Life at home
Student
What strategies do you employ to balance work/study and family/leisure time?
Miss. Zhao
Undergraduate, Business English, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai, China
Same as before, my aim is to complete all homework and study as early as possible on Monday to Thursday when classes are concentrated and will relax slightly from Friday onwards. For example, I’ll be cooking with my parents, playing music, and watching movies etc.
Arial
Undergraduate, Philosophy, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
How to balance study and entertainment time is indeed a problem that has always troubled me during the outbreak. It is mainly reflected in the difficulty of concentrating on dues as in school. At home, I’m generally more relaxed. Therefore no strategy is employed at the moment, but simply rush to finish my dues.
What is your typical daily schedule during this quarantine period? How has your lifestyle changed and what are the major adjustments?
Lilian
Undergraduate, Psychology and Nutrition, New York University, New York, USA
I forced myself to get up early in order to attend online classes and spent more time on cooking and exercise when I was in New York. However, I was in a bad mood because I’m unable to return to China nor enjoy delicious Chineses food, therefore I tend to stay up late and awake earlier in the morning.
I feel a lot better after returning home, and my work schedule is much more normal. I don’t need to spend too much time cooking. However, there will be a jet lag problem in attending online classes. Most of them are recorded, but some classes require me to get up in the middle of the night.
Arial
Undergraduate, Philosophy, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
The biggest change for me since the lockdown is that I finally get rid of the shackles of daily class routine. I have experienced different time zones around the world in the past two months (do not imitate). Especially when I have dues, I will choose to get up at night to study, and found that my efficiency of learning has greatly improved without all sorts of phone notifications and networking apps at night.
Arial
Undergraduate, Philosophy, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
My daily routine: Get up around 8 am, then I’ll read or do my coursework. Lunch is around 12, then continuing to read or study in the afternoon. I will work out for an hour from 4:30 in the afternoon, including weight training, cardio and stretching. Dinner is around 6 pm. I may have class after that, otherwise, I’ll read or chat with my friends online. In the evening, I often spend a lot of time relaxing, playing games, watching videos and so on. Sometimes I will attend online philosophy lectures in the evening. I’ll go to bed between 11:30 pm and 1 am.
The main change I’ve made during isolation is to get into the habit of exercising! Now I have figured out a weekly training plan that suits me. Although the effect is still not significant, I still think it is good to develop exercise habits.
Sometimes I’ll miss my tutorials. For example, I did not know there’s a class in the first week and then missed it. There are also days when I was so sleepy during class, so I went to take a nap.
How has your relationship with your family members changed during the quarantine time?
Lilian
Undergraduate, Psychology and Nutrition, New York University, New York, USA
I feel that there are some conflicts, mainly because I am upset about my parents insisting on not returning to China after the outbreak in New York at first. It took many twists and turns before returning to China. Although it was not their fault, I felt that if they understood me a little bit more at the time and understood why I didn’t want to stay in New York, maybe I could go back home earlier and suffer less unnecessary pain. Although I think their judgment is more prone to mistakes, I also feel distressed since parents are old after all.
Arial
Undergraduate, Philosophy, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
The main influence for me is the exchange of views on current affairs and philosophical insights with my parents. Especially when the situation in Wuhan was very serious at the beginning of the epidemic and when the number of overseas epidemics gradually climbed up in the mid-term, advantages and possible defects of different political systems were very realistically displayed in front of us. Sometimes when I read the news and articles and I want to find someone to discuss, I often go to my dad. I felt amazing after our discussion, even though my dad still insists on some of the political stereotypes to their generation, some of them seem to be a simplified understanding of politics to me. But I must also express myself in an easier way which I think is very helpful for my philosophy study.
