THE END OF NORMAL EVERYDAY LIFE (For now, until when?)

A post about finishing university and living with the effect of Coronavirus.

The start of February concluded 3.5 years of university life for me here in Hokkaido, Sapporo.

All I have left is a couple of short lectures and a hefty 8,000-word graduation thesis. But my normal everyday classes are all checked off, my final semester a blur of long days squinting at the Japanese kanji on the printed handouts of my professors wondering what the hell was written there. Eventually I just gave up and stared absentmindedly at my professors standing in front of the theater full of students (half of which were asleep) hoping I could grasp some scintilla of information.

Somehow I managed to pass all my classes (surprising myself) after a month and a half of non-stop report writing, where sessions of typing would start in English and end in Japanese or vise-versa. My brain hurt a little (a lot). Since returning to school after the summer holidays ended in September 2019, things have gone fast. Catching a spare moment was hard and those nights when all I wanted to do was sit around watching Netflix I was instead sitting in front of my keyboard trying to figure out what was the most appropriate words for human remains and burial grounds in Japanese. Also struggling to give my opinion on human euthanasia in Japanese (the word written as 安楽死 (anrakushi) which can be read as easy-fun-death, but I am pretty they were going for the alternative and more appropriate reading of peaceful-easy-death). For some reason, my reports for this past semester were a little dark.

But as of the third week of February, I have been freed from school basically from now until graduation in March 2021.

In Japan, an undergraduate degree is usually 4 years, the last year of which is usually spent doing 就活 (shukatsu) which is the foreboding (to me anyway) word for ‘job searching’ in Japan. The idea is that by the time you graduate at the end of your 4th year of education (March) you will be waltzing into your new job without a moment to breathe. The ‘summer holiday of your life’ 人生の夏休み (jinsei no natsu yasumi) aka. University will reach an end and you will become a ‘fully-fledged member of society’ 社会人 (shakai jin) by working full-time.

It’s no wonder that most students in my lecture classes were sleeping (possibly after a late-night drinking with their sports clubs) if they went to class at all. Also if you managed not to forget the deadline for your semester report these sleeping students probably would still pass their classes.

I don’t think getting through Japanese university is all too hard. Low standards make life a little easier for illiterate foreigners like myself at least.

However, after a period where my schedule was constantly full, suddenly I have found myself forced to stop.

Due to the coronavirus that has had a massive effect across the world, Hokkaido which is the prefecture in Japan with the most cases of it, businesses are closing doors, schools are closing before their holidays and tourism establishments such as hostels and resorts are seeing severely reduced numbers of customers. Some places have even closed up for two months as a measure to prevent bankruptcy.

Sadly I as both hostel staff and as a teacher, as much as I want to live in oblivion of the virus, the reality of it all hits me each day. Classes are canceled, private students are afraid to go outside and at the hostel I work at, public events have been canceled and cooking has been forbidden. I sit behind the reception hoping my smile is reaching my eyes because no one can see my lips behind the mask I must wear.

Some companies within Japan have actually told their staff:

“Don’t get Coronavirus!”

“Do not go out after work or on weekends. Stay inside!”

However, their fears are less related to health but more to the business’s closure if a staff member contracts the virus.

While some workers must work from home and not go to work at all.

Some restaurants around Japan have even been putting up signs on their doors,

“Japanese only. Coronavirus measures!”

Is this racism justified by a virus?

Some stores have completely closed up. Drug stores in Tanukikoji, an arcade shopping street in Sapporo have printed notices on their roller doors… “because of coronavirus…”

And each day I ride my bicycle through the melting snow, as I wait at traffic lights and look down at the ground I constantly see surgical masks laying in puddles. The people in the street I pass are unsmiling. Maybe they are smiling but when everyone has a mask across the faces it is hard to tell.

I almost feel guilty not wearing a mask outside. I am a minority.

It is all really ominous. Also frustrating. Because all I do is question how necessary are some of the measures people are taking?

Can’t we just wash our hands?

Are masks even that useful if you’re not the one sick?

Perhaps large scale events are not the best currently. But if you cancel a marathon perhaps consider giving the participants their money back. Also if you’re going to cancel a concert, perhaps tell people a day in advance?

Should people be afraid to go eat ramen?

Why would they close gyms?

Before looking at the media and reading the articles plastered with words like, “State emergency,” “Man dies,” “5 more cases,” why does no one think about how many people the average influenza kills every year? (approx. 646,000 worldwide) Or how many people die of cancer and other diseases?

Or perhaps look at the statistics of the people who actually die of coronavirus, which is about 2% of the people infected, most of which are individuals at high-risk such as elderly people, or those with already existing respiratory health conditions.

Yes. We should probably try to prevent another virus being added to the repository of things that can kill us.

But we don’t need to stop the world. Do we?

And must the media purposely thrive on people’s insecurities by spamming article upon article of “Man dies of coronavirus” etc etc etc etc. What about the essential details like that man’s age? His health background?

People are scared of new things and we still do not know everything about this virus.

But the media is playing with our fear.

Then society questions their governments for not doing more.

So then the government act to appease the people.

And somehow every day life stops moving like it used to.

This is society’s virus. Society scares me the most.

I hope Japan can recover from this major economic hit.

And summer brings normalcy back to my home.