How Are You Getting By?

02/06/2020

Hi Friends,
I've purposely avoided posting new stories during the actions honoring .
Here is a REPOST of a recent interview with an African-American woman who recounts the racism she faced when trying to get treated for Covid-19.
It's just one example of the rampant racism Black people face - daily discrimination that often can lead to deadly consequences.
It's worth a read.
- Mary

https://www.howareyougettingby.com/post/covid-crisis-hasn-t-gone-away-while-racism-crisis-boils-to-the-surface

Dear readers, I have some terrific interviews ready for publication, but haven't released them over the past few days - because, with the U.S. focused on the protests over George Floyd's death, I really think that's where all of us should be focusing our attention. I'm also not interested in adding....

29/05/2020

"I really don’t sleep much at all. Sometimes, I even wake up in the middle of the night. One night, I slept just one hour, and I felt like I had been awake all night. I’m often tired and sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy. " - Laurent, 9 years old

"We go out shopping sometimes. I don’t like it when we go out. There’s a whole pandemic out there! We always wear masks." - Nina, 9 years old

Kids talking to other kids about life during the pandemic... Thank you to junior reporters Anna and Moira for these interviews!

https://www.howareyougettingby.com/post/kids-checking-in-with-the-kids

A couple of weeks ago many of you told us that you enjoyed our interviews with children - so we decided to speak to some more kids, but this time with kids also ASKING the questions. It was quite the successful experiment - it turns out that youngsters tend to open up more when they're speaking to s...

27/05/2020

"My clients have noticed that I have changed. They, too, have changed. They really need to talk right now. Most of them are lost. Our relationships have become much friendlier, there's less of a dominant-dominated power dynamic going on."

Today we bring you a refreshingly down-to-earth interview from the fancy world of French fashion. Creative Director Vincent Grégoire opens up about how the Covid crisis has made him question the very basics of his industry.

Interview by Tinka Kemptner.

https://www.howareyougettingby.com/post/paris-fashion-consultant-describes-industry-wide-soul-searching

Today our Europe reporter Tinka Kemptner brings us one of the most brilliant minds of the French fashion world. Vincent Grégoire is the Creative Director of the Paris-based fashion consulting agency Nelli Rodi, and is one of the most highly-quoted fashion consultants in the world. When new trends e...

22/05/2020

SHARED CUSTODY DURING COVID-19: THE STORY OF CORRIE AND GABI

For parents who share custody of their children, the Covid-19 lock downs have presented some unique challenges. Starting with: do the children continue to go back and forth between both parents, or is it safer - for social distancing purposes - to have the children ride out the pandemic in just one household?

I spoke to a Denver family for whom the lock down has created a particularly tough situation. Seventeen year-old Gabi lives with her father in San Diego, and her mother Corrie lives in Denver - which is a thousand miles away.

Normally, Gabi flies to Denver to spend one weekend every month with her mother. The two also spend a lot of vacation time together.

I spoke to Corrie and Gabi together on Zoom. They said that, even though they are used to living three states away from each other, this forced separation feels very different from their normal set-up.

HOW ARE YOU GETTING BY?

CORRIE: Gabi was born in San Diego and later we moved to Denver. Her father and I split up when she was seven. He wanted to go back to California. We agreed that Gabi would go with her Dad, and we would fly her back to Denver for a weekend every month. Of course, I go out there a a lot, too - for special events, and during some vacation times. We also try to do a summer road trip every year .

GABI: I just remember that my Dad was like, ‘we’re moving to California.’ They had probably talked about it and decided what they thought was best.

CORRIE: Gabi’s father is super close to his family in San Deigo. I thought that he should be able to live his life, and I should be able to live mine. I didn’t really think through the difficulties of having an interstate life. I did get pushback from some people around me. It was pretty hard-core - there were a lot of judgments for the first few years. But after that, it became more common to see kids getting on a flight by themselves. And also, people started to see how close Gabi and I are - so I think that changed their opinions.

