UM grad moved to South Korea just as COVID gained steam

DAEGU, South Korea — A 2019 Ole Miss graduate had just moved to South Korea to teach English in the wake of the country’s first wave of COVID-19 cases. 

Pierce Morrison, a Nashville native, arrived in Seoul on Feb. 19 as the story of the mass infection at the Shincheonji Church was just unfolding

“Everyone was being very cautious,” Morrison said. “We all had to stand in line for immigration as they took everybody’s temperature. If you had a spiked temperature, they were going to quarantine us and take a test.” 

Morrison stayed in Seoul for a week and a half after deeming it too dangerous to move to Daegu, where he had arranged living space. 

“It sparked a lot of paranoia, but not panic,” he said. “The government was very transparent with the numbers and the broadcasts. If you turned on the TV, you could see the numbers.”

The scene displayed a country taking action against a quickly spreading virus. Preventative tactics were immediately initiated, including drive-thru testing, enforced mask-wearing, and sanitizing bottles tied to railings, chairs, and subway stations. 

For a city with a population of nearly 10 million people, the scene Morrison encountered upon his arrival in South Korea was much different than he anticipated. 

“It was a surreal experience,” he said. “It’s one of the busiest places in the world, and the streets of Seoul and the metro were relatively empty.”

Residents wait to cross the street in South Korea. Photo by Pierce Morrison.

Morrison works at a private academy, but the liability cost is too high to begin classes. After over a month without pay, Morrison said he is well into his emergency fund. 

“I expected to be able to work and get paid,” he said. “But I brought enough to live for a month and a half without pay. It wasn’t what I wanted to have to prepare for, but here I am.” 

School in South Korea was set to start on March 1, yet schools remain closed amid the global pandemic. Morrison said the schools plan to test an online format this week, and hope to launch fully online at a date in the near future. 

“We’re working our tails off to get them up and running in the next couple weeks,” he said. “Us foreign teachers at private schools are dependent on the school opening.”

The South Korean government is subsidizing the pay of foreign teachers at public schools, but has only left guidelines on how to run private schools. The closure of the private schools, known as hagwons, can not be mandated – or else the government would have to subsidize the lost earnings of the hagwons. 

But if the parents are not comfortable with starting school back online and the hagwons begin classes without them, parents will likely pull their children from the school. 

“It’s a delicate balance we work in,” Morrison said. “Other than trying to get parents on board with online classes, we don’t have a strong plan on how to ride out this storm.”

Though finances are thin, Morrison said the most difficult challenge has been the lack of social community in a foreign country where a virus is limiting social interaction.  

“I have two co-teachers, and they live in the same apartment building as me,” he said. “Besides them, I don’t have any community or connection with other people.” 

A Tennessee native, he anticipated the difficulties of shifting from an overtly extroverted culture to one that typically doesn’t engage in small talk. And now, due to the virus, most are very wary of meeting anyone they don’t know well. 

“There’s still a lot of fear,” he said. “If you’re not in a family circle, they’re probably not going to meet with you.” 

Despite the fear, the country continues to operate many coffee shops and restaurants, and even small gatherings continue to occur in parks and public spaces. Many of the places on lockdown are due to the presence of known cases. 

“A starbucks down the road just reopened after being closed for a few weeks after a COVID case was reported there,” Morrison said. “The government comes in and cleans everything, tests, and then waits.” 

Many public buildings remain open, though business is slow. Markets and grocery stores welcome mask-donning customers, who cautiously navigate stocked food aisles. Morrison said he has only waited in line once since he’s been in Korea. 

In contrast to many western countries, the South Korean government immediately urged its citizens to wear masks, increasing the demand for masks in a country that already has a culture of wearing them. 

Morrison said he wears a mask everywhere he goes. If someone is not wearing a mask in a public building, they will be asked to leave. 

Masks are required in public spaces in South Korea. Photo by Pierce Morrison.

“That was definitely a shock to me,” he said. “You will wear the mask. No if’s, and’s or but’s about it.”

