“Masks became a routine so ridiculously fast. A year ago if I wear mask in Poland it will look at least suspicious…But now, man, everybody is looking at you with the will to tear you apart if the mask is not properly set on your face.”
“In Japan, we don’t have any rules like a shelter-in-place order, so I can go anywhere, whenever I want, but I personally think that’s the biggest reason why the coronavirus in Japan has gone away slower than other countries.”
“I had a very good time in quarantine. I’ve played the computer all day, slept a lot and played guitar and piano. The only shortcoming for me was that I couldn’t meet my friends and play with my band.”
“My mother works in the hospital and my father worked within the grocery store so we were always cautious about the way we did things. We talked at dinner about covid and all the crazy things it had people doing. We laughed about people wearing plastic bags or Stormtrooper masks (Starwars) when they went grocery shopping…The thought of covid was constantly on my mind, a stressor that was inescapable.”
“At home I feel best at the moment. I would not like to be stuck in another country and not see my family. I pass my time on the computer or I help my father in his garage. We can only go shopping with a mask and the shops are very full.”
“In the beginning of quarantine it was an extreme change, especially now that our online classes on team have officially started. I had to get used to looking after my brother, not being around my friends, because we practically live together and to not going on my phone every time I had nothing to do.”
“Only a month ago, you were longing for peace and quiet and a peaceful interruption in the exhausting daily routine, now you only wish for some kind of occupation, even a distraction from all the idleness and the abysmal emptiness of boredom. These spiritual paradoxes, which were formed within a month, prove the basic imperfection of man and our ever-changing desires and desires.”
” I would say overall I have enjoyed not having to go to school as they it has allowed me to avoid the early morning bus trips and the long days at school and I have been able to spend more time with my family.”
“The anger and frustration brought by a global pandemic has subsided and I have gotten used to the ways in which this is our new normal. I’ve gotten closer to many friends i didn’t expect to and have found myself becoming more and more family oriented. While I was used to always looking for the next location or opportunity that could come my way, this pandemic has given me the space and time to slowdown and really consider what I plan to do with my time and in the future.”
“[…]the situation led to many low-spirited moments. Firstly, it felt very sad knowing that I wouldn’t see any of my university friends until October, and I had not said proper goodbye to many of them when I left […] However, I would rather reflect on the bright side of things.”
Life in Quarantine: Witnessing Global Pandemic is an initiative sponsored by the Poetic Media Lab and the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis at Stanford University.
Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA),
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