Everything OK, Impy and Poe?

[Graybeard]

I assume that you're not among the chosen few (or Chosen few) to get coronavirus, but just in case, are you OK? Any issues because of quarantines, etc.? If so, anything we state-siders can do to help? We worry, you know.

Incidentally, I have a niece in ROK, teaching English as a second language. Haven't heard how all this affecting her.

[Forrest]

Being so safe out here on the other side of the world (although there was apparently one case quarantined in my county, so...), I hadn't thought about this. Nice of you to ask, Gray, and yeah, I hope Poe and Impy are safe and sound too!

[Imp-Chan]

We're fine, as of yet. The government here has responded really well to all of this, and they are being aggressive about testing people and treating them and quarantining those who test positive. Testing and treatment are also free if you have this virus. The only thing is that they keep sending emergency alerts with updates, to the point where nobody is even looking at their phones for them anymore, which is a bit dangerous. For the same reasons that I hope there's no weather crisis at noon on a Wednesday in Cincinnati, because nobody will notice that, either.

I'm going slowly insane from being cooped up Away From People for so long, but at least we're not sick. Most people here are queueing to buy masks, and even Poe and I are wearing masks regularly and using hand sanitizer constantly when we go out. I'm a little nervous because I'm going to have to go be in a major hospital the day after tomorrow in order to get a prescription for my medicine, but I'll be in and out as fast as I can and hopefully will not be infected either while there or on the loooong commute back to our apartment. I really need to find a prescribing psychiatrist in my own neighborhood, so I can stop having to do that ridiculous commute.

I got into Korea University (hurray, longer term visa and actually hopefully getting a degree this time) and my first semester was supposed to start on March 2, but they delayed it by two weeks, so now it starts on the 16th. But apparently they were still worried about the risk of infection even after that, because now the whole school has to take all their classes online for the first two weeks of the semester. I feel really bad for all the professors who are having to completely rework their lesson plans to accommodate this, but it beats being fired because all the schools just shut down, I guess.

Poe is basically still a hermit. He seems to have survived his visa run to Japan a couple weeks ago without getting the virus, though.

[Forrest]

Great to hear you're both still safe! And congratulations on getting into the University!

[Forrest]

Greetings from a week in the future, in the United States, where we now realize South Korea is a safer place to be with regard to heinekinvirus than here.

[Imp-Chan]

Yeah, I didn't want to doom and gloom, but... I've kinda seen this coming for months and been quietly worried about everyone.

How's everyone doing?

[Forrest]

Everyone in my company lost half their hours because the boss is panicking about projected loss of income because of the financial side-effects of all the mandatory voluntary forced self-isolation.

Other than that, it's a beautiful spring around here and everything is normal.

(Southern California).