Corona Diaries

Haruto

“Yachting has been one of my hobbies since my twenties. I was really sorry for those who can’t play like

this, I’d like to invite someone to join us on a boat, but we couldn’t do that.”

Background Information

Male, aged 35-44, Associate Professor, Hkyoto City, Japan, Asian, Married with two children aged

12 and 16.

April 2020

Sunday April 26

If I say today is Sunday, I am living just like a weekday. My

two kids are out of school, I have no classes at college, and I

just work from home. Only my wife is different. My wife is a

nursery teacher, so Sunday is a special day free from work.

For my children and myself, wife staying at home change

our daily life. Today I was thinking of taking a walk in the

nearby mountains, but the wind was strong, so I enjoyed

cleaning the storeroom of my house and making roast beef.

Children have fun by changing the dining table into table

tennis table.

Monday April 27

I spent one day at home with my two children today. The

children did their homework from the school and the

daughter received a phone call from an elementary school

teacher asking about the current situation.

I went to Kamo river near my house on the way to

shopping for food, and I found more people were jogging

than I expected. I bought a can of beer nearby and drank

only one beer at the bank.

Tuesday April 28

My wife’s work was off today, so I dropped at the sea with my family to release some stress form my

children on the way to getting material for my class at the university. Originally, I intended to go home in a

day, but on the 29th it was a national holiday and my daughter wanted to stay, so I spent one night in my

used boat I had bought last year. I was able to spend a leisurely warm time playing a card game with my

family in the boat.

Wednesday April 29

This day is the Memorial Day of the Showa era and was originally the day of the Emperor’s birthday. This

day also a wedding anniversary for our couple.

I woke up with the sunrise and sailed comfortably on a yacht with a moderate cold. Yachting has been one

of my hobbies since my twenties. I was really sorry for those who can’t play like this, I’d like to invite

someone to join us on a boat, but we couldn’t do that.

Today is my wedding anniversary, so I wanted to go to a special restaurant, but I couldn’t do it, so I took out

the dish at a restaurant and bought a side dish at a convenience store.

Thursday April 30

I worked at home with my kids today. I was making a video for an online lesson. But my file size is too

much, considering the server capacity and the students worse digital environment. I had to taking it again.

It seemed that children’s school also had online lessons. So I prepared the PC for my kids settings for

receive the materials.

I wanted to eat ramen for lunch. I tried to make ramen. I was surprised at how good the soup was. I got

confident in cooking.

May 2020

Friday May 1

Finally, the refrigerator is empty of food. While shopping, I took my children out and went to a sushi

restaurant for lunch. The store was not busy, probably because they entered the store at early lunch time.

The waitperson also guided me by skipping a table, perhaps because I was aware of coronavirus infection.

The kids seemed very happy with the sushi after a long while. Other guests were eating meal happily.

However, there were some people nearby who spoke loudly or drunk while screaming. Therefore, I ate rice

with little conversation with the children. I wanted to eat as much as I wanted without worrying too much.

Saturday May 2

I can’t go to much shopping, so I’m shopping for one week at a time, so I feel like the usual refrigerator is

small. Come to think of it, the refrigerator I’m using now has been 17 years old. It’s about time for a

replacement. Moreover, according to recent news, it is difficult to gain machine parts due to the influence of

corona, and there are cases where the product is out of stock, or the price is high. That’s exactly what

masks are. With that in mind, I decided to go out and buy a refrigerator today. When I was looking at a

refrigerator at an electric shop, there weren’t that many customers, but I was sure that the corona had an

effect on electrical products. Originally, manufacturer issues a new product every year, but supply chains of

some parts are stopped, so it sells the product for half a year, and the model was changed to a product

where the next parts could be supplied. In any case, the refrigerator will be broken in a few years, and the

new refrigerator now saves electric energy. I bought a new refrigerator. I’m looking forward to delivery.

Sunday May 3

I heard the news that the refrigerator will arrive tomorrow. For that, I cleaned the

refrigerator and prepared to replace it with a new refrigerator. Also, my wife said she

would take the children out for a walk in the nearby mountain, so we went out

together. The child had a notebook for drawing. It is a small mountain that I walked

about 15 minutes from my house, but many people went there to get rid of my lack of

exercise.

Monday May 4

The delivery of the refrigerator which I waited expectantly for came today. But unfortunately, a refrigerator

was too big and was not able to enter the house. It seems to be possible to enter at the window with a

crane truck. I was worried about whether I should pay for the additional delivery fee or change the other

refrigerator. Just then there was a phone call from a hospital of my hospitalized father. A condition does not

seem to be good, and it is said that he will move in emergency in another hospital. I went to the hospital

which drove in a hurry and took about 1 hour half. Treatments have been already finished and the doctor

said that it is a stage observing the symptom now there. As

it is the disease of the blood vessel, there seems to be no

help for it. But I moved that the action of the hospital was

really good though the infection of such a coronavirus

spread and was in the busy situation. On the way back I

wanted to eat meat for the dinner and dropped at a butcher

shop. A visitor seemed to never come, and the store owner

and his mother met me in delight. He/she said that thank

you over and over again. I thought it is important to buy at

small shops to support.

