April

Well, as crazy as everything has been, as Shanghai opens up again, we've enjoyed getting to wait in lines using social distancing and get tickets into places like the Shanghai Wild Animal Park and our neighboring park's fully disinfected amusement park.  We wear masks everywhere we go (even if we take them off for pictures), often have to use hand sanitizer before entering places, have our temperature taken entering public spaces, and sometimes need to show our digital code saying that we have been in Shanghai long enough not be a threat of carrying Covid-19.  

While Lent was more real than ever as far as a connection to 40 days in the wilderness, Easter has been a bit of a rising here in Shanghai.  The girls enjoyed their egg and candy hunt and we're still finding the random egg.  The girls continue to enjoy watching the tadpoles grow in the complex's tiny pond.  Cards, iPads, our kite, and even helping water the complex flowers have been activities of late. Week 12 of e-learning starts this week and the girls don't have much of an end in sight.  Ben is rumored to be going back in early May, but we shall see.

 

Our friends have all tested negative for Covid-19 upon re-entry to the country and then sat their 14-day quarantines and are now allowed outside their apartments again.  We are happy to see them, go for walks together, get dinner, yoga, and just hang out.  The girls are happy to see people who aren't their parents again and even welcomed a babysitter for the change of pace.

We were wrong; we are sorry

Well, with plenty of evidence and a world turned upside-down, it is clear that we were wrong in our original assessment of COVID-19.  Given the success of the measures enacted in Shanghai in January, we initially underestimated the threat. We apologize if we misled anyone and we are sorry we didn't take this more seriously in the beginning. 

We remain healthy and we are very grateful. We are still out of school; life in Shanghai is returning to normal in some regards, but not in others. 

We are very concerned for everyone in the US and around the world, and we wish for everyone to be safe and healthy.  We miss all of you and pray for you often.  We sincerely hope that all of the amazing people fighting this virus in a multitude of ways will be successful.  We hope that the preventative measures and the care given can be equitable and effective.  Sending our love!

The shoe is on the other foot

As fear of COVID-19 grips the rest of the world, China seems to have navigated the worst of the crisis and our lives are beginning to return to normal.  Parks and entertainment venues are gradually reopening, the school building is being prepped with a week-long deep clean (along with numerous other steps), and even the traffic is annoying again.  The girls have done well with balancing and handling their e-learning; we've been proud of their work so far and hope that can continue as long as needed.  On top of the school work, we've been trying to make sure Nina learns the times tables; she has now learned how to email her teachers with attachments.

Overall, while we are excited to be turning a corner here in China, it feels weird that what was once the eye of the storm is arguably now the safest place from the virus.  Through stringent measures and a strong collective mindset, China accomplished a great deal in order to help curb the spread.  They are fortunate to be able to miss work for 6 weeks, obtain healthcare for free, and need not worry about their neighbors hoarding toilet paper.  We often talked about how things would go if this happened in the U.S. and we were wrong about some things and right about others.  We are heartened to see that the vast majority of people in the states are doing what they can to contain the spread, and are trying to protect the immune-compromised and the elderly.  We are surprised that America has gone to such lengths as to cancel sporting events, schools, concerts, and other events.  Sadly, we were not surprised to see people purposely ignoring quarantine, getting on flights while infected, rioting in the streets, and we are concerned how the American people will cope if the school and work delays are as prolonged as they have been here.

 

Ultimately, we are hopeful that the U.S. and rest of the world can persevere through this as China and other countries have.  China has 1.4 billion people, and through concerted effort, only 3000 people have perished so far (any loss of life is sad and 3000 is not to be written off, but 3000/1387000000 is a percentage we can aim for).  Korea did not lock down in the same way, but after massive testing (a quarter-million in about a month), their numbers of cured patients are outnumbering the newly infected.  We are encouraged by the global support seen already as China is sending doctors and blood of healed patients to Italy to help their fight and Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, donating half a million testing kits and a million masks to America's fight.

While we were never overly concerned about our own health here due to our age and health, we are deeply sad to see this virus spread to places where we have friends and family with immune deficiencies.  So the shoe is now firmly on the other foot and we are rooting for you and hoping that everyone can remain safe.

Leaping into... our apartment

E-learning continues as it appears the Naks are giving up going to school for Lent this year.  While it's not a set schedule every day, we've gotten better at taking family breaks, going for walks, and playing games like cards, puzzles, bananagrams, frisbee and badminton baseball.

The girls have been working hard and having to use computers a bit more than we'd like.  They have "zoom" sessions throughout the day so they can see and interact with their teachers and classmates, and they have some fun during the calls.  PE lessons have been some of their favorites, nothing like 60 people all dancing and jumping together all over the world!

 

 

With all the device usage, we've had some struggles doing regular activities.  A funny end result occurred when Kara ordered groceries on her phone instead of the computer and we somehow ended up with 13 pounds of cucumbers.  As a school break, the girls had fun going to a bunch of neighbor's apartments and offering free cucumbers as a show of solidarity.  Many of the neighbors were happy and some even offered trades of other fruits and veggies.  The girls are asking for us to order too much next time so they can do it again.

While the number of cases in China is dropping significantly (4 new cases in Shanghai in the last 13 days), we are sad to see that the virus is spreading to so many other parts of the world.