Quarantine Shenanigans

Oh the ups and downs of moving abroad in the midst of a pandemic.

The idea itself sounds insane, right? A global pandemic. Borders closed. Businesses shut down. Let me just fly across an ocean to a new country I’ve never been to. Alone. Haha even I find the whole idea of it entertaining. 

Getting a job abroad all in itself was a process, but that was only the beginning. Last minute covid tests being printed upon arrival, quarantine payments that didn’t go through, 14hr days during orientation, no idea of who was bringing me to my school, no idea where my apartment was, no idea of when I would actually begin working. It’s been a journey to say the least. 

So how has it been? 

Quarantine actually wasn’t that bad. But I’m someone who adapts and enjoys chill time, so my two weeks passed pretty smoothly. The main, and only, downside was the wifi. The hotel I was quarantined in had spotty wifi at times, so it made certain applications difficult to nearly impossible to use unless it was 2am (which I was awake then during the first three days). Thankfully I had a temporary data plan, so that was able to keep me connected to those back home and with other expats—feels slightly weird that I’m considered one, not going to lie—and doing daily video calls. If I hadn’t had that, it would have definitely felt different.

I was grateful for the two weeks because it allowed me to smoothly adjust to the 13 hour time difference within the first week. If I had to go running into orientation and then my job right after landing I’m not sure how I would have done with the messed up sleep schedule.

My daily life was pretty much the same during those two weeks. What was hard was I barely was able to do my language classes due to the wifi (but it worked for Netflix? Something with the video players or something, but I really was trying to learn and not just watch tv). So my time was often scrolling on my phone, reading, journaling, video chatting, and the occasional workouts I did throughout the week. Super exciting stuff. 

Actually, the most exciting part of my day was probably meal time haha. Three designated meal times, but you never really knew when they would be there or what it would be. Some days they rang my doorbell and other days they didn’t, so I would usually listen for the rustling bags and then retrieve them to see what meal we had.

 Breakfasts consisted of rice porridge or a sandwich and lunch and dinner were bento boxes… usually served cold by the time I got mine. Every meal was served with a juice box….and if I’m honest I still have a few left over because I couldn’t drink through them all at that time.

One of the most unexpected parts of my quarantine experience was my window. I wasn’t very hopeful for a view, but when I checked in, my room not only had a wide view of Seoul, but a balcony. 

Covid temperature checks were twice daily on an app, and partway through the second week my covid app erased my info and I got a call in Korean and had to figure out how to log back in. Miscommunication on accepted payment led me to leave my credit card out in a hallway for one night (not nerve-wracking at all) only for it to be denied and I didn’t know until later and was able to successfully pay with a second card. There were also two covid tests required, one at the beginning and end of quarantine that came at an unexpected time the first time, and an unknown day the second one, so it was just the beginning of Korea’s surprises.