Saturday, Feb. 22  

Day 29. I sleep well and feel good today. We teach a morning class as laughter, and the grinding of coffee beans hums in the air. We make our famous spicy Chongqing noodles for lunch. One day, maybe we'll move back to Canada and have a restaurant or a B&B by the water somewhere scenic.

Frightened Ukrainians clash with police as they attempt to stop passengers returning from Wuhan. The panic of social media can be as dangerous as a virus. In Italy and Iran, people wear masks in public as the infection spreads. Many Korean neighborhoods look as empty as Chinese streets. A Canadian woman who contracted COVID-19 while in Iran causes a 'sentinel event' to broaden Canada and the CDC's criteria from "have you been to China or know someone that has" to reflect the current climate: people in nearly 30 countries are infecting each other, and potential cases could be coming from anywhere. Increased precautions must be made to slow infection, and front line workers must prepare.

After lunch, I organize my digital life and read a bit. We teach another afternoon class, and make an early dinner; fried potatoes, fish, and green veggies. We teach a final lesson in the evening, and then it's time to relax. Keeping busy makes the day fly by in a comforting way. I've decided to limit my COVID-19 news to daylight hours and wind down with some self-care in the evening.

In China, Xi Jinping says that the turning point hasn't yet come about, and the situation remains severe. This is comforting to me. We want it to be over, but this thing has to burn itself out before we pat ourselves on the back, or this quarantine was for nothing. As long as I see my grandma in Canada this summer, I can handle anything else.

Packages of dog food, coffee, and avocados show up. I talk to a good friend Stu, and he gives me a real boost.

The things we've seen since we were kids astound us. What a time to be alive. I grew up when kids played outside and witnessed the birth of cellphones from bricks to flip to then smartphones. Video games turned from pixels on a screen to virtual reality, indistinguishable from life. For 1000 years, the digital age will reign upon Earth, but I saw the beginning. I remember connecting to other computers directly on local bulletin boards before the internet was a thing. In my lifetime, globalization went from an idea to completely automated and controlled by AI. Instant, affordable, and reliable global transport became a reality for billions around the world. I remember when dance music was underground, moved to stadium concerts, and became the soundtrack of TV ads and shoe stores. I got to experience the height of the Western world, in terms of power and culture and influence, and move to China as they came to power to stand next to America in terms of prosperity and cultural significance.

Automation and artificial intelligence revolutionalize the way the world operates on a near-daily basis. This flu may threaten our chain of globalized transportation, but it will make us stronger and more resilient in the future. We've gone through worse, and we will rise again.