Due to the growing demand over the last two months, the government continues to regulate how many masks go to healthcare and how many go to the public. 

“We’re limited to two reusable masks per week,” he said. “It limits people’s exposure to the outdoors by making them not go outside without a mask.”

The process of obtaining a mask operates on a rationing basis. The last digit of a person’s year of birth decides what days masks are available for individual purchase. 

“If the last digit of your birth year is a one or a six, you buy your mask on Mondays,” he said. “If it’s a two or a seven, you buy on Tuesdays, and so on.”

Despite being out of work for the last month, Morrison’s days stay busy with work preparation and studying Korean. 

Hospital banners in Daegu reading “You can do it.” Photo by Pierce Morrison.

Among those in South Korea, Morrison said the morale is shifting toward the positive as the weather changes.  

“I’m hoping we’re seeing the end of it in Korea,” he said. “We’re ready to go outside and breath. We’re ready to meet friends. We’re ready to go out for dinner. As the Koreans are saying, ‘힘내요you can do it!

~ I’m blessed

While we are in a pandemic, I AM VERY BLESSED. like hello??? I’ve made it this far. Because I was honestly very worried. I would find myself freaking out if I developed a cough. Or if someone around me got sick, my first thought was that they had COV-19. Now, I’m doing better. I recently got the email that we’d be having a virtual graduation on May 9. I’m a little confused because I’m not really sure how that’s going to workout?? Does everyone’s School of xx have their own personal graduation? And also, are we supposed to wear our cap and gown during the process? There’s just so many questions that need to be answered and at this time I don’t have them.

During this time, it made me reflect on my four years. These past four years have been rough. It was really hard to get here, financially and emotionally. Most of my family members never even wanted me to attend the University of Mississippi due to the historical reputation. But, I felt like I needed to go. I needed to listen to my thoughts and go with my heart. I remember my senior year of high school, I graduated with a 1.9 GPA. A 1.9 !!!! Now, as a senior in college, I’m graduating with HONORS. I have a testimony. I feel like I should be a motivational speaker. Like hello?? My voice and my story. God is so good and I honestly wouldn’t be here without him. Now, my senior year is thankful and I’m blessed to be in good health and good spirit. NO VIRUS FORMED AGAINST ME SHALL PROSPER

AMEN

Diary of a Plague, somewhere…

I sat down to write my blog yesterday, but I couldn’t think of any new content to blog about. As the Sunday storm was rolling in, I just started writing from the perspective of some young bloke stuck in his house during a plague in the 1950s…

Day 37 – April 19, 1955

The rain began to patter on the tin roof of the boathouse, just below my window. The arrangement of my three windows always gave me the feeling of being perched in a lighthouse, with the two on either side angled in such a way that I could see both the lake and the other back half of our roof. The thunder was rolling that day, and it is always worrisome when someone is out just as it begins to storm. My father was out that day, and I got the sudden feeling that my mother must always get when he is out fetching items for her. But then I heard the creak of the door and knew we were good for now, given that the storm didn’t take a nasty turn. It was a peculiar Sunday in that big house. The upstairs suddenly was lonely. I had often felt lonely the past several years, since my brother and sister both married and moved out. I remember longing for someone to sleep beside me even when I was very young. Now this feeling had advanced, given that we had been quarantined for over a month now. Things had gotten so bad with the plague that no one was allowed in public, except if you needed food or anything else considered essential. We kept expressing our gratitude for our living situation, but it was always served with a side of guilt. My mother is reading the Diary of Anne Frank. I often think of Anne and Peter and the rest of them. Their situation surely generates more fear. Also, she lived in an attic. I often wonder, if I die from the plague, who will be my Otto? Who will find my writings? Frankly, I hope no one does. If it were possible, I would hope my diary would also catch the plague so that no one would be burdened with what I’ve done to this poor paper book. I’ve also been thinking a lot about the television. They said it’s a color picture now. It sure would be nice to have one about now. My mother is against them. We have a radio, she’ll say. Who needs a television? What the hell were they for? I’ve been thinking about moving to Charleston. Bill says the beaches are so nice. He said you can walk for miles and miles and feel like you’ve gotten nowhere. Then again, Bill says a lot of wacky things. I’ve never been to the beach, though. How in the dickens would I get there? My brother’s been. But that was in Normandy. I don’t think it counts. My brother also painted me a picture of a palm tree after I told him my plans to go to Charleston. It’s hanging just above my bed. So for now, I’ll think about that long walk on the beach until the plague passes. The rolling waves, softly crashing, flooding my feet as I trot in the sand…

ARE YOU BORED?

