A Trip Interrupted by COVID-19

Annie Deng's Experience Traveling to South Korea

It’s been over a month since I have left the US. So many things have happened and many changes. Let’s start from the beginning on 2/21 I got on my flight from Boston to Hong Kong. I had an 8-hour layover in Hong Kong and here I am to tell the story. They checked my temperature and I was able to board my flight to South Korea.

As soon as I got off the plane I was given a face mask. The workers had a full-body suit and goggles. I should have taken a picture but I felt like it would have been weird. The screening process took over an hour. We were required to download an app and to report any symptoms of COVID19 for the next 14 days. I was very impressed by their readiness. When I landed it was 2/22. At the time it was still considered safe to travel to SK. According to Worldmeters, the number of the case in SK was around 436.

Language is very important for communication which is how things just went downhill. Being the nervous individual that I am I ended up getting into the first taxi I saw which was a deluxe taxi. The taxi driver did not understand where I wanted to go so we ended up in the wrong place. The meter just kept running and I told myself I’ll probably waste a lot more money than this. Eventually, we made it to the building where students were being quarantined. Since I had a layover in Hong Kong I was required to self-quarantine for 14 days.

I tried communicating with the receptionist but it was to no avail. Apparently, my name was not on the list of people who needed to be quarantined so I kept going back and forth between the dorm and the
quarantine building. The buildings were on a hill too which made it more difficult with all the baggage I bought. No one really knew where I should go. Thankfully there was someone who spoke English and settled things.
I was very surprised when I was given snacks and a kettle. They had specific elevators for staff and students. It was wrapped from wall to wall and ceiling to ceiling. They were not taking any chances. The only furniture in my room was a desk and 2 foldable chairs. When I was younger I used to sleep on the floor for fun but now that I’m old it’s just painful. I was given
a thin futon to lay on the floor and a blanket. My main concern was food because I wasn’t given any information on how these 14 days would pan out. There were several notices on the door either written in Korea or Chinese. At the time it was 12am and I just didn’t feel like doing
anything.

Quarantine was not bad overall. I got to spend some time alone which was great. I felt very shelter and safe from the world. It felt like no one but me existed in the world. Some highlights were when I almost went insane from boredom because my converter broke. All my electronics were gonna die, I couldn’t leave and I didn’t have anything to pass time by. I spent a lot of time thinking. Thankfully the next day a miracle happened and it started working again.

Another day the automatic light turned on for no reason. I was convinced that the place was haunted. It was even more difficult to sleep after that. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse my next-door neighbor got released. I was truly alone. To keep myself in a good mood I started
planning what I’d do when I got out. It kept me in good spirits and from going insane.

- Annie Deng, Umass Boston