Tuesday May 5

Children made cakes at home because it was Children's Day today. It

was a Japanese tea cake. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo. Recently, it

seems that cooking sweets are becoming popular in homes with children,

and the ingredients for sweets are sold out at supermarkets, and in

particular, butter is sold out at every store. With a limited range of action,

everyone thinks the same.

Wednesday May 6

I spent all day preparing for online classes at home today. I made a lot so I made it a little easier.

Thursday May 7

Today I visit my father's hospital. He seemed to move from ICU to the general ward and need a mobile phone and money. At first glance, the inside of the hospital is similar to everyday life, but the security is strict, and even if it was a relative person, it was not possible to meet the patient without special matters. My father's condition seems to be calm, but he didn’t feel well. I can't do anything about it, but I want you to get back to the previous situation soon.

Friday May 8 Finally, the refrigerator came. It's a very large refrigerator. Thank to it, we don't have to go shopping for about a week. Immediately, while the refrigerator was cold, I went to the supermarket and did some shopping. I got fresh food, so at night I made sushi at home. Somehow everyone was happy, so we played the game on the table with my family. Saturday May 9 I'm basically working at home today. Around noon, I received a phone call from my supervisor for my master's thesis and talked about 20 minutes about the current situation and how to proceed with online classes. After a long time, it was fun to talk to people except my family, especially my teacher. After dinner, I played a game with my family. I lost today. Sunday May 10 I stayed in the room to finish the material for the next few weeks. On the way, there was a scene where my wife came into the room without knowing that I was recording, but I managed to edit it and put it together well. At the end of this month, I have to make an online presentation at the study group. I have to finish the class early to prepare for it. Monday May 11 After the long national holidays in Japan, the life with their children started again. I'm surprised when I found that I've been living this life for over a month now. I've gotten used to a little giving up mode where I can't do what I want. But I don't have the time to be indulged. I received a lot of emails from the university office, and many inquiries about online classes from other universities that I am a part-time instructor at. I also need to contact elementary and junior high schools, which are helping our students with service learning, about their current progress. Today I did such office work in my house. I woke up early today and did a lot of work, which made me want to sleep earlier than usual. After dinner, I fell asleep for a while, and eventually I couldn't sleep well, so I went to bed after 2pm. I am worried that the rhythm of my life will be disturbed. Tuesday May 19 Today I went to a butcher to change my mind to make a feast. Along the way, I met an acquaintance university teacher who lived nearby. Although he is doing environmental studies in developing countries, he seems to be living in Japan while taking care of his family because he cannot travel. He also said that it is a great opportunity to use this corona to find out how clean the air becomes. Well, I also want to use corona as an good opportunity.

Thursday May 21 Since everyday life becomes a rut, we ate while cooking Takoyaki, which is a time- consuming task so that the conversation of the family can be stimulated just by eating. The good thing about this dish is that everyone can make various arrangements. This is a specialty of Osaka, so I want you to try it. Sunday May 24 Today was one day early, but we had a birthday party for my son. He is16 years old, but it's probably the most unpredictable birthday day ever. When I asked him what his goals for the year were, he said that he would study hard. It's really hard to talk about his goals when we can’t read the future outlook. I joked to my son to aim for it so that he could get up early in the morning when school started. Wednesday May 27 Today, I received a request from an academic society and presented my research online. Since it was not my main academic society, I couldn't use technical terms. Therefore, I had a hard time making a resume. When I received the request, it was a casual presentation because it was an oral presentation. However, it became an online presentation, and I was asked to submit a script for oral presentation. I ended up posting about four manuscripts online. It was the content I was thinking of submitting a paper at the main academic conference, so I could not publish the content as it was. I changed it into the rough script. I do not have much experience like this. Corona makes me meet the first-time things. Thursday May 28 I had a meeting about classes. It is necessary to guarantee the quality of university education even in this situation, but it is not good to demand too much quality assurance before Corona. I think it's important to start where you can and then stack up. We have to take it easy.

Friday May 29 From the night, I went to the sea by car and took a boat fishing tour. There were many local people a little away from the town. It was a weekday, so there were many elderly people, but there were no people wearing masks. where the place is different, the attitude for Corona is also different. I was very satisfied with a lot of fish I had expected. I will enjoy eating the fish I caught with my family for a while. I was just very tired. I don't want to go out when it's not necessary because of Corona, but I think it's okay because I'm avoiding the crowd in open air this time. Saturday May 30 Today I replied to the questions at an online conference presentation. After that, I responded to inquiries from students, prepared lunch, and told his daughter to clean the room. I noticed it was 3pm. After that, all the fish I caught were prepared for cooking and put in the refrigerator. With this, I think I can live with fish for a while. Sunday May 31 From tomorrow, my son's high school will be completely restarted, and my daughter's elementary school will be warming up for restarting. Therefore, they relaxed at home today and I cooked the fish into sashimi and ate a feast for the memorial of the last day of their corona vacation. I'm worried that my children will get up tomorrow.