     On the 35th day of the quarantine, I spent two and a half hours attempting to make enchiladas. You may be thinking wow, that's a long time to spend on enchiladas, but if you knew where my cooking skills were at just five weeks ago, you would understand. I use to burn noodles and butter if that makes any sense at all, but quarantine has me convinced that my secret identity is Ratatouille. I use to joke that people who had times for cooking had no lives, but here I am today, getting excited to make enchiladas, but at least I wasn't bored.
     I planned out my enchilada meal two days ago in preparation. I bought all the ingredients online while asking all my quarantine group what enchiladas were their favorite. I made four different types of enchiladas. A Verde tomatillo pulled chicken and cheese enchilada for my brother, a beef and onion enchilada with red enchilada sauce for my boyfriend, a pan of Verde with cheese and vegetables for myself, and stuffed bean and corn enchiladas with a homemade red enchilada sauce for my mother and father, and I topped it all off with cilantro lime rice and a bunch of queso. 
     The point of this blog isn't to rant about my superior inner chef now, even though it took me an embarrassing two and a half hours to make. The point of this blog is to let all of you know that it is okay to try and learn something new this quarantine! I never in a million years thought that I would ever be able to cook anything besides an okay plate of buttered noodles. I mean I use to burn toast! Cooking was always a skill that I wished I could have but knew it was too late to learn at this point of my life till this quarantine. I'm not saying that everyone should take this quiet time to learn cooking, but they should take this time to learn something new! 
     Quarantine has taken so much from all of us. It has taken away memories, jobs, stability, health, and some have paid the ultimate price of this disease. It is easy to get caught up in the sorrow of this horrible experience while drawing boredom, but I challenge you to try and learn and expertise on something new this week. Corona may be taking a lot, but you take something back from all this time! I challenge you to learn how to make the best banana bread despite the quarantine banana bread overpopulation crisis. I challenge you to reach out to five people that you never thought you would again. I want you to learn that silly trick that you always wanted to learn on your scooter as a kid. If it makes you that happy, I dare you to watch a six-season show you have been dying to watch, but I do advise some more activity. I wish for you to get up and be that kind of person who wakes up at six a.m. just to run; You know the people that you always thought were insane, but thought wow, they must really have their shit together. Take this time to plan your future with an open heart to adventure; Or if you want to know a mean enchiladas recipe, just hit me up. 

COVID-19 Blog #4 – Thoughts on the Future

Cabin fever update: manageable; It helps when you actually take a breath of fresh air outside and realize that you’re not actually trapped in the house.

Other than that, the fact that the end of the semester is near is on the mind. Although, things are very different this time around. That usual restless feeling that came along as you prepared to face finals week because of the three-month freedom on the other side is practically nonexistent. Granted, I’m sure everyone is ready to be done with the online classes that no one asked for, but the next few months aren’t holding a vacation, an internship or even just simple relaxation time to decompress from the semester and find a summer job. It’s more of a big question mark.

I fear that in the next few weeks and months, we could see a significant spike in coronavirus cases for a number of reasons. For one, anti-quarantine protests have been ramping up in the last week, mostly attended by people who claim that the virus is a hoax and are only pushing for an end to quarantine because they need a haircut. Of course, these rallies are full of people who aren’t wearing any type of mask, so God knows how widely the virus could have spread amongst them. Imagine if the manpower put towards pushing to go back to work under these unsafe conditions was geared towards the real issue — the government’s negligence to give its citizens adequate financial support during these times.

