#i have a national chinese exam coming up soon

[nancylarch6]

Apply For China Visa In A Third Nation, Hong Kong & Macau

TVP’s Concierge Service Fees are $99 per individual for the primary application and $79 for each extra destination or service. TVP’s Concierge Service does not embrace the prices of U.S. State Department Fees, Foreign Government Consular Fees, FedEx overnight delivery or TVP’s passport and/or visa processing services fees. All candidates also need to submit a signed health statement when submitting their visa applications, and complete a COVID-19 nucleic acid take a look at within 5 days prior to their flight to China. Due to the present pandemic crisis, China is currently requiring all foreigners to current their Electronic Health Declaration QR code and vaccination certificates upon arrival, as nicely as unfavorable PCR and antibody exams. They will then bear additional testing on the airport and, supplied all is nice to go, a 14-day quarantine. Some provinces require that quarantine to final 21 days or even more for essentially the most excessive circumstances. Should a visitor check optimistic at any level, they're escorted to a authorities facility for isolation. All of this, in fact, is offered you hold a sound entry visa. Many Chinese Embassies, Visa Processing Centres and Consulates briefly closed down but some have reopened in latest weeks. 台胞證申請 cover medical evacuation. Police, school administrators, transportation officials, and lodge employees might check your visa to be sure to haven't overstayed. If you overstay your visa’s duration of keep, you may be denied service by hotels, airports and practice stations, in addition to face fines and detention. 台胞證照片 and exit requirements are strictly enforced, as are restrictions on activities allowed by any particular visa class. As soon as you arrive in China, you should register along with your local police station,within 24 hours of your arrival. Once you get your passport again, research your new visa very carefully. It’s not all that rare to be granted a visa aside from the one for which you have applied. Somestuff-ups happen occasionallyso go over it with a fine toothcomb. Since you can solely apply for the PU letter and the Z Visa once you have a signed teaching contract in place, get your job sorted first and then come again to step 1. China Visa The consular officer will inform you in case your utility needs additional processing. For a direct member of the family making use of separate from the principal visa applicant- A copy of both the visa and the I-94 for the principal visa holder is required. Requesting to renew your visa or that of a direct family member,selectRenewing an A-1 or A-2 Visa in the United Statesto learn more. A-3 visa holders must reapply for his or her visas outside the United States. The stage of earnings of the daddy or sponsor should show to the official their capability to cope with your travel and stay costs overseas for the deliberate period of keep. Being assured when explaining the aim of your go to is essential. Give particulars to the officer why you wish to make the visit by offering additionally the supporting paperwork evidencing the aim of it (i.e. Sightseeing France’s vacationer areas, skilled coaching, remedy appointment, studies, or other). Rush and expedited services usually are not supplied by the Los Angeles consulate. The applicant must apply for a non-immigrant visa, sort “O” on the Embassy. The applicant is required to submit an official recommendation letter from the organisation in Thailand to the Embassy. Taiwan Work Visa And Permit If they suppose your utility requires further examination, they'll ahead it to the Bureau of Consular Affairs in Taiwan, who will notify them of what choice to make. You could apply at any mission, but you are advised to use in the one in your country. If there’s no Taiwanese diplomatic mission in your nation, apply to the nearest one. Two passport-size pictures, taken within the previous six months. Passengers are advised to arrive on the airport at least four hours earlier than the scheduled departure time. If you would possibly be traveling in the midst of your academic activities at BU, you might need to renew your visa to return to the US and resume research, research, instructing, and so forth. The visa software procedures are usually the identical however there are some limited exemptions to the visa interview requirement. Consular posts in plenty of nations have drop-off or mail-in visa software procedures for faculty kids and scholars renewing visas if they've already been fingerprinted during a previous visa application. See country-specific utility directions on the website of the consulate the place you'll be making use of for a visa. CIBTvisas offers passport services for US citizens by submitting proper documentation in your behalf to the United States Department of State. A $20 charge will be charged for any check returned by your bank. Because your friend referred you, your application with Boundless is discounted. Start https://www.chinavisa.com.tw/china-visa/%E9%AB%98%E9%9B%84%E5%B8%82/index.php applying with Boundless throughout the subsequent 14 days, and you may save $50. If nothing else, the journey ban episode should have taught Europe and the United States that it is simple to let crackdowns on worldwide travel linger, with out concern for human and financial prices. With this in thoughts, human mobility ought to be elevated to leaders’ degree and put on the agenda on the G-7 and G-20 conferences alongside trade and know-how points — if only as a end result of free movement is a trademark of democratic societies. Japan Visa For Chinese Language Residents Turkey boasts a rich and dynamic culture, has an intriguing historical past, and impressive architectural heritage. The Turkey e-Visa can be used to have interaction in business ventures, attend conferences or occasions. Foreign vacationers who wish to travel to Turkey must either apply for a visa or an electronic travel authorization. You are required to supply details of your accommodation in Turkey, such as hotel handle, contact details, metropolis, and district. While planning a visit won't be the identical because it as soon as was, as of August 2021, most countries have began to reopen and ease border restrictions for vacationers. Regular flights are additionally working to and from other nations, including the USA, Austria, Croatia, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, and Singapore. A legitimate form of fee – You will need a debit card or credit card so as to pay in your Kenyan visa fee. Travel itinerary – You may be required to submit your journey plans in Kenya, which includes however is not limited to your resort or lodging bookings, activities, and airline ticket. Please note that momentary entry restrictions may apply in extraordinary circumstances, as was the case for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Exit and Entry Permit is valid for 3 months and only good for a single trip to Mainland China. Unlike ROC nationals, there is not any permit-on-arrival service at different ports of entry for SAR passport holders, and those looking for to enter Mainland China who arrived at a port of entry without acceptable documentations for entering might be denied entry and faraway from Mainland China. To get a visa to Turkey residents of many countries must go to an embassy or consulate. To apply for the Turkey e-Visa, nonetheless, the traveler can merely full the net kind which only takes a few minutes. Covid Vaccine And Test Necessities For U S Entry More than 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have already been offered to citizens in China and about 100 million Chinese individuals have already been vaccinated according to the the statistics from the China National Health Council on April 21, 2021. China plan to get about 560 million folks vaccinated to the end of June, 2021, attaining 40% immunization coverage nationwide. The facilitation preparations for those inoculated with Chinese vaccines are based on full consideration of the security and effectiveness of the vaccines, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian stated on Tuesday. Zhao known as it a meaningful attempt to facilitate cross-border journey. But Chinese embassies in several countries have issued notices saying the country will open visa functions to pick individuals who have taken a China-made jab. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many nations have closed off their borders and worldwide journey has turn out to be a tough if not nearly inconceivable task. While there have been talks about “travel bubbles”, corresponding to that proposed between Hong Kong and Singapore, concrete plans have but to come back to fruition. That is, till most recently, when the EU announced a version of its “vaccine passport”, underneath which those who can produce proof of vaccination with a quantity of recognised vaccine manufacturers could journey free from quarantine obligations into continental Europe. The US has already organized for all of the doses it needs from Pfizer/BioNtech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. They might want to submit the Letter of Commitment on COVID-19 vaccination, the vaccination certificates , and the check reports . Celebrate your colleagues and your self during this week honoring world payroll professionals. These college students would wish to go to a separate dorm for self-quarantine with a required Covid-19 take a look at. They might return to their own room if their physique temperature was again to normal and the Covid-19 take a look at came back unfavorable. Provides you with one-stop answer for the authetication of CanSino or Sinovac vaccinations on the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China for China Visa. We are certified official translators of the Judiciary Council of Ecuador with legal responsibility for the work produced. We’ll provide you with escorts, interpreters, attorneys and take you through the entire course of effectively and hassle free. Travel I was refused in Shule as a end result of the county doesn’t have the authority to issue marriage visas over 3 months. However, nowhere have I been capable of finding the entries/re-entry regulations for an X2 visa. On September third once I tried to get my physical done, as a end result of my size of study is lower than one hundred eighty days, I was unable to have the examination and was told that my X visa could be converted to an X2 visa at a later date . Until then, the PSB will only be willing to problem an exit and entry allow (出入境通行证) to your child. I had planned to reside briefly in China next year. But I’m not interested in working there – a minimal of not initially, till I’ve had time to discover choices and alternatives from the inside. (I have the means to help myself.) The F-visa would have been perfect, considering I don’t wish to work while I get the “lay of the land”. But the F-visa is apparently inconceivable to get these days. You’ll have to attend for publication of R visa rules to see if that visa may be an choice for you. Visit the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship for extra details. At the port of entry, a CBP official validates Form I-94, Record of Arrival-Departure, which notes the size of keep permitted. Customs and Border Protection upon your entry to the U.S. The US Visa system may be extremely troublesome and complex to navigate. Please make sure to visit our immigration middle which will provide you with extra detailed information about specific pupil visa's for the USA. Needless to say, it just isn't uncommon sense that one needs to abide by the beginning date in the I-20. Contact yourIES Abroad Advisorwith additional questions. Photocopy of Chinese ID of the inviting particular person or foreign passport and permanent residence allow. Issued to those who intend to go to relations who are Chinese citizens residing in China or foreigners with everlasting residence in China; the supposed period of keep is restricted to no extra than 180 days. If you do meet the factors to use for a Taiwan student visa at the BOCA, you have to accomplish that no much less than 8 workdays earlier than your current visa expires. Submit the application type and the paperwork at a Taiwanese diplomatic mission in particular person within 30 days.When you complete the appliance type, you will have to select which diplomatic mission you'll apply in from a dropdown menu. Itseasy Passport & Visa All first-time applicants must submit their purposes to the China Travel Service branch in Hong Kong or Macau while subsequent renewals of the permit can be accomplished in both Mainland China or the two SARs. It isn't attainable to use or renew the permit outdoors the PRC. Holders of the permit can enter Mainland China no matter function of entry and may remain in Mainland China indefinitely, although their social benefits are restricted not like Chinese nationals with residency in Mainland China. Home Return Permit holders additionally must get hold of an employment authorization from the municipal governments in order to work legally in Mainland China. BoliviaA comparable agreement, which have been signed and ratified by Chinese and Bolivian governments in March 2014, also solely facilitates the visa utility procedures for Chinese nationals. The validity, processing instances and required documentations for Bolivian nationals are unchanged. Starting from 2018, visa candidates from increasingly more nations (including the us, the UK, and Canada) have to make their visa utility in person and have their fingerprints collected. Issued to those that are family members of Chinese citizens or of foreigners with Chinese permanent residence and intend to go to China for household reunion, or to those who intend to go to China for the purpose of foster care. The meant length of stay in China exceeds a hundred and eighty days. Whether applicants come to the embassy in person or consign others for the visa application, the candidates ought to sign on the applying kind . Rarely do people making use of for a short lived residence permit undergo the method alone. Usually, the HR staff at your faculty or employer will assist you through every step. Most foreigners will solely have to register at the local police station, go for the well being check, and go for the interview at the PSB, and even then a local colleague will most likely accompany you. Your China work visa utility have to be handed in at your nearest – some embassies and consulates around the world are nonetheless accepting visas applications so finest to check in the nation you’re making use of from. Washington Express Visas is a personal firm that is not affiliated with any authorities company. Usa Nonimmigrant Visas If the official thinks you plan to stay in the us, he or she should refuse your visa. Remember, the F and J visas are for individuals who intend to return to their home country. The document to be submitted for non-immigrant visa software is contingent upon necessities and appropriateness of purposes acknowledged in the utility form. The next step for visa applicants is to schedule an interview at a U.S. consulate or embassy. Check that there aren't any current journey restrictions, corresponding to coronavirus pandemic-related ones. Your visa appointment wait time will depend upon the us In addition to student, journey, and short-term employee visas, there a number of other kinds of nonimmigrant visas. Learn about nonimmigrant visas available for professionals beneath NAFTA, treaty investors, non secular staff, and more. The B visa a nonimmigrant visa for individuals wanting to enter the United States quickly for enterprise (B-1) or for pleasure or medical therapy (B-2). People planning to travel to the us for a different purpose, such as to review, perform temporary work, act as journalists, and so forth, must apply for a special visa in the appropriate category. 89–236, §11, substituted a reference to choice, nonpreference, immediate relative, and particular immigration classification, for a reference to nonquota classes to which immigrants are classified. That they have a residence outdoors the us as well as other binding ties that may insure their return overseas at the finish of the visit. You can schedule a session with us on Skype, over the cellphone, or in particular person by using our “Online Consultation” kind.

