Education in the New World Paradigm #AtoZChallenge

That's right. It's a new world.

Children growing up during or after Covid19 will have a whole new paradigm. 
Like those who grew up after September 11, 2001. 
Like those (in USA) who grew up after Columbine.
Like those who grew up after the war. (Pick which one fits.)

The entire world is at a turning point, and many things will change after this. Today I'm looking at the new Education.

A lot of parents are having to learn how to keep their kids on track at home. Some will not love it, some may find that it works for their family. Regardless, I believe online, at-home Education will become a more popular tool in the future. 

When I lived in Indiana, I noticed that there was an online public school system. I know nothing about it, except that I saw ads on TV for something like "indianak12" - dot edu? dot gov? Not sure. I don't have kids. They advertised it as a useful tool for kids with long-term illness or special interests. I remember two ads, specifically - a kid who was on his way to becoming a tennis pro and another who was an aspiring musician. Their outside interests required so much time that online Education allowed them to schedule school around their future goals.

Chinese kids already have a million online classes outside of school hours. The public school system had to do some updating to make regular classes accessible just as the US is doing now, but I imagine families were already used to Education going on in the house and probably had a shallower learning curve.

I remember when University of Phoenix was a new thing, and people thought being Educated online was a bit of a hoax. Then standard, brick-and-mortar universities saw the value of offering such a flexible option to potential students, and it became more acceptable. 

Now, it is common.  Are you ready?
Are you participating in some form of online Education, with kids in your house now?

Descent Into Madness #AtoZChallenge

Hours after posting about how well I'm coping, I'm beginning to feel the insanity.

I'm sitting at home - as one does, these days - working on editing my draft from Nanowrimo, which I had postponed after my sister decided to drop dead in January and I took February off. One month. Out of commission. No contact, not much activity at all, least of all editing! 

That was by choice. No inkling that I'd be forced into it later.

In March I was slowly getting into editing again, doing a little more all the time, until I finally worked out a schedule to allow steady progress in my Magnum Opus (one can hope). 

All that is to set the scene for you: 

This Covid19 Social Distancing, self-isolation, stay at home, non-essential businesses closed stuff really blows. Today I'm feeling it more than ever.

I want my coconut coffee. I saw a sign at a coffee shop when we ran out for groceries earlier that said "take away only" but we didn't stop because we had frozen foods. At least some places are open for coffee to-go. But I am really trying to be responsible. I am staying inside except for necessities. 

I want to go somewhere. 
I do my best writing, get my best ideas, when I can take my notebook to a restaurant or cafe - without the distractions of home - and just. Write. It's a successful tactic for me.

I can't. I mean, I will, but I can't.
A week or two before Vietnam officially declared restaurants closed except for delivery, I had gone out one evening, sat in a corner table at a local restaurant - because, truthfully, we locals are doing our best to help these places stay afloat without tourists - and I drank beer and wrote pages and pages. I was the only one there at first; then a trio of guys came in and sat on the far side of the restaurant. When the 4th table was being filled and I thought it was too close to me, I paid up and left. 

I can't do that anymore. 

I love my house. I love my tiny garden. I love the breeze that blows through our tropical home, aided by fans most days.

But I need variety. I crave variety. 
I have never been one for same-old, same-old. 
I am slowly Descending into madness.

I am safe from Covid19, and doing my part to keep everyone else in the world safe, too.
But. I am Descending into madness.

I guess the good news is that I won't be alone? What are your tactics for staying sane? Any ideas to create variety without going anywhere?

Coping #AtoZChallenge

My theme is a bit of a combination of "grief" and "Covid19". At this point, Coping applies more to Covid19 for me, although it clearly applies to grief as well.

Coping with social distancing, self-isolation, and "lock-down" status is not a major hardship for me. I'm an introvert, I work at home, I live in a place I love with lovely weather. The hardest thing for me now is not being able to go out and get my coconut coffee or settle in a corner of a restaurant with my book or notebook.

And frankly, this worldwide pandemic has rather successfully pushed grief out of the way. My nephew and my sister are gone. They are not a part of this. For my sister, with respiratory issues to begin with, I'm glad she left us before all this, so that I could go to the memorial service, be with family, and we could celebrate her life together. The grief would be so much greater without that, I imagine. 

I know many people are losing loved ones and will not have the grace of a gathering and a traditional funeral. Those people have my deepest, heartfelt sympathy.

I must admit though, part of Coping with this pandemic means that I cannot dwell on all the what-ifs. While I feel sympathy, I can't take on everyone else's problems as my own, or I will melt down. My Coping is simply being responsible. I stay in. I wear my mask when I have to shop (fabric masks are everywhere in Vietnam anyway, so there is no stigma). I check in with my family via Facebook messenger.

I think that about covers it.
How are you coping?

Blessed #AtoZChallenge

We are Blessed. Truly. 

We say this every day. Crazy things are happening in the world, but Brett and I truly feel Blessed. 

We are Blessed to be healthy. 

We are Blessed that our income was already based on work via the internet. 