GABI: I do remember that it was different not seeing my mom all the time. But you know, in a way it actually made us closer. Not seeing her all the time gave me the opportunity to reach out to her. We call and text each other all the time.

CORRIE: We had a family newsletter for awhile. Gabi has a stepbrother, Carl who’s now 15, and he lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. He’s my husband’s son, my stepson. The newsletter was a way for us all to keep up on each other’s news. One time we even did an interstate scavenger hunt - when I was on a road trip with Gabi, and my husband was on a road trip with Carl.

GABI: When the Covid-19 lock down happened, there wasn’t really much of a decision in terms of where I would stay. I was here in San Diego with my Dad, so staying here felt like the safest option. My mom was in New York City for her work and was about to go back to Denver, and she agreed that it made sense for me to stay in California. Plus, I have a ton of school work to stay on top of. So since the middle of March, I’ve been home with my Dad, and our dog.

CORRIE: As Gabi said, I was in New York City - specifically, in Harlem - when lock downs started, which obviously wasn’t the best place to be. I ended up renting a car and driving all the way back to Denver, because that felt safer than flying. I’m an auditor, I get contracts related to federal monitorships, and I was between contracts. And new contracts aren’t really showing up. I’ve only had one small contract since then. In terms of work, I’m just doing what a lot of people are doing - waiting this out as best as I can. The lack of contracts is definitely creating some financial stress for me. I’m not in a bad space, like a lot of people are - and I feel very fortunate. But - can I look at the future and say it’s going to be awesome, or even that it’s going to be ok? No, not at all. Will I have to change careers? At this point, I have no idea.

GABI: During the lock down, my mom and I text every day. And we call as often as we can. To be honest, I’m so overwhelmed with school that being apart right now hasn’t been a big issue. When we have time, we watch scary movies together.

CORRIE: I hate horror movies. But that’s how much I love her - I'm willing to watch them for her. Last night we watched The Haunting of Hill House.

GABI: My teachers have been assigning an extreme amount of work. The 11th grade is tough - I have to take the SAT and ACT [standardized tests for college admission]. I had signed up for those, and they’ve already been postponed twice. And next week, I have three Advanced Placement tests. I’m interested in studying psychology and human studies, also international affairs.

CORRIE: She has amazing grades!

GABI: I think I want to go to college on the East Coast. Especially since my mom is out there so much for work. I’d get the chance to see her a lot more.

CORRIE: I’m definitely hoping to see her more in her college life. My hope is to move to New York full-time, since most of my work is there. And I love it there. So Gabi’s college life will be a new phase for us, as mother-daughter.

I don’t really have any regrets, when I look at how her dad and I chose to raise her. It made us develop a very strong relationship, with a lot of honesty. And it challenged me to succeed, since I knew I had to be able to afford to fly her to me once a month. That financial pressure was a catalyst for me to grow my career.

I’d be curious what Gabi thinks - Gabi, do you have any regrets?

GABI: I would never think of doing this in a different way. It made us so close. I do realize how super lucky we are to do this. It’s a huge privilege. I love being in both places. California and Colorado are both so different and so special to me. And it’s quite cool when you tell people your situation. They say it’s cool and unique.

CORRIE: I’m so proud of you!

And I've got to say, her father really did an awesome job, with our co-parenting. I have zero complaints. We had an amicable relationship pretty much from the the beginning, and over time we figured out good communication between the two of us.

The lock down has been really hard for me. I’ve been very emotional about it. Even though we’ve been living apart for years, this is so different. It’s so strange to think that - if I fly out to see her, I risk bringing germs not only to her, but also to her dad, her grandparents, her whole space.

I do have a good reference point for myself. A few years ago I had to do a radioactive iodine treatment, for thyroid cancer. That required ten days of me going into total isolation. Gabi would call me every day, and she got me through it.

