I never thought that it could be so difficult to travel one day. After deciding to go back to Hong Kong, I began to search the information of the quarantined hotels, learnt from friends who had been quarantined, and started to set a 14-day quarantine plan.
After a long and arduous journey, I finally arrived at the quarantine hotel! When I opened the door of the hotel room and saw the incredible sea view, I felt a load off my mind. I told myself: this 14-day quarantine period should not be too tough with such a beautiful scenery.
To make my 14-day quarantined life full and happy, I planned to:
1. Complete the company's project marketing information and data analysis reports on weekdays.
2. Practise Chinese calligraphy and read books on weekends.
3. Do exercises for 1 hour every night: practice tennis footwork and techniques plus skip rope for 200-500 times.
I followed the plan strictly. During the 1st week, I worked from 10am to 5pm from Monday to Friday. I had coffee break in the middle of the day. Then I read books, and worked out after dinner. I stretched, practised foot walk and did rope skipping. Because of the novel yet busy schedule, time went by quickly. The 1st week was almost over before I realised. I then told my friends that the quarantine life was actually not that difficult, and it was better than I thought.
However, it was a slap on my face. On the weekend of the 1st quarantine week, after I had finished my brunch, I found that there was a poolside wedding ceremony downstairs. I stood next to the window, looking at the blue sky and white clouds, listening to the laughters and singings of the people from the outside, suddenly I wanted to go out. The next week was really difficult. The experience of the predecessors was true: The 1st week of quarantine was good, but the 2nd week was very challenging.
The first two days of the 2nd week were really difficult. I missed my family and friends in Australia, and I missed our regular brunches and hiking on weekends. The plan I made before became a dull routine, and it was boring to work it out. Later on my laptop went on strike suddenly. I felt anxious as I didn’t have a computer to work. In order to decrease my anxiety level, I started to practice Chinese calligraphy to calm down. Though it gave me a certain soothing effect, the negative feelings were still there. To avoid the increase of negative emotions, I immediately had a zoom meeting with my family and friends, and shared with them the beautiful scenery outside and what I did in the past week. With their remote companion, and also some friends came directly to the podium of the hotel to cheer me up and sent me their hand-made cheesecake and small gifts, they had greatly helped to reduce my anxiety and negative emotions. In addition, the hotel had also arranged some online activities for us, such as wine tasting, Hotel Facebook group sharing, etc. I shared my Chinese calligraphy works with friends and uploaded the pictures to the hotel Facebook group, and received a lot of encouragement. Also, it was very considerate for the hotel to send the countdown gifts each day for the last three days. It gave me hope as I could see the victory was coming. I became more positive.
Finally, the D-day come! Looking back at the 14-day quarantine period, it was not too hard for me. I think it was because I had a good understanding of the problems I might face during the quarantine and I had already mentally well-prepared for it. Also, I set small goals (work, read books and write Chinese calligraphy) and exercised regularly. Although I had negative emotions, I was fortunate to have the support and strength from my family and friends, which helped me to change my mindset in time. Another thing is that it is really important to choose a good hotel. The invincible sea view, the healthy and delicious meals and the meticulous service of the hotel are reasons why my negative emotions went so quickly.
It’s time to "go out". I was reluctant to leave the room I stayed for 14 days, and I am sure I will miss the beautiful scenery. This quarantine journey started with worries and ended with reluctance. I am grateful and would like to show my gratitude to Kerry Team, my family, relatives and friends for giving me energy and full support during my quarantine time. Thank you all!