Making Pizza - Neya Patel

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 GB cn it kr



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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Neya Patel

Neya Patel

Hi! I am a 23-year-old psychology graduate from the United Kingdom. I have a strong interest in human rights and the ever-changing world we now live in. I love meeting new people, experiencing different cultures and travelling to exotic destinations around the world.

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