#china visa

[tearsofthemis]

Tears of Themis : Chapter 1 “Social Snobbery” Part 1

[Masterlist] | [Next Part]

Location- Industrial Warehouse

(Early in the morning, a bustle of movement disturbed the quiet night at a raw chemical warehouse situated in Stellis City’s Industrial Zone. A group of warehouse clerks that should have been on break opened the warehouse doors as they manned robots that lugged barrel after barrel of raw materials which were loaded on carts.)

Man on Comms: “Raven, please report on the investigation progress.”

(The man called Raven moved to hide himself behind storage containers, and adjusted his night-vision goggles, turning on thermal imaging.)

Man on Comms: “Raven, do you copy? Did something happen to you?”

(Raven tapped on his earpiece three times and silenced it. The voice in the comms was effectively cut with it.)

Warehouse Clerk A: “These late night shifts are awful, what sorta business couldn’t we have left for tomorrow morning?”

Warehouse Clerk B: “Shut your trap; the sooner you stop complaining, the faster we can finish our job.”

Warehouse Clerk A: “Speaking of, where did Minister Xu go? He was…”

Warehouse Clerk B: “I told you to shut it! Are you daft?”

(The reprimanded clerk scratched their neck and went quiet. Soon after, the raw materials were loaded into the truck, and they drove away. The opening and closing of the warehouse doors, and even the workers’ small dispute, was semi-audible through Raven’s earpiece. His brows furrowed. He must have picked up something in their conversation… either that, or he was simply dissatisfied with the quality of his gear.)

Raven: “An abnormal delivery…”

(His fingers were like a blur as he typed away on his smart watch, pulling up information on the warehouse owners. Raven pressed his earpiece, and sent his last transmission of the night.)

Raven: “He Yin, Ya Ning, no anomalies detected. Mark Hai O’Sen.”

Without waiting for a confirmation on the other end, Raven turned and stalked away with the stealth of a black leopard, fading into the pitch black tar of the night…

~~~~~~

Location- Outside the Law Firm

(It’s Saturday morning, and the CBD building is quiet. Compared to the usual hub hub from workers rushing about on a business day, the silent streets were quite unsettling.)

MC: “Should I go pick up something sweet? It’s been tough working overtime to prepare for the exam, I ought to treat myself! I guess that’s decided!” 

(Just as I walked through the office doors, I nearly crashed into a deliveryman as he halted me on the way to the dessert shop.)

Delivery Man: “Excuse me, is uh… mis Law Firm in this building?”

MC: “This is Themis Law Firm, who are you looking for?”

MC: (Themis, the goddess of good council’s, name is difficult to pronounce… Even if Zhai Xing came up with the name with good implications, she seems to have failed to consider whether or not the name would even stick with others.)

Delivery Man: “Does Zuo Ran work here? I have a package under his name.”

MC: “Lawyer Zuo? He’s off today, so he won’t be in. Can I accept the parcel on his behalf? I’m also a lawyer at Themis, I can show you my work badge.”

[Game Instructions: Enter your name]

Delivery Man: “By our policy, it does have to be the intended recipient… but a lawyer is worthy of being trusted; I’ll have to ask you to forward it then.”

MC: “I-it’s heavy! I should put this down before heading to the dessert shop.”

~~~~~~

Location- Zuo Ran’s Office

MC: “Huu… what a heavy package. It must be case files again, why can’t they just send it over electronically…”

MC: “Eh? Lawyer Zuo?!”

(I-is this the Zuo Ran I’ve come to know? The chief of Themis, the youngest elite lawyer in the industry, Zuo Ran? He sat, slouched in the leather chair, as the first rays of the morning sun shone through the windows and onto his face, but it did little to erase the fatigue that had settled between his brows. At this moment, he appeared almost as if he were a traveler who had just returned from a perilous and long journey, and had finally put down his heavy bags and had a moment to breathe. But not before the weariness settled in.)

MC: “Lawyer Zuo, you....” Zuo Ran: “MC, it’s you?”

MC: “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in here, so I entered without knocking…”

(Zuo Ran loosened his tie and sighed. Compared to his usual immaculately pressed suit, seeing him like this was like unlocking something that wasn’t meant to be seen by others.)

Zuo Ran: “It’s alright…”

~~~

[Investigate Zuo Ran’s tie]

MC: (Lawyer Zuo changes his tie everyday… This is the same tie that he wore yesterday, it seems like he stayed overnight at the Law Firm.)