We are Blessed to live in a place that was ahead of the Covid-19 game. (Largely due to sharing a border with China, Vietnam had some protocols already in place.) 

We are Blessed to have neighbors / landlords who look out for us. 

We are Blessed that we actually, truly, enjoy each other's company, AND we are used to it. I can imagine many families who love each other dearly might be hitting a learning curve of how to be in each other's presence 24/7. My sympathies. When we were out of work for a while in China and couldn't really afford to go out of our tiny apartment, it was a struggle! "In your face" isn't fun regardless of how much love you may have for each other. 

We are Blessed that we have a home with a yard for me to sit out front reading, and an office for Brett to close the door and be online.

I do believe that part of our relative calm comes from being removed from the hysteria. Since we live in Vietnam, even if people here get hysterical, we don't understand the language well enough to catch it. And we are physically removed from American or European hysteria.

Tying this into the "grief" part of my "Grief / Covid19" theme, I do think my sister is Blessed to have died before this all began. She had a blood clot in her lung in December, and although it had cleared up, I don't think her respiratory system would have weathered this disease at all.  

I hope that everyone has the mindset to look for their Blessings even as we face a tragic pandemic. There are still good things to be found! Just don't go outside to find them.

I would love to read your Blessings in the comments. I think we all would appreciate reading about good things happening.

Acceptance #AtoZChallenge

When I first thought about doing A-to-Z this year, I thought of doing a month on grief. Now that I'm combining that with Covid-19, it occurs to me how applicable the stages of grief are to this pandemic: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, Acceptance.

For both of the recent deaths in my family, I felt myself rocketing through all the stages of grief. Of course, as anyone who's grieved can tell you, the stages keep returning all out of order, even after you've "Accepted" that your loved one is gone. 
... OR... Accepted that Covid-19 is a very serious, highly contagious disease. How many people, fully conscious of the danger outside, faithfully staying home, Accepting their serious situation, return to the stage of "bargaining"? People break their isolation to see a loved one, allow their child a play-mate, talk to a neighbor face-to-face. Bargaining... with their life and with the lives of anyone within their household.

It's why Covid won't go away for a long time.

As for grief, my sister's death was the hardest. Not that I couldn't Accept the fact she was dead, but because of the gaping hole she left behind. When we moved to China, she - alone of my family and friends - downloaded a Chinese social media app in case we wouldn't have reliable access to Facebook Messenger (which is blocked in China). Even after we moved to Vietnam, this app was still our primary form of communication. Since no one else in my family uses this app - least of all her kids - I still send her messages. I know there'll be no response, but sometimes it's better to say the thing anyway. Maybe this is my return to "bargaining". 

Now with the Covid-19 pandemic, my husband and I have Accepted that there are some family members we may never see again. Living 8,000 miles away, that was always a possibility, but we now know there may not even be a funeral (no large gathering). If there even was, it wouldn't be safe to travel!

We've Accepted this.

Doesn't mean we won't return to "bargaining" when it happens. ...Trying to find a way to get to a funeral... small bargain.

How are you faring? Are you still in denial about the pandemic? Are you being safe? Please be safe.

Predictions

I've been making wild predictions all along. It's in my nature. Now that the whole world is guessing about the nature of our new mutual enemy and how to treat it, I'm going to share a few with you.

1. The US has at least 12 months of this kind of insanity before the end will be in sight. I've said that before.

2. Online learning will remain an educational mainstay. Now that schools are forced into it, I think it will not simply vanish into the ether. It will become a viable alternative for many families.

3. The next world-wide crisis will be a water shortage. Many parts of the world suffer from water shortage, but the US and Europe are fairly well protected from that concept. I suspect that many of you diligent, 20-second hand-washers leave the water running that entire 20 seconds, don't you?

Cut it out! Wet your hands, turn off the water, soap up, scrub for 20 seconds, turn it back on and rinse. Unless you are in a public restroom, of course. 20 seconds of water running down an almost infinite number of drains 20 times a day will take its toll, believe me!

4. Just like after September 11th, world travel will be changed. I've already been through several international terminals where your temperature is checked before you are allowed to progress to the immigration desk. I predict that will be a regular part of all travel in the future. 

That's just a few things I've predicted in the last month. Care to weigh in?

Blogging from A to Z in April - Theme?

I'm late to the game, but I'm in.

I missed the big "theme reveal" day, but that's okay. It will vary from day-to-day.

When I first thought I might do this again this year, I thought it would be a good way to write out my grief. (Anyone new to this blog, this will be elaborated during the month. Or catch up in these two posts: Sept and January.) Then Covid-19 came. I mean, living in Vietnam, I've already been in the Covid game for a while. But it finally arrived in the US, and so more of my friends and family members are - slowly, so so slowly - beginning to realize this is a SERIOUS DISEASE. So now that they have opened that conversation, it's a little easier to talk about.

I expect my #AtoZChallenge will be part grief and death, part Covid-19 observations.

I hope these posts will be full of hope and light, and healing. For myself, and for anyone who chooses to read them.

Is that a theme? Maybe "Light In the Darkness"? But I have doubts about my ability to keep the snarkiness out of my tone. We shall see!