在新冠肺炎疫情期間重新和失去聯絡的朋友聯絡
新的疫情生活比想像中的還有趣
United Kingdom, Northern Europe
Story by Neya Patel. Translated by 柯亭伃
Published on November 1, 2020.
This story is also available in
英國已經在疫情的籠罩下六個月了,但是我還是對這個一直不停變化的事就感到很驚奇。我回憶起之前在二月的一個下午,我去朋友家吃晚餐,和朋友們討論著我們即將出發的旅行:伊比薩島、開曼群島,還有加拿大。我其中一個朋友剛從中國回來,他告訴了我們關於武漢的病毒,我當時對武漢的死亡人數感到很驚訝,我從來都沒想過疫情會蔓延至英國,我也無法想像我不能給我家人和朋友擁抱。
一個月後,這成為了殘酷的事實。鮑里斯・強森[1]下達了英國的封城令,人們被要求待家中以及遵守社交距離規則。「我曾經的正常生活變成了奇怪的未知。」我對此感到訝異。在封城的一開始,我就像很多人一樣,感到壓力很大,加上我擔心我的家人和朋友們。在疫情還未來到英國之前,我的生活總是非常忙綠,總是被無限量的工作和社交資訊轟炸。
這病毒改觀了我的觀點,且重新定義了那些我認為的「必要」。新的政府政策禁止我們和朋友和親戚見面,所以我找到了一個新的溝通方式: 每週Zoom通話!因此,我和在世界各國、失去聯絡的朋友重新有了聯絡,在每週Zoom通話中包含了問答比賽、生日慶祝,還有卡拉ok晚會(儘管我唱歌很難聽),還有一次下午,我們辦了以海灘為主題的Zoom派對,我吃著烤肉和朋友線上聊天。這樣新的疫情生活比想像中的還有趣,Zoom一開始是用來開會議的,現在生出了新的日常。
六月開始,六人以下、保持兩公尺安全距離可以聚會[2],受《Come Dine with Me》的啟發[3],我的Zoom朋友圈接受了挑戰,舉辦了聚會活動。每個朋友每個星期在他們的花園,舉辦以不同國家的菜餚為主題的晚宴,我舉辦了以地中海為主題的晚宴,從塔帕斯到果仁蜜餅一系列的菜餚,我們發揮創意隨每週的晚宴準備了娛樂項目,包括賓果和皮納塔。一開始我對於和彭朋友們重新團聚感到擔心不安,因為可以見到他們而感到興奮,但是我怕我會社交尷尬,還好我的朋友們也是相同的感覺,我們其實可以不用感到擔心。維持安全距離沒有想像中的難,我坐離大家兩公尺,而且我可能用太多乾洗手!
疫情讓我保持、增長,和建立友誼,也擴展了我的味蕾,我走出了舒適圈,適應了這種新穎的生活方式。多年之後,我會回憶起這非凡的2020年,我不只會記得疫情的重創,但我也會記得疫情如何使我和失去聯絡的朋友重新聯絡,我雖然不能擁抱我的家人和朋友,但我沒有失去希望,我祈禱這團結的友誼會繼續茁壯,遠於這史無前例力艱苦的日子。
註腳
[1] 鮑里斯・強森是英國的首相,2020年三月23日首相對新冠肺炎(COVID-19)的報告。資料從https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-address-to-the-nation-on-coronavirus-23-march-2020
[2] 新冠肺炎:從六月1日開放六人聚會。資料從https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-52841999/coronavirus-gatherings-of-six-people-allowed-from-1-june
[3] 《Come Dine with Me》是英國的電視節日,關於四個陌生人輪流舉辦晚宴給彼此,並且依據食物和整體經驗給予分數。
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