~~~

[Investigate books]

MC: (What’s this? I’ve never seen these books in Lawyer Zuo’s office before. “Undecided Event Book”... the name is so strange. Is this Lawyer Zuo’s new case? Unless… it’s some kind of weird novel he’s been reading?

~~~

[Investigate papers]

MC: (Isn’t this in regards to the trans-national trade dispute? The client has been quite unreasonable; perhaps that’s the reason for Lawyer Zuo’s troubles. Zhai Xing has urged Lawyer Zuo to find someone to help him with his workload many times. Although I don’t know how Lawyer Zuo feels about her suggestion.)

~~~

MC: “Lawyer Zuo, you look really pale, are you sick? “

(Zuo Ran pressed his temples as his brows knit together.)

Zuo Ran: “I’m alright, nothing’s wrong.”

MC: (Are you really alright?)

(Zuo Ran’s voice sounded raspy. It seems like he is mustering up strength just to respond to my questions.)

MC: “I’ll go make you some coffee, I’ll leave your package on the ottoman.”

Zuo Ran: “Alright, I’ll have to trouble you for that much.”

~~~

Location- Break Room

MC: “Lawyer Zuo must’ve worked overtime the entire night, right? Those strange books and files on his desk… did he take up a new case? If that’s how hard elite lawyers work, I have to ramp up my efforts! I must pass the intermediate exams!”

(An enticing aroma wafted from the coffee maker. Just as I was preparing Zuo Ran’s mug, someone’s device started vibrating.)

MC: “Hm?” (The notifications were coming from a tablet beside the coffee maker. I pressed the power button, and the screen lit up to life.)

~~~

[Investigate notification]

MC: “‘Sky-high copyright lawsuit verdict: XueYu Jewelry won the case!’... The push notification is from a news outlet. XueYu Jewelry’s case was handled by Lawyer Zuo; of course he would come out on top! I’ve never heard of Lawyer Zuo losing a case, but everyone else claims he wins 99% of the cases he handles… perhaps he lost a case before he came to Themis?”

~~~

[Investigate passcode]

MC: “Unrecognized fingerprint, I can’t unlock it…”

~~

[Investigate back of tablet]

MC: “A YingYuan sticker? Isn’t this the idol that ChengCheng has been obsessing over? This must be ChengCheng’s tablet. She’s so scatterbrained, always misplacing things. I bet she’s probably at home searching for her tablet...”

~~~~~~

(Just as I was about to set the tablet down, the screen lit up with yet another notification.)

