for us) that we would stick it out in China.

I did eventually get an appointment at the embassy for early Monday morning. After the meeting at school on Sunday I took the train up to Beijing. I had my temperature taken at least five times on my way there. In a 7-11 before I could buy my Diet Coke and peanuts the clerk had to take my temperature and write it down on a clipboard where she asked me to write my name and passport number.  On the train I had to fill out paper work saying where I was staying in Beijing, and again my passport number, and again a temperature check

arriving in Beijing the station was nearly empty

I was staying at a Holiday Inn not far from the embassy and Beijing felt even more shut down than Tianjin. I think in part because it was an area that was normally very busy but getting out of the taxi it was deserted. Checking into the hotel was eerie. I asked if any restaurants were open. The clerk said I could get dinner inside the hotel but nothing outside was open. So I went to the second floor and had the saddest meal as I sat completely by myself in a silent dining room while the waitress stood nearby with her mask on. After eating I went outside briefly and looked up at my room and realized I might have been the only person checked into the hotel.

Beijing streets outside the hotel

sad dinner

My room is the one with a light on

When I woke up Monday morning I had a slight headache and realized that if I had any fever at all, even for a reason unrelated to this virus I would have a fairly big problem on my hands in terms of getting back home. The trip to the embassy went fine. I got my application in and they let me keep my current passport. I can still use it to travel if there is an emergency.  After the embassy I got my stuff together and  arranged a car back to the train station with some sense of urgency about getting home.

Back in Tianjin things have definitely not loosened up or moved towards more normal. There had been rumors of Didi (the Chinese version of Uber/Lyft)  and delivery drivers being banned from our neighborhood. Driving back from the train station we came to a road block. Initially they were not going to let the driver through but after some yelling and negotiating they let him pass. That was Monday afternoon, since then it has grown more strict.

On Tuesday the most notable change was the walls being put up all around the neighborhood. Every road and sidewalk out was blocked with blue metal walls by Tuesday night.  At this point the only way in or out of our neighborhood is through two road blocks, each around a half mile from our house in opposite directions. We were also told that no one at all could leave or enter the neighborhood between midnight and 6 am.

walls going up

one of the road blocks with walls being added

From what we understand one case of the virus was reported in our neighborhood. The area we live in, called Original County or OC, is pretty big and broken up into a number of sections. The rumored case is not in our section. But this was still enough to shut down everything. There was also an outbreak in a section of Tianjin far to the north of us where a lot of people who had been to the same mall got it.

Yesterday the restrictions grew a little tighter as we were told they were issuing ID cards and only people who lived here could come in. So no visitors. And they were only giving our family of five 2 id cards. All of this is particularly frustrating because our Chinese neighbors all own cars. Stopping Didi and delivery drivers does not affect them much. And one of these ID cards can be used for an entire car. So while the rules limit us pretty dramatically it is not the same for everyone.

We received a copy of a message titled "A Letter to all Foreign Friends" explaining some of the decision making process. It included this passage which is meant to be reassuring but somehow isn't.

We would like to reassure foreign friends in Tianjin that the municipal government will fulfill its international obligations and respond to concerns by foreign citizens in Tianjin in a timely manner, and also safeguard the security of all foreign friends in Tianjin with a responsible attitude. We have full confidence and good capability to win the battle against the pneumonia outbreak by relying on concerted efforts,

I think it is the reference to safeguarding our security? I just had not thought about that being necessary, and I'm not certain what it entails.

Over the past few days Irish and I have both swung between being calm and relatively accepting of our circumstances towards an occasional sense of frustration or slight panic. The new rules are a little frightening because they do not make much sense. Like the masks everyone is wearing, it feels like a big effort at enforcing compliance just to show something is being done. Again, understanding that I know nothing about public health or disease prevention, but this seems like it is either an overreaction, or  things are much worse than we are being told.

Still, trying to keep a sense of perspective the reported numbers relative to the population of our city, or China as a whole, remain very very small. And absolutely everything we are reading says for most people catching the virus is basically like having a cold. For the small number of people who are gravely affected, most of them were already sick with other things. But then we walk outside and see the blue walls and that sense of perspective gets shaky.

We are keeping our days fairly structured and full. It turns out trying to teach online takes a lot of effort. We are sleeping a little later but then working a full day and often into the evening.  The kids keep busy with their classes through the morning. They have been reading, playing too much PlayStation, watching a little too much TV, and to their credit really not complaining or fighting with each other. Yet.

the girls hard at work

teaching from home in our office

Over the past year I had become very good about going to the gym 4 times a week and lifting heavy weights. It has been good for my sanity and made me stronger. With that unavailable Irish and I have tried to exercise in the house with limited success, and now we have taken to going for runs around the neighborhood every afternoon. I am not really built like a runner but it has been good. Old ladies think it is funny to see my bare legs in shorts on a cold day. We stop by the grocery at the end of each run. I keep buying more canned goods and rice. I honestly do not think it will be necessary but I feel better having them in the house.

Where things stand now- There had been a slowing of new cases over the past few days and that seemed promising, but this morning there was a spike as they changed how new cases were identified.  This afternoon we read that Hong Kong schools have extended their closure until March 16th. (though it sounds like the city has not shut down like things have here.) Our school's director wrote this evening warning it may mean our closure will go on longer- to the 16th or beyond. So it is not clear whether the end is even in sight. There has to be some limit to how long they try to keep us in our houses though?

