The SARS-Cov-2 outbreak near the end of 2019 was a shock to many of us with
its strength and resilience, and not in a good way. It has been a few months
since the sudden transition to online classes so I would like this blog post
to be part of my memory of the series of events that unfolded.
This is my first ever blog post on this blog, but it need not be perfect. This
blog is part hobby, part memory, and part journal. My name is Passawit
Kaovilai, and my nick name is Tiger. You can find out more about me at
my website, and
potentially in the future posts on this blog. If you find potential mistakes
do please let me know by commenting below.
In December of 2019, the news broke about the disease, no major countries had
announced a lockdown as of yet.
A new semester
I packed my bags for a new semester starting at the North Carolina State
University preparing for my international flight.
Destination, Raleigh-Durham
International [RDU]. Origin,
Suvarnabhumi Airport [BKK].
My flight routes were Bangkok, Thailand to Seoul, South Korea to Atlanta,
Georgia to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. [DL-7918, DL-7851, DL-2034].
My family wasn't worried about me getting infected then since the virus has
yet said to be spreading outside of China.
The plane I had just left coming from Seoul arriving at Atlanta
On a side note, I finally brought over a Nestlé Milo chocolate milk from
Thailand. I do not think these are sold anywhere in the United States.
Let me know if you do!
The Fall Semester began as usual in North Carolina until March arrived. The
first COVID-19 case in North Carolina was confirmed by Governor Roy Cooper
from a person who was "exposed to the virus at a long term care facility". A second case was confirmed within a week.
The shock wave
Coronavirus cases pours into
Wake county
faster and faster. Things spiraled quickly. As we near the end of March, my
family and relatives were beginning to worry about situation numbers in the
United States; Especially now that my state had a growing number of cases.
North Carolina State University had formed a
Corona-virus Task Force
a few weeks prior and now they have made the decision for us students and
faculty to take a week off to prepare to transition to a complete online
instruction. My
Target Archery class
at the time were the most missed personally.
My Samsung Galaxy Watch Sport even now have a new watch face for the
craziness. It tells me to wash hands! It even count downs the seconds I have
to wash my hands for. Certainly not as cool as
Apple Watch's automatic detection
of a similar feature tho!
The Evacuation
The day had arrived when I finally decided with encouragement from families to
evacuate to Thailand. The number of cases were far less with stronger border
controls in a smaller country. Everyone felt it would be safe for me there. So
I bought the ticket and flew the next day.
I continued to have classes online, but this time, with a 12 hour difference!
Collaborations between Eastern Time Zone and Bangkok Time is not a simple
task. Many of the professors were accommodating and allowed my assignments and
tests to be re-scheduled if needed. I am thankful for their help. It is also
hard on some of my teammates when doing group work. In the end, everything
worked out okay.
Being home with my parents for so long, there are certainly many benefits. We
got to go try different restaurants, and visit various malls -- with social
distancing, constant hand sanitizing, and a mask -- obviously.
Initially the country had night curfews to prevent people from going to
nightclubs and unessential activities. As time went on, we got to implement a
check-in system called
ไทยชนะ (Thai-Chana, meaning "Thais will Win" against the virus). Basically we had to
scan QR-Codes to say where we had been, so if someone is ever found to be
positive with COVID-19, that we will also be notified and get tested. Contact
tracing, kind-of.
Going into the storm
North Carolina State University reactivation plans were announced and we are
required to have access to campus. Thankfully, the classes where social
distancing cannot be implemented will be forced online. However, I think it
would have been a better choice to stay completely online for the time being,
for the majority of the student body. The campus will be open for business as
usual, with a dash of social distancing.
This meant that it would almost be time for my return to the US. The
university is not guaranteeing that all classes will be fully online unlike in
March. My return flight to Raleigh early in the Summer to attend my internship
were cancelled (and so my internship as well). I got the full ticket price
back in terms of credits for future flights. I felt relieved at first but then
realizing the future flights returning to Raleigh are becoming more expensive
everyday due to the limits on middle seats. But safety comes first right?
Regarding classroom safety, the university posted the following video.
About a month went by till now, almost July. Curfews were finally lifted but
many non-essentials are still barred from operating. We can go to restaurants
now without as restrict a social distancing guideline. Restaurants no longer
request us to check-in with the QR-Codes.
Even with the new in-class social distancing requirements where classrooms are
capped at 50% capacity, my parents still have doubts about the safety of being
in the United States. With so many active cases compared to that of Thailand,
I can empathize. I have also yet to know fully whether my schedule will be
fully online or not. If it is completely online, I would probably want to
study in Thailand; even if it meant waking up at night. Yet, I doubt I can
take final exams completely overseas.
I am currently taking safe airline recommendations for a return flight to
Raleigh from Bangkok. Leave a comment below!
This story continues... after our sponsor -- COVID-19. [to be updated...]
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