For me, the Covid lock down feels similar to that personal quarantine I had to do. The miles that separate us don’t matter. The isolation doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we love each other.

I can’t say anything else or I’ll cry!

More broadly, I guess that how Gabi and I live is representative of what a lot of people are going through right now - they have to endure a long period of not seeing the people who are closest to them. Gabi and I have grown used to that over the years, and have already built our ways of dealing with the physical distance.

GABI: Right now, I’m hoping I see my mom sooner rather than later. But I trust my parents to wait until it’s safe for my mom to come out here. I’ll just keep focusing on my school work.

CORRIE: Of course, I’m thinking - let’s see each other as soon as possible. I had a ticket to fly out there later this week. But if I were to use that, I would be coming into contact with Gabi, who’s in contact not just with her dad but also her grandparents. At this point, we're just going to keep waiting it out, wait until it really seems safer to see each other.

18/05/2020

CARING FOR IMMIGRANTS RELEASED FROM ICE CUSTODY, IN THE AGE OF COVID-19

Casa de Paz is a Denver nonprofit that offers critical services to immigrants who've been detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). First and foremost, it offers them a place to stay immediately upon their release. Since its founding in 2012, it has hosted over 3,000 immigrants from 74 countries.

Casa de Paz is the brainchild of Sarah Jackson - a Denver woman who works in the software industry. A church trip to the U.S.-Mexico border inspired her to take action to help undocumented immigrants - initially by opening her own home to individuals who'd just been released from the ICE detention center in the Denver suburbs.

Sadly but not unexpectedly, Covid-19 is hitting ICE detention centers hard - with a growing number of infections among immigrant detainees and staff. I reached out to Sarah to find out how the pandemic is affecting Casa de Paz's work. She explained that, thanks to the dedication of volunteers, the nonprofit has been able to continue hosting guests - and is rapidly adapting its operations to the Covid-19 era.

HOW IS THE CASA DE PAZ GETTING BY? We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before. Early on, there were days when 8-10 immigrants were released at once - that was amid the initial fears of Covid-19 outbreaks in the detention centers. When there were group releases like that, we would let our volunteers know that we had more people than usual to host. Within an hour, all of our volunteer slots would be full.

We literally have an abundance of volunteers. It’s been an honor to watch our volunteer community stay focused on what we’re supposed to be doing. As an organization, we are also very lucky to be surviving financially at a time when many nonprofits are struggling. Since we have no employees, we have much less overhead than most organizations.

RIGHT NOW, WE WELCOME 1-2 RELEASED IMMIGRANTS PER DAY. ALL OF OUR GUESTS COME FROM THE ONLY ICE DETENTION CENTER IN COLORADO, which is in Aurora [a suburb to the east of Denver].

Sometimes, we get a heads-up that an immigrant is going to be released. A guard might call us, or a lawyer, or a family member of the immigrant. But regardless, we have a volunteer outside the detention center every day, ready to offer our services.

When immigrants are released, some of them - but not many - have been tested for Covid-19. In prison populations, the virus is running rampant. So we assume that anyone leaving the detention center has been exposed.

Often, it seems that the detention center hasn't communicated proper safety measures for Covid-19 - so we bring the immigrants up to speed on that, in terms of wearing masks and sanitizing.

For the immigrants, it must be unnerving when they are released. The volunteer who is there to meet them can’t shake hands or give them a hug, and is wearing a mask and gloves. We’ve started having our volunteers pin a smiling photo of themselves on their shirt or jacket, so the immigrant can see what the volunteer actually looks likes with a friendly face - just like some doctors and nurses have started doing.

OBVIOUSLY, NO ONE WOULD EVER WISH FOR A WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC. BUT COVID-19 HAS PROVIDED OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO REEVALUATE WHAT WE WERE DOING BEFORE - AND EVEN TO ASK, WHAT DO WE DREAM ABOUT DOING NEXT?