The funniest thing (but not really) is that they may get their wish as the president has been incessantly advocating for reopening businesses by next month, despite the advice of medical professionals who denounce the idea. It reminds me of a tweet that claimed that the second wave of the Spanish Flu reportedly killed between 20 and 50 million people as opposed to 3 to 5 million in the first wave. The number of deaths due to COVID-19 has not seen anywhere near those numbers, of course, but even approximately 166,000 deaths aren’t something to scoff at. If everything reopens now, with a public itching to get back out, who knows how fast these numbers could multiply.

Speaking of the next few months, with my younger sister being a high school senior, we’ve discussed the idea of her possibly starting college strictly online, which she isn’t too happy about. The likelihood of not having that classic college experience from the start may influence a spike in students taking a gap year. The comparison between college enrollment between fall 2020 and 2021 will interesting to read about. Some may appreciate the chance to take a breather between high school and higher education. Others who were looking to finally graduate and get away for this reason or that one definitely won’t. Barring a major turn for the worst, though, everything could recover — to some degree — in time to assuage the incoming class of freshmen’s worries.

Finally, I’m glad that my family’s still in good health. The numbers in my town keep going up, however, and we’ve had our first few deaths. I hope we at least see a plateau in the number of cases if not a drop sometime soon.

— Nigel D. Dent

P.S. I tried to steer clear of online shopping during this time, but music is one of the things keeping me sane, and one of my earphones has been broken for three weeks. It was past time to order new ones. #SavethePostOffice

Quarantimes with Corinne part III

Things that keep me entertained during Quarantimes:

  1. “Bradbucks”: 
    • Celebrity stylist Brad Goreski is married to comedian and writer Gary Janetti (who’s resume includes writing for Family Guy). Gary has a very specific Starbucks order; which out of quarantine he gets every day, but during the stay at home orders, Brad and Gary are confined to their Los Angeles home. Since the beginning of quarantine Brad has been making Gary is very specific drink order with their home supplies. In the beginning things were a little sketchy as it took Brad a little while to get the technique down, but now on day 30 something of quarantine, Brad has the drink down and even has his own “Bradbucks” cups and labels around their kitchen. Every morning Brad records Gary ‘coming into the store and ordering’ and they have fun and laugh with each other while pretending to be a customer and barista. Gary is also a natural comedian so his snarky comebacks cause laughter everyday. Brad posts every day on his Instagram Stories and saves all the old ones to IGTV on his account; @bradgoreski
  2. New Streaming T.V. Shows:
    • My parents and I finished season three of “Ozark” in one weekend and we got so hooked that we ended up watching the last 3 episodes until 4 a.m. one night. *I do recommend watching the first two seasons as things are very detailed and get confusing if you miss a plot line. (Available on Netflix)
    • “Little Fires Everywhere”: A Hulu limited series starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, based on a book of the same name. I’ve been hearing that a couple of key details and storylines are different from the book and that the book was not nearly as exciting as the show. (I don’t read but I thought I would fill you in on information I’ve been told)
  3. Scheduled Daily Activities:
    • Last week in my blog post I mentioned the activity that my dad has decided is something fun to do in quarantine; Knot of the Day. Where we learn how to tie a new knot every night after dinner. My mother and I were very resistant at first but two weeks later I’m here saying that I actually look forward to it every night. Plus our skills were tested as we went out on our boat this weekend and my dad had my mom and I use some of our new knots in tying things up around the boat and on the dock, and I knew what I was doing right away! I’m not suggesting that everyone else takes up knot tying, but some kind of activity that brings the household together everyday to sit down and do something together. Even though we’re all home, we’re all doing different things and trying our best to ignore each other but our knot of the day forces us to take that time to learn how to do something together.
  4. Podcasts:
    • I love podcasts because you can have them on while you’re doing anything. I.E.; exercising, cleaning, working, and making art, just to name a few. Here are my favorite podcasts that I listen to on a daily/ weekly basis:
  1. “Armchair Expert” 
  2. “The Morning Toast”
  3. “Comments by Celebs”
  4. “Sibling Revelry”
  5. “Scrubbing In”
  6. “My Favorite Murder”
  7. “Radio Andy”
  8. “Fake Doctors, Real Friends”
  9. “Life is Short with Justin Long”
  10. “Work Party”

Honestly after this and all my other unsolicited opinions that I’ve forced upon this class I’m officially titling my memoir; “No One Asked”.

