As someone who enjoys staying indoors and doesn't mind solitude, I thought quarantine would be a piece of cake. For the most part, it was, as two weeks quickly flew by. Quarantine has been a valuable life experience for me, to say the least.
Booking a quarantine hotel was an unexpectedly stressful experience. I was instructed to hold off on booking anything until I received my acceptance package from my host university, National Taiwan University (NTU). By the time I got the green light to book, it was a month and half before my planned arrival in Taiwan. But what made booking even more difficult was that the duration of my quarantine hotel stay would overlap with Lunar New Year.
Traditionally, celebrating Lunar New Year involves visiting and reuniting with family. In addition, the school semester begins shortly after Lunar New Year celebrations end. Due to this, many people were returning to Taiwan, resulting in fully booked quarantine hotels. Luckily, despite not finding any quarantine hotels within my price range in Taipei, I was able to find a single opening for a hotel in New Taipei City, a neighboring city.
Prior to arriving at the quarantine hotel, there are several steps a traveler goes through at the airport. After getting off of the plane, everyone on my flight was gathered into a large room, assigned a number, and swabbed for a rapid test. My number was called and I was cleared to be COVID-free, so I proceeded to the next step: buying a SIM card. The government would be texting and calling daily to make sure that I had no symptoms and was feeling fine.
I would also need to follow the testing schedule for my selected quarantine program, 14+0+7 (14 days of quarantine, 7 days of self health management). I was provided with 4 rapid tests to take on specified days.
After I grabbed received my test kits and grabbed my luggage, I was directed to the quarantine taxi, which would take me to my quarantine hotel. The hotel had a special receiving area for those who just got off a plane. Before entering the hotel, they took my temperature and sprayed me down with alcohol. I was shown to my room and the employee briefly explained how meals and trash disposal would work.
Here's a brief video of what my room looked like. (Sorry, ignore the mess!)
Below are some tips I have for a more pleasant quarantine experience:
Try to get a room that has a window. It makes a big difference! Although you have to stay inside, a window that lets in light will help you to maintain your sense of time.
For picky eaters, delivery is highly recommended. If you're picky about food or have irregular meal times, go with delivery instead of the meal package (if available). I have the habit of eating only two meals a day, so I struggled to eat all the food that was being sent at meal times.
Bring/have things that you want to do. Especially if you're someone who likes the outdoors, staying inside for two weeks might be a struggle. I burned through several seasons of different animes that I'd been wanting to watch. Even then, I found myself getting bored of staring at the computer all day. I would also recommend exercising daily to get rid of that excess energy!
Talk with someone every day. Depending on how much social interaction you're usually used to, the amount you need might be more than just once a day. Being alone for long periods of time can be hard on your mental health, and talking with friends and family can help.
Make use of the time to stay organized. If you're like me and are quarantining for your study abroad or exchange, quarantine is valuable time to create a list of all the things you need to get done before school starts. It's also the perfect time to do some research on things you might want to do and explore while in a different country!
Thanks for reading and until the next post, see you!
Deborah
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