The main change we're implementing is moving towards a model called “Las Casitas.” Since we started eight years ago, we’ve had one central home where we host our guests. But now, we’re starting to understand that - with no vaccine and insufficient testing for Covid-19 - a single house with many guests isn’t the safest environment. It creates a risk of infection and spread of the virus. Which brings us to Las Casitas. The idea is that volunteers will open their own homes, offering the guests an individual room, or in some cases a basement with its own entrance, etc. We'll have remote, video-based training for Casita hosts. And we'll provide them with a welcome kit that includes masks, gloves, disinfectant, and other items to keep everyone safe - and to ensure that the guests feel welcome.

Planning how the Casitas will work is really an opportunity, for us at Casa de Paz, to think through ways of doing hospitality differently - and honestly, better than what we’ve been doing until now. What we’ve been doing so far is great. We’ll often have five or even up to seven or eight guests at once, along with quite a few volunteers. But that many people in a home can sometimes be overwhelming. With the Casitas, it will be different. It can be more personalized to what each guest might want or need.

We will continue to keep the main house open, but we will operate it at a smaller capacity in terms of the number of guests there. And it will continue to serve as a base camp for us as an organization. I used to live at the house, and we have one volunteer - Oliver - who lives there now as a full-time host. Oliver and I have been lucky enough to experience just how rich your life becomes, living at the Casa de Paz. Now, the Casitas will be a way for others to experience that richness, by opening their homes to immigrants.

FINALLY, IT'S IMPORTANT TO SAY THAT OUR RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC IS MORE THAN JUST ADAPTING HOW WE OPERATE. WE ARE ALSO ACTIVELY CALLING ON ICE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS TO DO MASS RELEASES OF IMMIGRANTS IN CUSTODY.

We've just posted a toolkit on this, part of a national campaign called “Free them all."

There’s no good reason to keep immigrants in detention right now - during a public health crisis! But of course, as someone who's been working on this issue for years, I can tell you why they aren't releasing immigrants. It's because these detention centers are for-profit prisons.

Right now, due to the virus, ICE detention centers are jeopardizing the lives both of the detained immigrants and of all the people who work with them - including guards, attorneys, and immigration judges. Every time there's a Covid-19 outbreak, it’s putting a huge number of lives at risk - anyone inside the detention center, then all the healthcare workers and hospitals who have to treat those patients.

* I'm looking forward to reading Sarah's book, which will be released in July - this link will take you to one of the multiple vendors offering it for pre-order now: “The House That Love Built, Why I Opened My Door to Immigrants and How We Found Hope Beyond a Broken System” https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-house-that-love-built-sarah-jackson/1130949214.

17/05/2020

DISPATCH FROM ISLAMABAD: GRADUATING UNIVERSITY, WITH DREAMS CUT SHORT

Aleeyah Rizvi is among the tens of thousands of college seniors around the globe who were set to graduate this month – before the pandemic shut down most university campuses.

She's anxious about entering the next phase of her life at the start of a severe recession. Experts predict 18 million Pakistanis could lose their jobs in the coming months, and a third of the population could end up living below the poverty line.

Aleeyah's university is not holding a graduation ceremony – even though Pakistan relaxed its national lock down this week, with big cities seeing long lines of people outside shops and malls.

Reported cases of Covid-19 continue to rise in Pakistan, and there are fears that the Eid festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan could spark new outbreaks of the virus next weekend.

For Aleeyah - an ambitious film major at the National University of Science and Technology - it's been a lot to wrap her head around.

Interview by Midhat Ali Zaidi in Islamabad.

HOW ARE YOU GETTING BY? This year was meant to be the pinnacle of self-discovery, and would bring forth elements I’d be proud of myself for, for the rest of my life: 2020, the year I graduate – and, specifically, the year I get my degree in a subject no one believed would get me anywhere – a subject which is quite literally the only thing in life I’m passionate about – this had to be My Year.