MC: “A Genetic drug for cancer treatment released, YanNing Biology Company writes a new chapter in medical advancement! A new medicine, again? There’s been a lot of funding being invested in the development of medicine. Aside from YanNing Biology, the HeYin Pharmaceuticals development isn’t trivial, either. That market’s competition must be fierce! Though, that’s just good news for patients.”

~~~~~~

Location- Zuo Ran’s Office

MC: “Lawyer Zuo, coffee’s ready.”

Zuo Ran: “I appreciate it, thanks.”

(By the time I came back, Zuo Ran had begun to organize the case files. He was focused as he poured over the information, and the fountain pen between his fingers did not rest as it took notes and circled important details. Judging by the parcel wrapping in his trash bin, I’m guessing he has already begun looking into the new case. I carefully brush aside some of the documents and place the coffee mug by his hand.) MC: “Is this an urgent case? I think you should rest for a bit.”

Zuo Ran: “No need. It’s Saturday, why are you here?”

MC: “I’m preparing for the intermediate lawyer exam. I thought if I studied at Thermis, it would be easier to reference information.”

Zuo Ran: “I see. If you need help, you can come find me, I’ll be here the whole day.”

MC: “That’s great! Thank you, Lawyer Zuo! Lawyer Zuo, you probably haven’t had anything to eat all day, have you? I’m about to go…”

(The office doorbell suddenly rang.)

Zuo Ran: “We have guests?”

MC: “I’ll go take a look.”

Zuo Ran: “If it’s anything you can’t handle, send them to my office.”

MC: “Will do.” ~~~~~~

Location- Themis Law Firm’s Reception Area

(By the front door, a man and a woman are arguing.)

Man: “Xue XinRan, the old man has already accepted his fate. Why do you need to go to such lengths? Filing a case is just a waste of money. If you really wanna go through the hassle, why not employ our MeiWeiKa PR agency? We can guarantee your ‘QingPing Restaurant Scandal’ be served without any dirt.”

Xue XinRan: “What nonsense! Lu HaiYang, you’re lying through your teeth! MeiWeiKa only looks to squeeze money from us merchants; you’ve never cared about anyone’s well-being!”

(Suddenly, the man named Lu HaiYang stepped toward Xue XinRan and grabbed her wrist.)

Lu HaiYang: “Watch what you say, Xue XinRan. Our company has prestige, and it isn’t something that can be uprooted by the words of a country bumpkin.

MC: “Sir, this is a Law Firm, I ask that you remain respectful!”

(I separated the two, and pushed XinRan behind me.)

-------

[Masterlist] | [Next Part]

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《CREDIT》 Translator: @humi-and-co Editor: @hallowsivy​ 《未定事件簿》Tears of Themis is a 2020 Chinese otome game by 米哈游Mihoyo. All original credits go to 米哈游Mihoyo. 

《VOICE ACTORS》 Xia Yan | Jin Xian: https://weibo.com/riceranger Zuo Ran | Zhao Lu: https://weibo.com/mzhaolu Lu HaiYang | Zhang Pei: https://weibo.com/u/1937059462 Xue XinRan | V17-Su Wan: https://weibo.com/u/2925530143

《OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS》 Official website: https://bbs.mihoyo.com/wd/ Official WeChat account:  未定事件簿  Mihoyo official website: https://wd.mihoyo.com/

#tears of themis #tears of themis translations #otome #otome game #otome game translations #otome game trans #zuo ran #未定事件簿 #左然

[ill-will-editions]

WHAT THE VIRUS SAID

First published in Lundimatin, March 16, 2020

Translated by Robert Hurley

“I’ve come to shut down the machine whose emergency brake you couldn’t find.”

You’d do well, dear humans, to stop your ridiculous calls for war. Lower the vengeful looks you’re aiming at me. Extinguish the halo of terror in which you’ve enveloped my name. Since the bacterial genesis of the world, we viruses are the true continuum of life on Earth. Without us, you would never have seen the light of day, any more than the first cell would have come to exist.

We are your ancestors, just like the rocks and the seaweed, and much more than the apes. We are wherever you are and also where you aren’t. Too bad for you if you only see in the universe what is to your liking! But above all, quit saying that it is I who am killing you. You will not die from my action upon your tissues but from the lack of care of your fellow humans. If you had not been just as rapacious amongst yourselves as you were with all that lives on this planet, you would still have enough beds, nurses, and respirators to survive the damage I do in your lungs. If you didn’t pack your old people into nursing homes and your able-bodied into concrete hutches, you wouldn’t be in this predicament. If you hadn’t changed the whole expanse of the world, or worlds rather, that just yesterday were still luxuriant, chaotic, infinitely inhabited, into a vast desert for the monoculture of the Same and the More, I wouldn’t have been able to launch myself into the global conquest of your throats. If nearly all of you had not become, over the last century, redundant copies of a single, untenable form of life, you would not be preparing to die like flies abandoned in the water of your sugary civilization. If you had not made your environments so empty, so transparent, so abstract, you can be sure that I wouldn’t be moving at the speed of an aircraft. I only come to carry out the punishment that you have long pronounced against yourselves. Forgive me, but it’s you, after all, who invented the name “Anthropocene”. You have awarded yourselves the whole honor of the disaster; now that it is unfolding, it’s too late to decline it. The most honest among you know this very well: I have no other accomplice than your social organization, your folly of the “grand scale” and its economy, your fanatical belief in systems. Only systems are “vulnerable”. Everything else lives and dies. There’s no “vulnerability” except for what aims at control, at its extension and its improvement. Look at me closely: I am just the flip side of the prevailing Death.

So stop blaming me, accusing me, stalking me. Working yourselves into an anti-viral paralysis. All of that is childish. Let me propose a different perspective: there is an intelligence that is immanent to life. One doesn’t need to be a subject to make use of a memory and a strategy. One doesn’t have to be a sovereign to decide. Bacteria and viruses can also call the shots. See me, therefore, as your savior instead of your gravedigger. You’re free not to believe me, but I have come to shut down the machine whose emergency brake you couldn’t find. I have come in order to suspend the operation that held you hostage. I have come in order to demonstrate the aberration that “normality” constitutes. “Delegating to others our nutrition, our protection, our ability to care for our way of life was a madness”…“There is no budgetary limit, health has no price” : see how I redirect the language and spirit of your governing authorities! See how I bring them down for you to their real standing as miserable racketeers, and arrogant to boot! See how they suddenly denounce themselves not just as being superfluous, but as being harmful! For them you’re nothing but supports for the reproduction of their system – that is, less than slaves. Even the plankton are treated better than you.

But don’t waste your time reproaching them, pointing out their deficiencies. Accusing them of negligence is still to give them more credit than they deserve. Ask yourselves rather how you could find it so comfortable to let yourselves be governed. Praising the merits of the Chinese option compared to the British option, of the imperial-legist solution as against the Darwinist-liberal method is to understand nothing about the one or the other, the horror of one and the horror of the other. Since Quesnay, the “liberals” have always looked with envy at the Chinese empire ; and they still do. They are Siamese twins. The fact that one of them confines you in its interest and the other in the interest of “society” always amounts to suppressing the only non-nihilist conduct : taking care of oneself, of those one loves and of what one loves in those one doesn’t know. Don’t let those who’ve led you to the abyss claim to be saving you from it: they will prepare for you a more perfect hell, an even deeper grave. Someday when they’ll able, they’ll send the army to patrol the afterlife.

You ought to thank me, rather. Without me, for how much longer would those unquestionable things that are suddenly suspended have gone on being presented as necessary? Globalization, competitive exams, air traffic, budgetary limits, elections, sports spectacles, Disneyland, fitness gyms, most businesses, the National Assembly, school barracking, mass gatherings, most office jobs, all that automatic sociability that is nothing but the reverse of the anxious solitude of the metropolitan monads : all of that was rendered unnecessary, once the state of necessity asserted its presence. Thank me for the truth test of the coming weeks; you’re finally going to inhabit your own life, without the thousand escapes that, good year bad year, hold the untenable together. Without your realizing it, you had never taken up residence in your own existence. You were there among your boxes, and you didn’t know it. Now you will live with your kindreds. You will be at home. You will cease to be in transit towards death. Perhaps you will hate your husband. Maybe your children won’t be able to stand you. Maybe you will feel like blowing up the décor of your everyday life. The truth is that you were no longer in the world, in those metropolises of separation. Your world was no longer livable in any of its guises unless you were constantly fleeing. One had to make do with movement and distractions in the face of the hideousness that had taken hold. And the spectral that reigned between beings. Everything had become so efficient that nothing made any sense any longer. Thank me for all that, and welcome back to earth!

Thanks to me, for an indefinite time you will no longer work, your kids won’t go to school, and yet it will be the opposite of a vacation. Vacations are that space that must be filled up at all costs while waiting for the obligatory return to work. But now what is opening up in front of you, thanks to me, is not a delimited space but a gaping emptiness. I render you idle. There’s no guarantee that yesterday’s non-world will reappear. All of that profitable absurdity may cease. Not being paid oneself, what would be more natural than to stop paying one’s rent? Why would a person unable to work go on depositing their mortgage payments at the bank? Isn’t it suicidal, when you come down to it, to live where you can’t even cultivate a garden? Someone who doesn’t have any money left doesn’t stop eating as a consequence, and who has the iron has the bread. Thank me: I place you in front of the bifurcation that was tacitly structuring your existences: the economy or life. It’s your move, your turn to play. The stakes are historical. Either the governing authorities impose their state of exception on you, or you invent your own. Either you go with the truths that are coming to light, or you put your head on the chopping block. Either you use the time I’m giving you to envision the world of the aftermath in light of what you’ve learned from the collapse that’s underway, or the latter will go extreme. The disaster ends when the economy ends. The economy is the devastation. That was a theory before last month. Now it is a fact. No one can fail to sense what it will take in the way of police, propaganda, surveillance, logistics, and remote working to keep that fact under control.