Not all good, not all bad

My roommates moved out, so I have the apartment to myself. This Sunday has been my first full day without them, and it is strange. I lived them for the past three years. After so much time, it was odd to try and remember which pots and pans where whose, and how many dish towels would be left behind. Right now, it still feels as if they are running errands and will return at some point.

Over the weekend, I deep-cleaned the apartment and started bringing out more decorations from my room to fill in the empty spaces in the common area. I think, over time, it will eventually feel like my own domain.

This period is also a good test run to see what it is like living alone. When I end up moving to for whatever job I get, I could try and find roommates. But seeking a roommate as an early-twenties female in a city I am unfamiliar with is extraordinarily different than being paired with a dorm-mate in a college town. And if I can survive living alone during pandemic-induced quarantine, I can definitely handle transferring to an apartment after society starts to get back to normal, when I will be able to immerse myself in the local community and make friends through work and different organizations.

Being a student during this time feels very similar to the in-between time of Christmas and New Years. I keep waiting to wake up and discover that we have found a solution and things are going to be put back to normal. But I think we are currently encountering the “after” of a “before and after”-esque event. I take solace in the fact that many states seemed to have already peaked in early April, unless the infection rate is going to shoot up astronomically again.

What day is it?

I’ve officially been home for six (going on seven) weeks now. I’m honestly unsure if the time has gone by fast or slow. 

This past week was my heaviest load of schoolwork yet during quarantine, which took up a lot of my time. Luckily, the assignments weren’t terrible. One paper I wrote was about Alfred Hitchcock and the other paper was about the movie Get Out.  

With coronavirus shutting down production on pretty much every movie/show, I’m curious to see how production will resume in the future. I’m also curious to see how movie theaters bounce back. I miss the feeling of getting an overpriced ICEE, watching previews for what feels like an hour and telling my friends to put of their phones when the movie starts. :’( 

Along with school work and missing movie theaters, I downloaded some apps to play for fun. I have two that I am going to recommend. The first is called Restaurant DASH. It’s one of those basic kitchen games, but this one is special because Gordon Ramsey is involved with the app. Virtual Gordon Ramsey yells at you and it’s hilarious. The more you play the more restaurants you get to open worldwide!!! The next app (I’m sure a lot of people know about) is Evil Apples. It’s basically Cards Against Humanity but renamed. You can play with friends or with strangers. These apps are a nice break from the news.

2/3 of my roommates are still in Oxford. They keep texting my other roommate and I asking when we’re coming back to hangout/move out. I honestly have no clue when I’ll head back. I *really want to be able to use my Library Card one last night out on the square, but I don’t see that happening. It’s going to be really sad to move out knowing that we didn’t get to make the most out of those last moments before graduation. Also, I’m scared about unlocking my door and seeing the mess I left before spring break. Oops.

Now that we’ve all been home quarantining for a while, I’ve gotten used to the schedule I’ve created for myself. I enjoy it and wonder if I’ll keep up with some of my daily activities once quarantine is over. I’ve loved my daily walks outside. I find myself waking up early and appreciating that time. Why I didn’t naturally wake up early before all this, I don’t know. That’s definitely something I want to continue. I also want to continue reading and writing more. I miss my creative writing class a lot. We finally finished critiquing all our short stories this past week. I got some great feedback and have been working on my story, probably much more than I would have if I was in Oxford. 

It’s interesting to see how everyone is staying sane amongst the chaos. We have to keep reminding ourselves that as hard as some days are, we’ll get through this. I can’t wait until I get to have a margarita at El Agave again.