I’m a control freak by nature, I like to be aware of every aspect of my life, every possible direction any decision could take me to, every probable consequence of every step I take – I analyze it to an unhealthy extent.

So, for someone who had meticulously planned out this year to churn out the best film she’s ever made, the most wholesome graduation she could have, and fly into the world of academia that she’d dreamt about, a global pandemic was not on my radar. At all.

FOR THE WORLD TO TELL ME, ONE FINE MORNING, THAT NEITHER ME NOR ANYONE AROUND ME COULD TELL WHAT TOMORROW WILL BRING, IT SENT ME INTO A QUITE PREDICTABLE EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN.

I had way too many questions that no one could answer for me: What will become of my film? When will I graduate? Will I ever step foot in my department again? How will I apply to grad school? Could I even go to my dream graduate school in this economy? Will I ever get a job? So many questions, and the only answer anyone had for me was, ‘I don’t know.'

And I hate not knowing.

SO, FOR THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF THIS NEW ‘NORMAL,' I WAS A WRECK TRYING TO UNDO A SITUATION WHICH HAD TAKEN OVER THE WORLD.

It took me over a month to find my bearings and understand that I couldn’t always have every possibility mapped out.

And that was the hardest thing to come to terms with: the fact that I really didn’t know.

It’s really easy to feel like you’re the only one being affected by a crisis, no matter the magnitude.

SO, TO REALIZE AND TRULY ACCEPT THAT THE ENTIRE WORLD IS, IN FACT, AS CLUELESS AS YOU ARE, IT’S ODDLY TERRIFYING AND CALMING SIMULTANEOUSLY. BECAUSE WHILE THE PANDEMIC PLUNGED THE ENTIRE WORLD INTO CRISIS TOGETHER, IT ALSO CREATED AN EERIE CORRELATION – A FEELING THAT HAD BEEN COMPLETELY MISSING FOR DECADES.

15/05/2020

AS FRANCE LIFTS LOCK DOWN, NOT ALL PARENTS READY TO SEND KIDS TO SCHOOL

Solange is a Taiwanese woman who has lived in France for the past twenty years. She works as an interpreter/translator and actress. She’s married to a French man, and they have an 11 year-old son, Enzo. They live in a suburb immediately to the west of Paris.

I spoke to Solange just as France started to gradually lift its eight-week lock down this week, with some shops re-opening, and some students returning to school.

Covid-19 has already taken over 28-thousand lives in France - a death toll similar to that of Spain, and just a bit lower than the number of deaths in Italy and the U.K.

Many French parents have expressed uncertainty about the safety of opening schools now; Solange has opted to keep Enzo home for the remainder of the semester.

HOW ARE YOU GETTING BY? France went under lock down on March 17th, but I haven’t left home since March 15. I’ve been worried about the virus since January. Since I’m Taiwanese, I’d been following the news closely back home, and I knew it posed a risk in that region. So by the time the virus got to Europe, I’d already been worried about it for a long time.

I remember March 15th very well - my son had a cold and I had a sore throat. Normally I wouldn’t have gone out. But it was the day of the mayoral election, and I really want a new mayor, so I was determined to vote. I put on a mask and went to cast my ballot, and I have not been out since then - except one time for work.

I’M A FREELANCE INTERPRETER FOR POLICE STATIONS AND COURTHOUSES. A lot of that work has been cancelled during the lock down, and some can be done over the phone. The police have requested that I come in for an in-person job just one time recently, and I agreed to do so.

That day, it was strange to be out. Normally there would have been tons of people in the streets, but of course there were just a few people here and there - since the lock down rules are very strict in France, you have to be able to prove that you have a valid reason to be out of your home.

The police station itself was closed to the public. I had to ring a bell for them to come let me in.

Inside the station, it was tricky to respect the social distancing rules. I tried to stay at least a meter away from the police officers and the woman for whom I was interpreting, but it wasn’t really possible. I wore a mask but most of the police officers were not wearing them.

