I was just reading about the student accommodation lockdowns in Manchester…half the world away the same thing is happening here. To try and combat students blatantly ignoring physical distancing measures the ICU administration sent out several very firm emails to students living on campus asking them to be more responsible and telling them off for not being. Still, I am not too sure what anyone expects though when you get groups of 18 years olds living together without parental supervision! It is not great news for the cities / local areas Universities are in and it is a shame that everyone isn’t being responsible in equal measure.
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Lorraine, known as Lorrie, has written an extensive report of her thoughts about peace and her experiences on her Masters degree so far here. It is more about the academic side of her scholarship.
We also interviewed Lorrie for more of her personal story:
“I’m a Devonian but with longstanding contacts in the North. I studied history with dance at Liverpool Hope University and then taught history and politics in Manchester and Yorkshire.
“My time so far in Japan has been very extraordinary – I was in rural Japan for a while, but now I am on campus in Tokyo. I am keeping a very good eye on Covid, we haven’t had an outbreak but if it happens my husband and I may be asked to go off campus and I have no idea what we would do – we don’t have family to go to, of course.
“The infection has not followed similar patterns to other countries – in March the incidence was very high and especially over the Summer. There were 2-400 infections a day out of a Greater Tokyo population of 14 million. That was a similar figure to the daily rate in the UK, with more than 4 times greater population! So it’s high and it’s scary.
“Interestingly the death rate is considerably lower – it’s unclear why. There is an ageing population but also with very low obesity. Lockdown is recommended but not legally enforceable in the way it is at home. But you rarely see anyone without a mask in public. I was walking near a waterway and a man fishing alone still had his face mask on! We were the only two people in sight!
“For students in Japan it is a time of freedom so they are not so well behaved. They go from being hard-working school kids to Salaryman – this is the only time they get to be themselves. Sports clubs are a big deal here – everyone has to do one activity that is not part of class. So people started gathering. The Administration Department has been frustrated by trying to keep control and also there are many staff on campus.
“In the future I want to do PhD looking at “digital divides” – whether people have equal access and power over skills and access to technology, especially regarding sexual violence online. Issues of class, race, sex.
“Meanwhile I was speaking to a friend in England and we both agree: we have to keep living, we have to take care but keep doing the things that are important to us and live …our best life!”