As you deal with me, don’t succumb to panic or denial. Don’t give in to the biopolitical hysterias. The coming weeks will be terrible, oppressive, cruel. The gates of death will be wide open. I am the most devastating production of the devastation of production. I come to reduce the nihilists to nothingness. The injustice of this world will never be more outrageous. It’s a civilization, not you, that I come to bury. Those who desire to live will have to construct new habits, ones that are suitable for them. Avoiding me will be the occasion for this reinvention, this new art of distances. The art of greeting one another, which some were short-sighted enough to see as the very form of the institution, will soon not obey any etiquette. It will sign beings. Don’t do it “for the others”, for “the population” or for “society”, do it for your people. Take care of your friends and those you love. Rethink along with them, decisively, what a just form of life would be. Organize clusters of right living, expand them, and I won’t be able to do anything against you. I am calling for a massive return, not of discipline, but of attention. Not for the end of insouciance, but the end of all carelessness. What other way remained for me to remind you that salvation is in each gesture? That everything is in the tiniest thing.

I’ve had to face the facts: humanity only asks itself the questions it can no longer keep from asking.

#coronavirus

[mybukz]

Work-in-progress: The Singaporean Candidate by Begau Salleh

Image by Joshua Ang at Unsplash

Excerpt from Begau Salleh’s work-in-progress political novel ‘The Singaporean Candidate’.

Aadam has a dream; to be the first Malay Prime Minister of Singapore. Pretty tricky considering Singapore's Chinese racial majority.

There is a way. Singapore’s ruling political party is running a training programme for Singapore’s future leaders. From the trainees, the Father of Singapore himself will pick out and groom the next Prime Minister. All Aadam has to do is prove he is the very best, better even than the esteemed patriarch’s own grandsons.

But Malaysia is in a cold war with Singapore due to a land dispute. Public sentiment is against Aadam because of his ethnicity. Aadam will soon find himself caught in a greater plot, with the future of both nations hanging in the balance.

*

The next morning we were on the front page of the papers, right next to the headline “PM SLAMS MALAYSIA’S UNSCHEDULED WATER RATIONING”. The five Prime Minister candidates even got a special column.

Back in our cramped HDB flat, mak was smiling from ear-to-ear while reading the papers at the dining table. I wasn’t. I was muttering to myself while straightening out my hair in the mirror nearby.

Mak sighed, put down the papers. “Why the sour face?”

I straightened my tie and picked up a curry puff from the table. “They hardly mentioned me, mak. The three Ngs got so much more coverage. Even Benjamin, even Grace got more coverage than me!” I said, my mouth full of curry puff.

Admittedly, I didn’t have the clout of the three grandsons. My family history wasn’t as interesting as Benjamin’s. But how did Grace get more coverage than me when she wasn’t even aiming to be PM!

Mak flipped the papers open. She whistled and gave me a mischievous grin. “You know, this young woman is quite impressive. Not as astounding as my son, but very impressive. I think she’d make a wonderful wife for a tall, dark and handsome young man.”

A tall, dark and handsome young man like me.

I sighed. In high school, Singaporean parents forbid their kids from seeing girls, much less date. As soon as we leave college, parents do a 180 and play matchmaker themselves.

“Benjamin fits that description too, you know?” I replied dryly.

“Then you’d better make sure you strike first,” mak winked.

I rolled my eyes and gave mak a peck on her forehead. “I have to go now. Have a good day at work, mak.”

Mak wished me the best of luck. With today’s simple task, I wouldn’t need it. I took my coat, ruffled the head of my cat and told it “Behave yourself,” as I walked out.

# Appear, meet children, smile for the camera, leave. That was the schedule for the candidates today. Public relations at its finest. All I had to do was give my most genuine-looking smile and say nice things to kids. Everyone here knew how to do that, surely.

While the candidates sat in the hall waiting for the kids, the director gave us a short briefing on what to expect. The parents would be accompanying the kids, along with a lot of support staff trained in handling children. She emphasized that we would not be responsible for taking care of the kids once they arrived. Normally a few kids may get scared and cry, and that wouldn’t be our fault.

See? Easy-peasy.

Honestly, I needed a break after all the drama from the last PR event.

The Prime Minister arrived before the kids did. A slim man with greying hair, he was wearing a light blue dress shirt, tie and grey slacks. We gave him a standing ovation as he arrived, and he went straight to the podium.

“Welcome to the Candidates Leadership Programme. I’m here as a guest at the behest of the organisers. They’re hoping I can inspire all of you and explain the importance of this event.” He smiled. “Well, I’ll try my best. I’m told that a rather important question was conspicuously left out of all your interviews. You may have thought about it, or at least heard it before. Take a guess what that question was.”

A few hands came up.

“How can you serve your country?” ShuXuan guessed, pensive.

“How can you bring prosperity to Singapore?” Chulek said, smiling confidently.

“Why do you want to be Prime Minster, or a minister?” Benjamin suggested.

“Why are you the right man for the job?” I tried.

The PM smiled and put up his hands. “Those are all good questions. Oh dear. Maybe we should thought of those too.”

Everyone laughed.

The PM pointed to another raised hand and nodded.

HuaXuan put down his hand. “What is your vision for Singapore?”

PM Ng paused, frowned slightly. “Yes… that was the question. ‘What is your vision for Singapore?’ Now that I mention it, it sounds like an obvious question to ask, right? Why do you think it wasn’t asked, even though the organisers knew it was important?”

This time, he just waited a moment as if he was going to ask us to offer suggestions again. But he didn’t give us that chance. How unsporting, heh.

“Because we don’t want you to answer that question. Not yet. You’re still young and inexperienced, and your answer is going to sound like it came out of a National Day slogan contest. Right now, that’s all your answer will be; a slogan. We’re hoping that by the end of this training programme, it will be much more than that. And it begins here, by meeting Singapore’s future. We’ve asked each child to tell you what their dreams are. Let the dreams of Singapore’s future generation inform your vision of what Singapore should be.”

I swallowed down hard. Up until that point, I hadn’t been taking today’s event seriously. There may not be any exams or tests, but the PM had convinced me that this public relations exercise was worth my time. I had to make sure I listened to these children carefully.

The director exchanged words with the PM. He turned back to us. “The children are ready. I hope all of you are as well, because here they come!”

Parents and support staff escorted loud, crying, giggling and pouting kids of all ages into the hall. There had to be about a hundred children, compared to our 30 or so candidates. The hall couldn’t accommodate everyone, so a lot of them waited in line outside. To keep them occupied, support staff sang to them, a clown made animal balloons, and some had toys or books.

We had already been broken up into groups around the hall, according to which position we wanted. Each ministry group attended to the same group of children, one child at a time. My guess: the children were assigned to each ministry group based on how relevant their dreams were to that ministry. All the children had papers in their hands to read out what they had prepared beforehand. Most read from it, with a bit of encouragement from their parents.

I sat with the other PM candidates; that’s Benjamin, Chulek, ShuXuan and HuaXuan in case you forgot. We seemed to be getting slightly older children, other than one young Chinese boy. An Indian teenage girl in a wheelchair stood out to me. No doubt she wanted a more disabled-friendly Singapore.

“More jobs”, “Lower cost of living”, “Freedom of speech”… Did the children write these dreams themselves? We smiled knowingly at the embarrassed parents even as we clapped, smiled and cheered for each child and said sugary sweet things to each one. We promised we’d do our best to make ‘their’ dreams come through.

Then the little Chinese boy stomped forward to for his turn. He declared, “When I grow up, I want to be a millionaire. So I can buy a Ferrari. It must be red and very fast. No compromises.”

The five of us oh-ed and couldn’t help but giggle. At least that dream was genuinely his!

“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to say you’ll help me?’ the young boy asked, pouting and stamping his foot.

Sorry, kid. It’s not our job to make you a Crazy Rich Asian. I couldn’t quite think of how to handle him, honestly. He was just too cute! Like us, his embarrassed parents were trying their best to stifle their laugher from behind him.

“Oh, I think it’s a great ambition,” Chulek said, suppressing his chortling, “But I have to tell you, there’s no way it can be easy to be a millionaire. Not only do you have to work very hard, but you have to be better than everyone else. ”

“But you’re supposed to make it happen, right? Mum and dad said so!’ the boy insisted.

“Oh, did they?” Chulek said while eyeing the increasingly embarrassed parents who sheepishly apologised. Chulek nodded to the parents, then said to the child, “You’re not wrong. It’s our duty to create a Singapore that allows every Singaporean to reach their best potential. But you have to work hard to reach that potential too. If getting rich was so easy, then everyone would be a millionaire.”

The child pouted, sullen.

Chulek chuckled. “How about this. We’ll do our job by making sure Singapore continues to prosper. So when you grow up, you’ll get a fair chance at making it rich. Sounds good?”

The parents persuaded the poor boy with big dreams to agree, which he did with a little prodding. Looked like Chulek took this one. The camera was rolling, so I’m sure the public would have enjoyed watching him try to inspire the precious boy.

Next, the teen in the wheelchair. A single pony tail, spectacles, blouse and jeans, she’d look like a typical teenager if she wasn’t physically disabled. She looked a little shy, holding her still-folded paper in her hands. Her parents were smiling, but were shifting from foot to foot, looking around like we were going to swallow them whole.

“Hello dear, thank you for coming,” I said, trying to put them all at ease, “I’m Aadam. What is your name?”

The girl stayed silent until the parents patted her from behind. “Sahil,” she said.