THE CASE I WAS CALLED IN FOR WAS VERY INTERESTING. A Taiwanese woman had been brought to the station after having a run-in with police. It turned out that she had been living at Charles de Gaulle airport! She told me that she had been traveling through Europe and was in Switzerland when some European countries had started to close their borders, in mid-March. She was due to fly out of Italy, on a flight to Australia, but her airline changed her flight so it was leaving from Paris instead. When she got to Paris, it turned out that Australia was no longer allowing incoming flights. So she found herself stuck here in France.

When I met her it was mid-April, and by then she had been living at the airport for close to a month. She told me that the French government had set up a sort of a camp at the airport for people like her who were stranded, putting out military stretchers for them to sleep on - not beds or cots, but medical stretchers! And there was an organization offering meals to everyone in the same situation she was in.

She said that she caught Covid there at the airport, but that it wasn’t a bad case of it, and that she recovered quickly. Surprisingly, she didn’t seem panicked; she seemed to be taking it all in stride. I don’t know what happened to her after I served as her interpreter at the police station. I assume that arrangements were made for her to get back to Taiwan.

WHEN I WAS AT THE STATION, I CHATTED WITH THE POLICE OFFICERS ABOUT THEIR WORK DURING THE LOCK-DOWN. They said they are only dealing with urgent cases. And that they’ve been placed on reduced hours and also have to do some “on call” shifts in which they are ready to come to work if any emergencies arise.

As for crimes during the lock-down, the biggest issue - the police officers said - is burglaries of empty apartments. It seems that, when the lock down was about to start, a lot of Parisians left the city and went to their country homes.

They said that the other big issue right now is domestic violence. They get a lot of calls for that.

This might sound paranoid, but on my way home from the police station, I realized that I had taken a lot of risks of catching the virus - for just a few hours of work! I had gone into the station where, even if it was less busy than usual, there were still quite a few officers, as well as suspects in custody.

I’M FORTUNATE TO HAVE A LOT OF WORK THAT I CAN DO FROM HOME - WRITTEN TRANSLATIONS. That said, it’s tough to work when the whole family is at home. My husband is a theater actor, so of course he is not working these days. And my son is home, too. Usually it’s easier to try to get my work done late at night.

I know I’m lucky to have work, but to be honest I’m quite stressed out and annoyed by it. I’m really not motivated to get it done.
I ask myself, why am I working so much, if there’s a possibility that we don’t have a future?
It’s an absurd feeling.

When all this started, I was worried mostly about my loved ones in Taiwan.
Now that the virus is in France, I feel that, well, we just don’t know if we are safe or not.
There’s so much we don’t know.
And yet - despite the uncertainty - I have to deal with work pressure.
It’s tearing me apart.
I have the impression that I’m living in a world that’s not real.
We’re not sure about anything.

I FEEL LIKE I’M LIVING IN TWO PARALLEL WORLDS.
ON THE ONE HAND, WE HAVE OUR WORK ROUTINES, THINGS WE JUST HAVE TO KEEP DOING, NORMAL LIFE.
THAT INCLUDES THE ROUTINES WITH OUR CHILDREN - THEIR SCHOOL WORK, AND TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THEIR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES.
ON THE OTHER HAND, WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE FUTURE WILL LOOK LIKE, OR IF WE WILL HAVE A FUTURE!
IT’S LIKE YOU NEED TWO PERSONALITIES TO STAY SANE.
TWO PERSONALITIES, THAT ARE EACH WORKING FROM THEIR OWN SCRIPT.
IT’S LIKE TWO VERY DIFFERENT MOVIES ARE BEING FILMED AT THE SAME TIME.

Here’s another anecdote about the absurdity of what we are living through. Our town - our suburb of Paris - placed an order for cloth masks so they could provide them to residents. They had planned to deliver a mask to every household the weekend before the lock down ended. But the truck that was due to deliver 50-thousand masks to us - out of a total of half a million masks it had on board - was robbed at the Spanish border. And all the masks were stolen!

