Staying Sane in Isolation: Tips from Our Sister City
2020 May 18
by Yale-China Fellow Jesús Yáñez, Yali 2019-2021
During this time of COVID-19 lock down in America, we can learn some lessons from our friends and colleagues in mainland China who are just emerging from this same situation. So I reached out to my network in Changsha, Hunan and at Yali High School, where I have been teaching as a Yale-China Fellow for 6 months. My goal was to find out what their lock downs were like and learn from their experiences to hopefully ease our own here in the USA. Below is a list of isolation advice, graciously shared from their experiences.
But before we dive in, we must remember that the COVID-19 lock down in China is different from our own and the experiences reflected here represent just a small group of people. Changsha—New Haven’s Sister City—is only two hours from Wuhan by high-speed rail. Bill, a former Yale-China staff member from Changsha, recounted how the initial days were relatively calm. He said that at first, one only needed to wear a mask to carry on with daily tasks. My friend Papaya, an English teacher, explained that the initial panic and worry happened during the Chinese Spring Festival, which meant that most folks were already home with relatives and small businesses were closed for the holiday. That, coupled with rainy weather, meant that most people weren’t out much anyway. As news about the outbreak spread, the situation in Changsha became much more serious. According to Bill, Changsha was never officially locked down, but the city was on high alert. He mentioned that people were still able to come and go, but if you indicated that you were from Hubei Province (where Wuhan is located) officials might stop you to take your temperature. A teacher from Yali reported that some residential complexes were extremely strict, requiring people to sign in and out when coming and going, and some allowing only those who lived there to enter. Most folks had no choice but to remain at home from mid-January until late March. I’m glad to report that, as of late-April, things are slowly returning to normal.
As my friends and colleagues in Changsha start to return to their daily lives after 10 weeks of disruption and self-isolation, here in the U.S. we are in the midst of a disruption to ours. Here are tips and advice passed on from Changsha friends on how they managed life during COVID-19.
Develop a daily routine to help balance obligations and to manage stress. Activities friends integrated into their daily schedules included exercise, planned family time, and “me time.” Papaya, a certified health aficionado, switched to a bodyweight workout since all gyms were closed. Dan, an English teacher, focused on yoga exercises he could easily do at home. Others developed new running/walking routes, often within their own communities. And as the weather improved some took to walking along the riverside while maintaining social distancing rules. Bill took his newfound free time to explore new hobbies: writing and cooking in between working and parenting. He shared that he found keeping a routine during this time was extremely difficult, so routines had to be extremely flexible to accommodate unforeseen changes.
Keeping in contact with friends and family members is important. Our friends in Changsha found creative ways to stay in touch via online means. Almost everyone I talked to mentioned playing online video games with friends and family. Lesley, a teacher at Yali, specifically enjoyed taking her usual interest in mahjong into the virtual realm. She played games against friends and family as a means of staying connected. Dan spoke of how he reconnected with old friends through online mobile games and that this helped both alleviate boredom and rebuild lost connections. Bill mentioned keeping tabs on all his friends and families via WeChat moments and enjoying seeing people spend time with family and developing new hobbies.
It is important to help children maintain routines as well. One person said that these routines should be followed where possible, but that they allowed for a great deal of flexibility for both their and their children’s mental health. Lesley developed a new reading hobby with her youngest son and incorporated that into their routine. Others played video games and watched new TV series with their families. But they also added that it was a good idea to give their children time by themselves for the sake of both parents and children.
Aside from washing hands frequently and wearing face masks, people also disinfected their shoes before entering their homes, removed any plastic coverings from groceries before bringing them inside, and disinfected all belongings as much as possible before entering their homes.
If you are using alcohol-based products to disinfect items inside your home, be mindful of any fire from things such as lighters or gas stoves. There were cases in China of folks having burned down their homes or apartments because of this!
Limit the number of times you go to the grocery store. Most people I talked to said they tried to order most of their groceries online when possible or to go out only once a week. Some people even said that using up all of their groceries became a fun challenge that forced them to try out or create new recipes with what they had on hand—especially for those who had decided to pick up cooking as a new hobby during their time at home.
Gardening helped to keep some folks busy. If you have the space, they recommend starting a small garden or just growing some herbs on your windowsill. They said this was a good opportunity for alone time and was something they could add to their routine.
It’s Temporary! Finally, multiple people advised me to recognize that this situation is only temporary and it will end soon. Making this realization for them helped give perspective on the current situation, which assuaged some of their anxieties. They felt blessed just to be safe and healthy. And they mentioned that if there is nothing more you can do to help, just stay home!