Benjamin cut in before I could continue. “It’s nice to meet you Sahil. I’m Benjamin, and this is ShuXuan, HuaXuan, and Chulek. It’s okay if you don’t remember our names as we’re not anyone important yet.”

He winked and the teenage girl grinned ever so slightly.

Curse you, Benjamin! Using your good looks to charm teenagers!

“Why don’t you tell us what your dream is, Sahil,” ShuXuan said.

Sahil looked at her parents, and they nodded. Sahil said, “I want to be Prime Minister of Singapore.”

For a moment, the five of us were dumbfounded.

Benjamin recovered first. “Yes. …Yes? Yes! Why not. You can overcome anything. You can be the next Prime Minister of Singapore!”

The girl grinned, ecstatic, but the rest glared at Benjamin. Even the parents.

Benjamin glared back defiantly. “What?”

ShuXuan was frowning something fierce. “We have to be responsible for what dreams we pitch to the young. We shouldn’t encourage her to waste her future on a pipe dream like that.”

“We just got a young boy who wanted to be a millionaire. Please handle these children with a bit more finesse,” Chulek said.

Benjamin’s eyes narrowed at the two Ngs who had just spoken, then settled on the last one. “So. Is the last Ng going to tell me off as well? I shouldn’t tell this young woman to dream big?”

HuaXuan kept silent and refused to look at him.

Benjamin said to the girl, “Dear, don’t listen to them. Your disability is not relevant to the role of Prime Minister.”

“The last boy was one matter, but this is going too far. No one is going to accept her as the Prime Minister, and you know it. I’m not going to peddle lies to this girl in order to look good, unlike you,” ShuXuan said tersely.

Those words stung me to the core, but I hadn’t realised why yet.

HuaXuan winced. “Guys, focus. She’s still here.”

The poor girl teared up, clutching her paper in her hands into a crumpled heap. Her parents cringed, aghast. We were handling this terribly.

So the three Ngs started to talk to her gently. Letting her down, but gently. Squashing her unrealistic dreams, but gently.

Benjamin looked away in anger, had nothing to say. Honestly, I wasn’t totally convinced he believed she could be Prime Minister either. Otherwise he’d be using that opportunity to tell her that he believed in her, unlike the three Ngs.

I stayed silent the whole time. I wanted to say something, but everyone’s words rubbed me the wrong way.

“The Prime Minister is the representative of the country to the world. That’s why nobody with a disability has been chosen as a leader,” someone said. I was too livid to know who.

Shouldn’t they want the best person for the job? Nobody disputes that her disability isn’t relevant to the role!

“But there are so many other great and wonderful things you can be. Better than Prime Minister.”

What the hell is better than Prime Minister?

“For example, you could be a doctor who saves people’s lives.” 
“A CEO of a huge company!”

Aren’t you listening? She wants to be Prime Minister!

At the end of it all, I didn’t add a word to the discussion and let the three Ngs say everything. Sahil seemed to have calmed down, anyway. The parents weren’t happy, but they weren’t complaining either. I guess they knew it would come to this, in the end.

All the parents and children gathered around for a group photo before going on their way. We made sure to shake all their hands and apologised for not doing a good job of inspiring their kids.

Our group finished first, so we sat around waiting for the other groups while the kids from our session slowly made their way out. That’s when HuaXuan asked me, “Why are you staring at us like that?”

The rest looked at me curiously, as if they just noticed something.

“I have no idea what sort of face I’m making,” I said, defensive.

“You’re angry,” Benjamin explained, “I’m not sure why. I have reason to be, but what are you mad about?”

I had some idea. “You three… we did that girl wrong.”

ShuXuan raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, wise guy. What would you have said in our place?”

“Maybe we should have just been quiet the whole time like you?” Chulek quipped before I could respond, “At least Benjamin here tried to say something. Even if what he was saying was wrong.”

I tried my best to answer back, but my mouth opened and closed like a fish.

HuaXuan sighed. “You’re right. We could have handled it better. But in the end, the result is the same. Just lead her onto another path. That’s good enough.”

No. That wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t just this girl’s dreams everyone was taking a shit on. It was mine. I’m not sure what came over me. I got out of my chair and ran out, shouting for Sahil to wait. She was nearly out of the hall, surrounded by other parents who looked at her with a mix of pity and disapproval. I didn’t care what they thought. Sahil blinked at me in confusion as I knelt to get closer to her so she could hear what I had to say.

I held her gaze. “Singapore may not be ready for you yet. But one day, it can be. I will work hard to make your dream a reality. If you grow up and find I couldn’t make Singapore ready for you in time, I’m counting on you to continue where I left off.”

It took a moment for my words to sink in. When it did, her frown changed to a subtle smile. She nodded. I didn’t push her to say anything. “So we got a deal? Good. Let’s shake on it.”

We shook hands, and I gave a thumbs up to her before heading back to my seat. The rest were giving me a look I couldn’t quite fathom at the time.

“What?” I asked. I figured they couldn’t hear what I told Sahil from where they were seated anyway.

HuaXuan pointed at my portable mike, still attached to my coat lapel. Turns out they heard every word.

Fine then. “Anyone going to tell me off? For selling a girl unrealistic dreams?” I asked.

No one did. They just looked away. Even Benjamin.

Well, whatever. I wasn’t in the mood anyway.

#

Mak gave me a big hug as soon I stepped back into the house. She must have gotten up as soon as she heard me pulling out the keys.

“What brought this on, mak?”

“My son is the best! Now everyone knows. I’m so proud of you, ‘nak,” mak blurted out, pulled my face down so she could kiss each of my cheeks in turn.

I had no idea what she was going on about and told her as much.

“The way you talked to the wheelchair girl! It was live, on TV,” mak squealed, “Everyone’s sharing it on Facebook too!”

I whipped out my phone and checked. All my friends had tagged me to a video, gave me a thumbs up. The amount of ‘likes’ had already reached 30k, and I just got home from the event. I didn’t even know the event was screened live in the first place.

What exactly did the video show? I pressed play. It started with the introduction of Sahil and continued to the point where I got out to talk to Sahil myself. The cameraman had even moved in and shown a clear view of me talking to Sahil and shaking her hand.

Only after watching the video did I realise how well my actions had reflected on me in the public eye. I had stolen the show without even intending to or realising it.

“If those Ng boys didn’t think you were a threat before, they do now,” Mak said with a huge grin on her face.

I jumped for joy, then froze.  Questions were forming in my head.

How could that have happened?

The cameraman must have followed me as soon as I got up, and even went away from the main group of PM candidates to follow me into the crowd. Why would he do that? One would think he would stay with the three Ngs, and at most record me talking to Sahil from a distance. What I did was completely unrehearsed, so there couldn’t have been standing orders for the cameraman to follow me as I got up to talk to Sahil.

…No, I must have been overthinking it. The director must have been standing close by to us as the PMs candidates were the highlight of the show. She could probably tell something was going to happen when I got up. So she sent the cameraman to follow me. That had to be it.

Or so I thought.

*

Bio: Dr Begau Salleh (pen name) is an autistic writer based in Malaysia.

#malaysian fiction #malaysia #begau salleh #singapore candidate

[sambarvadai]

#5: the curious art of crunchtime creativity (1/2): voila!

posted on 4 nov 2019 there’s something about exams, about the mindbending stress they induce, about the level of shutdown your brain goes into. for me, exam seasons have never been about exams themselves, but about everything else.

i find myself relishing being let off early from classes, because as soon as i go home i take a good, long nap. i like having free blocks, when teachers let us study whatever we want to, so we pull up chairs and quiz our friends, or follow around the teacher as they entertain hysterical, nonsensical, or the rare well-thought-out question. i enjoy filling up pages of paper with math workings – done in pencil, because pen refills are expensive.

but this post isn’t about what goes on in school. it’s about what i do when i’m supposed to be studying. in those moments, i find myself more creative than i’ve ever been.

this isn’t a recent trend. when i was twelve and gearing up for my first bout of national exams, i found an old grid notebook with yellowing pages. it was my mother’s notebook, judging by the handwriting, but evidently (and thankfully) it wasn’t a very important notebook. that became my sketchbook for the year. i carried it out everywhere, drawing anything and everything that caught my fancy – from the line of my classmate’s back, to the imposing national museum. i wrote notes in it from a philosophy book. in short, it was my diary, and i loved it very much. the best sketch i’ve ever done comes with a defiant postscript: ‘done on xx/xx/xxxx, oral day!’ that sketchbook retains my fondest memories. i still remember my art teacher saying: ‘you know, this is a really great portfolio. if i didn’t know better i’d think you were gearing for art uni,’ citing the numerous sketches, studies, and figure drawings i’d done.

since then, the activities have changed, but the drive has not. my most recent exams saw me making music on musescore (god bless musescore), composing a 100-bar-long song inspired by chinese music, among other pieces. it felt really, really good. while there was a slight tinge of guilt that i wasn’t studying, it was quickly overtaken by the sheer joy of writing music. some of the best pieces i’ve produced (imho) were written when i was supposed to be doing anything but that. it was during times of external pressure. it seems as if creative energy leaks happen right when critical/analytical energy levels run dangerously high, initating some sort of shutdown that makes the right brain go into its happy place. i don’t know what’s the science, but i’m very thankful for this science, even if it rears its head in the most inopportune times.

my friends express this too. one friend also discovered musescore after i repeatedly sent her my music, and composed an intriguing piece after messing around with it for an hour or so. another friend found herself doodling gorgeous, gorgeous things right during exam peak period. this blog, itself, was born three days before national exams (i’m seeing a recurring pattern here). who knows what’ll come out of the next national exams two years later? (hopefully, something a little less time-consuming, because those exams MATTER!!)