When I heard this story on the news, it felt almost comical - like yet another absurd episode during the very strange time of lock down.

MY HUSBAND IS THE TYPE WHO LIKES TO GO OUT TO DO OUR GROCERY SHOPPING AND GET FRESH FOOD - AND FRESH AIR - EVERY DAY. So the lock down is hard for him, in that way.

As for Enzo, it doesn’t seem to bother him too much to have to stay home. Normally he’s very busy with after-school activities, so this has given him time to rest. We’re no longer rushing from one activity to another on a tight schedule.

What’s missing for Enzo is physical activity. Some days he goes out with his dad, to the park close to our apartment. It’s a very big park, and technically it’s closed but people have been going in there anyway. People take walks and exercise, and they quickly scatter when they see police coming.

France started opening up again over the weekend - that includes some schools, but it depends on the age of the kids and lots of other factors. In our case, the parents were given the choice - so we have decided to keep Enzo home with for now.

Enzo has also been able to continue his accordion and clarinet lessons from home, although often it’s tough to get online - there’s not enough bandwidth since everyone wants to get online at the same times during the day. Sometimes with his music teacher we just have to send videos back and forth on WhatsApp, rather than doing an actual virtual lesson.

He also takes Chinese language lessons online, and does an online chess club. So he has quite a lot to keep him busy.

FINANCIALLY, WELL, INCOME IS ALWAYS A WORRY. All my work is freelance work, which is not steady - and the pay generally comes quite a long time after the work is actually done. So I do have work now, but no revenue; I have no idea when I’ll be paid.

As for my husband, he is a theater actor, and is what the French call an intermittant - which basically means that as long as he works a certain number of hours per year, then he is guaranteed a monthly income subsidized by the government. But in recent years that program has faced a lot of budget cuts. And like with everything, we don’t know what the future holds - since all upcoming plays have been cancelled, how will theater workers get their required hours in?

HERE IN FRANCE, I HAVEN’T HEARD ABOUT A SPIKE IN ANTI-ASIAN RACISM DUE TO THE VIRUS. I hope that won’t happen. The fact is that racism is always present. I’m not worried about it, but that’s probably because I have lived in France for so long - I feel like I would be well able to defend myself against anything. I think I would feel much differently if I was a younger foreign student who had just arrived here, for example.

I asked Enzo if he had heard any anti-Asian comments, when he was still in school. He said no,
but that at the place where he takes Chinese lessons, the older kids talk about having had to deal with anti-Chinese comments in their own schools.

FOR ME, THERE IS ONE UNEXPECTED SILVER LINING RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS THAT THE PANDEMIC MAY FINALLY BE HELPING PEOPLE REALIZE SOME OF THE TRUTH ABOUT HOW THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT OPERATES. What I find disturbing - above all - is the manipulation and propaganda, both inside China and in terms of the image the Chinese government shows the world.

There’s a Chinese citizen who wrote a diary about living through the lock down in Wuhan, a diary that was published in Taiwan. Of course, it recounts an entirely different perspective than what we hear from Chinese media. The Chinese government doesn't want the world to know the ugly reality of what happens in their country. In Taiwan, due to our history, we have learned to be skeptical of what Chinese leaders present as truth. And I have a feeling that now, more than in the past, France is opening its eyes to this as well

The Chinese embassy in France has sent out some very aggressive tweets, in which they were very critical of France’s response the pandemic. The French Foreign Minister called the Chinese Ambassador in for a formal meeting, but it seems that there were no real consequences for China. Which I find strange.

I AM NOT A FAN OF DONALD TRUMP ON MANY THINGS, BUT I DO REALLY ADMIRE THE FACT THAT HE STANDS UP TO CHINA, AND THAT HE’S NOT AFRAID OF CONFLICT WITH THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT.