新冠疫情中的首尔
韩国人一般会出于以下几种原因戴口罩：空气质量差、得了感冒或者是徒然地指望用口罩挡住自己刚做了整形手术还没有完全恢复的脸。在某日，中国武汉发现了一种新型冠状病毒。于是我想在韩国买点口罩，但是却根本买不到，这时我才意识到疫情的严重性。
South Korea, Eastern Asia
Story by Veronica Burgstaller. Translated by Lina Bell
Published on April 8, 2020.
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口罩在韩国很常见，在街边几百米就有一家分店的便利店里就可以买到。韩国人一般会出于以下几种原因戴口罩：空气质量差、得了感冒或者是徒然地指望用口罩挡住自己刚做了整形手术还没有完全恢复的脸。
在某日，一种新的病毒在中国武汉被发现。于是我想在韩国买点口罩，但是却根本买不到，这时我才意识到疫情的严重性。不过货架上还有几包棉布口罩，天真的我就决定明天再来买。第二天，连棉布口罩都被抢购一空。
那是大概是二月中旬。现在几乎每个国家都面临着口罩断供的危机。在韩国，政府已经接管了生产口罩的工作。我们收到了紧急通知短信，告知我们附近的哪个药店能买到口罩。于是，我能看到人们在午休时间在药店门口排队，出示身份证换取每人配额的十个口罩。口罩的分配情况被系统地管理起来，除去规定好的份额之外，绝不可以多买。这对于那些免签入境的游客和非法移民来说，是一个不太好的消息。
当然，我们每个人都希望疫苗赶紧研发出来，让我们的生活回归正轨。不过我也觉得，这种危机也许可以为我们带来意想不到的好处。首先，在首尔生活了三年的我，发现韩国人经常直接咳嗽，他们不会用手或者袖子把嘴遮一下。所以在挤了一次高峰期的地铁后你的身上可能已经沾满了别人的鼻涕和口水的飞沫。这意味着只要一个人得了感冒，几天之后他就能传染整个首尔的人。我并非想表达韩国人在儿童时候没有学好礼仪，只是这样真的太令人困扰了。如今，每个人都会在打喷嚏的时候用袖子遮一下，并且咳嗽的时候和别人保持一点距离。我希望这些习惯能在疫情结束之后也保持下去。
最重要的是，你能明显地感觉到空气质量发生了变化。通常来说，春季是空气质量最差的时候。但是今年由于很多工厂停工，驾车出行的人也少了，这些都极大的改善了空气质量。由于所有集体活动都被叫停，我无法参加每晚的跆拳道课了。不过我可以出去沿着河跑一段，以前我会担心在外跑步是不是会因为空气质量太差而有害健康，现在这种担忧消失了。
接下来几周首尔会安静下来。但是我们依然会共同度过难关，正如韩国人常常鼓励彼此的那样：加油！
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Veronica Burgstaller
As the child of a Balinese mother and an Austrian father, Veronica has since childhood lived in many different countries in Asia and Europe. Inbetween her Bachelors and Masters, Veronica also lived in South Korea, a country and culture she fell in love with. She is multilingual in German, English, French, Korean and even knows a bit of Chinese and Indonesian. Now she works as a communication manager in Belgium. Passionate about facilitating understanding between people, Veronica does not believe that culture, nation and language should be a barrier. Besides her passion for travel, she loves food, cinema or you can find her in a dojang practicing Taekwondo.
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