in conclusion, on some level, stress helps us create, and we should embrace that and let it out instead of beating ourselves over it when we inevitably succumb to drawing bodiless eyes on exam papers. let yourself relax. write that blog post. draw that perfect face. feel that sense of satisfaction that you’ve created something just for yourself. that’s the special part – you’re not doing this because someone else told you to or forced you to. creativity is like a relationship – if you have to force it out, something’s wrong. allow yourself to be comfortable with doing things for yourself, and feel good that you’ve created something at the end of it. even as i’m typing this with my national exam looming over my head, i feel content that i’m sharing a part of myself that gives me satisfaction. try it out.

part 2 coming soon!! in the meantime, all the best to whoever who has exams and is reading this!!

thanks for reading!! anbudan, noon xoxo

#exams #thoughts #blog #stress #mine #noonwords

[recentanimenews]

What Anime Represent Each of Japan's Eras?

On April 30, 2019, Japan’s Emperor Akihito officially abdicated the throne and his son, Naruhito, became the new emperor. This means that the country has both a new ruler and has started a new era, ending the Heisei era that started in 1989 and beginning the Reiwa era.

  This brings up an interesting question though. What are the major Japanese eras? Many anime fans will know terms like “Warring States period” and maybe “Showa era,” and may even know some of the important names or characteristics, but when does each era occur in relation to the others, what was happening in the world in general at the time and most importantly: what anime can I watch that depicts each era?

    Keep in mind that many of these periods of history last for centuries and so no characterization is going to be perfectly accurate. Society changes a little with each generation, so the early Edo period of the 1600’s is almost certainly significantly different than the late Edo of the 1850’s.

      Also, technically each emperor is given their own era, hence why Akihito’s Heisei is ending and Naruhito’s Reiwa is beginning, however for the sake of not turning this article into a history book, we will be talking about the major historical periods, and only focusing on each emperor’s era for the most recent few.

  Chronologically, the earliest parts of Japanese history, collectively known as ancient Japan, are the Jomon, Yayoi and Kofun eras. Jomon is the oldest, going from 10,000 to 800 B.C. In terms of the rest of the world, by 800 B.C. Chinese alchemists had made gunpowder and Rome was about to be founded.

    No anime have been explicitly set in the Jomon era, however the era’s dogu figurines, one of its most well known styles of art, have been depicted in shows like Digimon via Shakkoumon and Pokémon, with Claydol.

  The Yayoi era takes up the next 600 years, from 300 B.C. to 300 A.D. This is when various practices made their way to Japan, like metallurgy and hierarchical class structure. In other parts of the world: Christianity started, Julius Caesar’s reign happened and China entered its Three Kingdoms era.

    In terms of anime, while not set in Japan, Kingdom is set in the Chinese warring states era, which ended in the 4th century B.C., which is still in the early Yayoi period. Meanwhile, Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix is set in a few different eras, with the one of the arcs, specifically the Dawn arc, being in the Yayoi era. In 2004, the manga received an anime adaptation, and earlier this year Media Blasters announced that they were re-licensing the title to make Blu-rays available for the first time.

    The final era of ancient Japan is the Kofun era, from 300 A.D. to 538 A.D., when the country became more politically centralized with the start of the first Imperial government. The name of the era comes from the Kofun mounds where important figures were buried. Elsewhere, the huns were attacking India and Rome, Zen Buddhism entered Korea and Chichen Itza was founded in modern day Mexico.

  Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any anime that have adapted the Kofun era. Even Phoenix, despite covering eras both before and after Kofun, seems to skip over this time period.

    Next is Classical Japan, with the Asuka, Nara and Heian eras. The Asuka era lasted from 538 to 710, during which the arts were greatly affected by the influx of Buddhism, and the country’s name changed from Wa to Nihon. In the rest of the world, Italy reunified under the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic prophet Muhammad is born and wet field rice cultivation flourished.

  For anime, Phoenix comes back to life as quite possible the only show that has adapted the era, specially the Sun arc for the Asuka era.

    Nara, which lasted from 710 to 794, is known for the Imperial Court creating the first Japanese literature and Buddhism finally gaining more followers due to the emperor being Buddhist. Meanwhile, the Ghana empire began and the Iberian Peninsula begins to be ruled by Berber Muslims.

  Outside of potentially some children’s manga though, like the Kofun era, there seriously don’t seem to be any anime set in the Nara era.

  Japan’s classical era ended with the Heian era from 794 to 1185, during which Buddhism and the Imperial Court were at their peak, Charlemagne was crowned Roman emperor, the Norse became Normans, the University of Oxford began teaching and anime finally had something to adapt. This is the era Shounen Onmyoji and Otogi Zoshi are set, among others.

    After the Heian era are the Kamakura, Muromachi and Azuchi-Momoyama eras, collectively known as Medieval Japan. In general, these eras are known as when the shogunate and samurai became prominent.

  The Kamakura era, from 1185 to 1333, saw the rise of the Kamakura shogunate, emergence of samurai and establishment of the feudal system. In the rest of the world, Richard I was crowned king of England, Genghis Khan was declared Great Khan of the Mongols and the Ottoman Empire was established.

  Like with many of the ancient eras, not many anime are explicitly set in the Kamakura era. One exception is Kurozuka, a show about a man in the 12th century who finds out he is unable to die and so watches Japan develop for the next 1,000 years.

    The Kenmu Restoration, which lasted the next three years, was an attempt to put the Imperial Court back in power, and ultimately led to the next Shogunate.

  The Muromachi era and shogunate lasted until 1573 with a succession of 15 shoguns. The last shogun was driven out of the capitol by Oda Nobunaga, starting the Azuchi-Momoyama era, which most people probably recognize more as when Nobunaga and company ended the Warring States era (which had lasted 150 years through half of the Muromachi era) and reunited Japan. When Tokugawa Ieyasu took over and started the Tokugawa shogunate, the Edo period and Japan’s isolationism policy officially began, lasting from 1603 to 1868.

  The reason why these three eras are combined instead of each getting their own sections is because they are collectively known as Japan’s feudal era, one of the most popular time periods for anime.

    If a show looks like it’s set in the past and the characters are wandering the countryside from village to village, there’s a good chance it’s set during the Warring States period, even if it has more magical or fantastic elements. If the show ever mentions the Shinsengumi, it’s probably set sometime during the Edo period or shortly after.

  Most anime set in feudal Japan tend to keep the exact era obscured, instead just showing that the setting is somewhere in that almost 400 year timeframe or heavily inspired by the politics and history of feudal Japan in general, like how Gintama is technically set shortly after the Edo era, so still has a Shogunate and the Shinsengumi, but is also set in a world where aliens conquered Earth. Of the shows that make the timing clearer, the likes of Inuyasha and Dororo are set in the Warring States era while Samurai Champloo and Mononoke are in the Edo period.

    The Edo period ended when people loyal to the emperor overthrew the shogunate to reinstate the Imperial Court, leading to the Meiji Restoration and subsequent era. During the Meiji era, which lasted from 1868 to 1912, Japan emerged from its isolation and ended its feudal system, influenced by more Western ideas.

  In terms of anime, this is the set piece for the likes of Rurouni Kenshin and Golden Kamuy.

    After the Meiji era come the Taisho, Showa and Heisei eras of the 1900’s and 2000’s, with Taisho going from 1912 to 1926, Showa lasting until 1989, and Heisei ending this year on April 30th, 2019.

  The Taisho era established the Imperial Diet of Japan and democratic political parties. The Showa era lasted through World War II, and as a result saw a drastic shift in Japanese society eventually resulting in a parliamentary democracy replacing the Imperial government and a massive economic boom in the latter half of the era.

    This season’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is set in the Taisho era. For Showa era shows, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju and Baccano! are two of the bigger names. Moving into the Heisei era, pretty much anything set in the modern day qualifies.

  The Heisei era is still a part of modern memory, so it is difficult to know how it will be remembered in history, however the transition between Heisei and the new Reiwa era is the first time an emperor has abdicated the throne rather than the new emperor ascending soon after the previous one died.

  And that leads into the current Reiwa era. Since even anime set in modern times typically lags behind current events by a few months or years, nothing is explicitely set in the new era yet, but any slice of life show set in a highschool where the school year just started will be a good contendor for the first ones to cross that line, as one month into the current Japanese school year (specifically at the end of Golden Week) everyone in the country should get a bit of extra time off as the new emporer takes the throne, prompting a national holiday and extension of the students' study time in preparation for their upcoming exams.

    That takes us all the way through Japanese history, from the ancient artifacts of the Jomon era to the smartphones of the modern Reiwa era. There are still the science fiction shows set in the future, but since those eras are yet to come, they do not fall in the scope of this article. Now, all that's left is to watch how the modern era turns out and see how anime in the coming seasons and years deal with new history being made.

  Do you know of any anime set in ancient Japan that I missed? Any standouts from classical or medieval Japan? Let me know in the comments below!

  ----

Kevin Matyi is a freelance features writer for Crunchyroll. He's been watching anime for as long as he can remember, and his favorite shows tend to be shonen and other action series.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features! 

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

[henrvkas]

alice crouch — whatever it takes,