For right now we are fine. Nothing to worry about. It is an adventure. And we will keep track of things as they progress, hopefully to a calm and peaceful resolution.

outside for a breath of fresh air through the masks. 

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grocery clerk in goggles gloves and mask

that last measurement isn't great

The Shining 2: Tianjin

2020 started out well, better than most years, even. We had the laziest Thai beach vacation ever and second semester started off with both of us chaperoning a model UN trip to Shanghai.

But right around the Chinese New Year holiday we started to hear about the new virus in Wuhan (Wuhan is pretty far from us- if Tianjin is roughly parallel to where New York City is Wuhan is roughly around eastern Tennessee). By the time we heard about it, we were nearing another week-long vacation for CNY. The New Year break started off just as every other year-not much going on, but some talk of the new virus.

Happy New Year celebration at school

We went to Beijing to meet up with our good friends for a fancy New Year dinner. (Peking duck and a show with traditional dances and such.)  There had been talk of the virus but nothing like what it has become.  On the way to the train station we noticed the lack of traffic, the lack of people in the station and that everyone we did see was wearing a mask. We thought maybe things were quiet because of the holiday-we couldn't quite remember-are things usually busier at the train station or quieter on the actual day of the holiday? Still, it all felt strange and on the train was the first time a stranger approached us to suggest we put on masks.

Happy New Year!

After a great night out with our friends we returned to Tianjin on New Year's Day (Jan. 24), with plans to go back to Beijing midweek. Within a day of returning to Tianjin, we knew we probably wouldn't be going back to Beijing, at least not all 5 of us together. There was a rising sense of concern about the virus. On Sunday the 26th we learned that school would be closed through at least the second week of February. We went to Sam's Club to get supplies in case we got stuck.

The New Year break is usually quiet for us anyway. It's very expensive to travel that week, so we usually just stay home and even in a normal year all small businesses are closed that week. For the rest of the break we watched lots of TV. We ate snacks all day. We got together with some friends (don't tell anyone). We were a little nervous about what was going to happen next but not panicked.

Before going on about our experience, you should know that at this point, we have been getting our information primarily from American news-so basically we have the same information as you. We are in no way experts in epidemiology or the prevention of pandemic.  That having been said, as far as we can tell there is very little risk  for us related to the virus. In a country of 1.4 billion people the number of people who are sick is incredibly small. In our city of 14 million people there are less than 100 cases, and it seems to be life threatening to a much smaller percentage of that already small group.

To the extent that we are worried it is related to the response. We understand that a lot of this is an excess of caution. It is a response to a disease that is not fully understood and probably best to overreact a little. However, some of it is challenging.

Everything we have read says that masks are important for doctors and nurses dealing directly with people who are sick, but will not do much if anything for everyone else. Still we can not go outside without a mask. Some of this is formal, stores will not let us in without a mask, drivers are not allowed to pick us up if we aren't wearing one. Some of it is informal- strangers will stop you and insist you put one on. It is an argument we don't need to win so we wear the masks now.

double mask!

While the city of Wuhan and the surrounding area are on a formal quarantine with everything locked down, the rules for our city are not as clear and seem to be enforced largely by peer pressure.

We are not legally required to stay indoors, but when other foreign teachers have been outside neighbors have taken pictures and complained to the school. While the insistence on masks seems excessive it is understandable, but there are other rumors about the virus spreading in the wind or in the snow that seem absurd but they are getting repeated.

Going to stores, or leaving or entering our neighborhood there are people taking everyone's temperature. We have been stopped by the police more than once to have our temperature checked and they are writing down information on everyone they stop. It is not entirely clear what would happen if we happened to have a fever. Increasingly we are aware that we just can not go outside much at all. 

We're stuck here at home until the 17th at least. At the time of writing this it looks like we will  probably be at home until March 2. We've started online school which is a totally new experience as both teachers and parents. It's interesting and difficult and boring and fun.

Two weeks of increasingly being stuck indoors has been challenging already. Another three weeks of this is a daunting prospect. We are trying to stay busy and not kill each other. We send the kids on errands to the grocery every day though, just to get them out. We bought a badminton set to knock around indoors with our high ceilings. We have seen all of the Oscar nominated movies and have opinions on them all.

paint by numbers project

We watch "the People's Court" for our lunch break every day!

recess: Just Dance

Team meeting

Going forward there are a few things we are watching for. So far finding food has generally been fine except for bread; we may have to live on chips and cookies, but it's food. Groceries and gas stations are operating as usual. If getting food or water is at all difficult that would be a source of concern. If hospitals become difficult to access that would also be a something we would pay attention to.

It seemed strange that the US consulate left Wuhan right at the time citizens would likely need help. The US embassy in Beijing has been closed over the past several weeks with a phone number available for emergencies. In nine years of living overseas we have only been to the embassy to renew passports, but right now we are paying a lot of attention to them. If things get worse we have options. There are commercial flights available, and in the worst case we can get on an expensive charter flight. But none of that seems likely in the short term.

For now we will keep on doing our thing. Teaching in sweats. Connecting with friends when we can. Wearing our masks and quietly staying calm and sane.

(If you would like to make yourself a little crazy watching a running total of how many people are sick Johns Hopkins has this site  that you can keep refreshing over and over again.)