isn’t that ALICE CROUCH (LONGBOTTOM)? yeah that is HER, sitting there at the HUFFLEPUFF table with those other SEVENTH years and i think i heard sybill saying they look like NATASHA LIU BORDIZZO… whoever that is! when she looks into her crystal ball she sees piling marshmallows into hot chocolate, colour-coded notes with a rainbow of highlighters, pressed flowers in history books, a girl willing to get her hands dirty, the smell of a coming storm, & smudged eyeliner and last nights mascara. anyway i’ve heard they’re pretty EAGER, METICULOUS, and INSECURE. apparently they’re a PUREBLOOD but i’m sure that’s not related. —— [ mhairi : gmt : 19 : she/her ]

→ NAME: henrika alice crouch → NICKNAMES: alice, ally, rika → AGE / D.O.B.: 18 / 21st september 1958 → SPECIES: pureblood witch → GENDER / PRONOUNS: cisfemale / she&her → SEXUALITY:  heterosexual  closet bisexual

FAMILY → PARENTS: bartemius crouch snr. 46, head of magical law enforcement. henrika jörgensdóttir, 42, writes a weekly opinion column in the daily prophet. → SIBLINGS: bartemius crouch jnr. 18. elsie crouch, 13. → PETS: freyja, barn owl she got for her seventeenth birthday. thór, a toad she got for starting hogwarts.

LIFESTYLE → BORN: glasgow, scotland → RAISED: jordanhill, glasgow, scotland → CURRENT RESIDENCE: hogwarts castle / jordanhill → NATIONALITY: scottish & icelandic → SPOKEN LANGUAGES: english, mandarin and a little icelandic → OCCUPATION: student, prefect, leader of ‘for the light’ → DRINK | SMOKE | DRUGS: occasionally, occasionally, no → RELIGION: raised catholic

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES → FACE CLAIM: natasha liu bordizzo → ETHNICITY: icelandic & chinese → HEIGHT: 5ft. 5in. → WEIGHT: 110bs → BUILD:  medium height and well built → HAIR: long black hair falling to her chest → EYE COLOR: brown → DOMINANT HAND: ambidextrous - preference for writing with her right and wand work with her left → SCENT: aqua manda perfume - mandarin, ginger, lavender, patchouly, cinnamon, juniper berry → ACCENT: thinks she speaks without an accent but it’s fairly obvious she’s from glasgow unless she’s trying to hide it but even then she’s obviously scottish - has an unbeatable connery impression → NERVOUS HABITS: talks to herself when stressed to try and calm down

CHARACTER → MORAL ALIGNMENT: neutral good → MBTI: esfj → WESTERN ZODIAC: virgo sun, capricorn moon, leo rising → CHINESE ZODIAC: dog → TAROT CARD: the high priestess → ARCHETYPE: the caregiver → SONG: short change hero - the heavy

MAGIC → WAND: blackthorn, dragon heart string, 14 ¾", feisty → PATRONUS: dove → BOGGART:  fear of failure can sometimes be a hard thing to have a physical manifestation of. unluckily for alice, with the specific expectations her parents have of her it has many options. Normally her boggart takes the form of a NEWT grades certificate with all failing grades, a riddikulus charm changes the neat “Crouch, H.” to “Crouch, B.”.  → OWLS: alice sat nine OWLs in her fifth year getting three poor’s, one acceptable, two exceeds expectations, and three oustanding’s. Astronomy, P. Care of Magical Creatures, P. Charms, E. Defence Against the Dark Arts, O. Herbology, O. History of Magic, A. Ancient Runes, O. Potions, E. Transfiguration, O. → NEWTS:  now in her seventh year, alice is sitting five NEWTs getting four exceeds expectations and one outstanding in her end of year exams. Charms, E. Defence Against the Dark Arts, O. Herbology, E. Potions, E. Transfiguration, E. she had been sitting a NEWT in ancient ruins but was asked to drop the class over the summer.

BIO

Born in the early hours of the morning on monday the 21st of september 1958 and shortly followed by Barty, Alice spent her whole life in the younger boys shadow.

But it wasn’t just Alice and Barty for long as within a few years Henrika and Barty Snr had adopted a new addition to the family, a tiny halfblood baby named Elsie. From the moment Alice laid eyes on the girl she adored her sister in a way she never would quite her brother.

Srn and Henrika were far from the best parents but in many ways they always tried... or at least Snr did. It didn’t take long for Henrika to grow cold, even hateful to Elsie and then Alice when she stood up for her younger sister.

You see Elsie was the daughter of Henrika late best friend, adopted after the women's untimely demise. Elspeth Hare had been a link to the society Aurelia had missed ever since her marriage, a link to the society her husband fought against. But Elspeth Hare had a secret, one Barty Snr kept too, one that Henrika only found out after baby Elsie had been adopted. Elsie was Snr’s biological daughter, a fact no one but Aurelia and Snr currently know.

Life in the Crouch household was life with strict expectations; you should always be on your best behaviour, always do as your told, never be a nuisance, and always strive for academic excellence. But it was only Henrika that strictly held everyone to those standards, Snr. not minding so much if his daughters couldn’t, after all they weren’t his son and heir.

It’s always been that last point Alice has faltered with, never having been the smartest. Trying to counteract this with hard work she always failed to meet her parents expectations, never mind the fact the expectations were too high. But again Snr. never minded to much… after all Alice was only a daughter not the son and heir but he found her efforts endearing if futile.

As soon as Alice was old enough to realise the different treatment she and Elsie got compared to their brother, Alice took it upon herself to look out for the younger girl, acting almost as the mother Aurelia had never been to them.

Alice slotted into her own place in Hogwarts, a bit of an over achiever but with a good heart she was a shoo-in for prefect since her third year and everyone thought she’d be head girl.

She’s never given up the idea of impressing her parents, even when she failed some OWLs, she kept trying. Even when Barty met every unrealistic expectation she failed at, she kept trying. But when little perfect Barty the family Wizengamot seat on the day they both turned 17 something in her broke. It didn’t help Barty had just got 12 Outstandings the month before.

She gave up in a sense. Gave up trying to impress her parents, gave up trying to win their approval, gave up being a pawn in their games.Dedicating herself to a cause, to fight evil. And in giving up she’s almost got what she’s wanted, showing her father she’s more like him than her brother ever could be.

But in doing so she’s also drawn her mother’s ire, something that materialised itself in a betrothal.

Post Hogwarts her dream career is Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, she’s a spectacular dueller, maybe the best hufflepuff house has ever produced, and an excellent teacher already tutoring a few students. And she’s not afraid of a curse. But with the war brewing it doesn’t feel right not doing something so she’s aiming to become an auror. She can teach once the wars won.

#❪ ⋅ ◆ ⋆ — she was not a girl of ice and glass but of sunshine and stardust ┊❛ development ❜ ❫

[classyfoxdestiny]

Covid Updates: Italy Restricts Access to Restaurants and Museums for the Unvaccinated

Covid Updates: Italy Restricts Access to Restaurants and Museums for the Unvaccinated

Here’s what you need to know:

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The Italian government announced that it would now require people to show a so-called green pass or proof of vaccination in order to participate in a broad range of social activities, including indoor dining.CreditCredit…Remo Casilli/Reuters

The Italian government announced on Thursday that it would require people to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test in order to participate in certain social activities, including indoor dining, visiting museums and attending shows.

The move follows a similar announcement made by the French government last week and comes as the debate in Western nations heats up over how far governments should — or can — go in circumscribing the life of the unvaccinated.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this week that his government planned to insist on proof of vaccination to enter nightclubs and similar venues by the end of September, but the idea was met with a swift political backlash and is not yet certain to go ahead.

The expanded use of Italy’s health pass, which Italian authorities are calling “green certification,” is meant to both encourage more vaccination and blunt the spread of the Delta variant, which is already causing an increase in coronavirus case numbers across the continent.

“The virus’s Delta variant is menacing,” Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, said during a news conference on Thursday night. “We must act on the front of Covid-19,” he added, to continue to allow Italy’s economy to recover. A spokesman for the prime minister said that businesses would have to enforce the requirements and would be punished if caught violating them.

Without these measures, the Italian government said it could be forced to reintroduce new restrictions in a country that endured the first and among the strictest lockdowns in the West. The Italian government is particularly concerned about the spread of the virus among the two million people over the age of 60 who are still completely unvaccinated.

Just above 50 percent of Italians over the age of 12 — about 28 million people — are fully vaccinated, according to the Italian government.

But the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has said that the spread of the Delta variant is on the rise. The organization projected that by the end of August, the Delta variant would account for 90 percent of coronavirus infections in the European Union.

Talks about introducing the vaccine requirement in Italy followed the announcement of a similar measure last week by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who said a proof of vaccination or negative test would be mandatory to access cultural venues, amusement parks, restaurants, shopping malls, hospitals, retirement homes and long-distance transportation.

According to several polls, about 70 percent of Italians favored following France’s lead but the discussion this week around introducing similar requirements created deep fractures within Italy’s coalition government, which includes Italy’s Democratic Party but also Matteo Salvini’s nationalist League party.

Mr. Salvini — who said he hasn’t been vaccinated yet — opposed what he referred to as “excluding 30 million Italians from social life.” During a rally on Sunday he said he “refused to see someone run after my son who is 18 years old with a swab or a syringe” while migrants docked “by carloads in Sicily” without any proof of negative swab or vaccination.

Starting on Aug. 6, Italians will be required to show proof of having received at least one dose of the vaccine, having taken a recent negative swab or having recovered from Covid in the past six months in order to sit at indoor tables in bars and restaurants; access museums, swimming pools, gyms and theme parks; and attend sports competitions and other events, including public exams.

“The appeal to not getting vaccinated is an appeal to die,” Mr. Draghi said on Thursday. “Without vaccinations we must close everything again.”

Italy’s health minister, Roberto Speranza, said the state of emergency will be extended to Dec. 31 and that numbers of hospitalizations, and not coronavirus case numbers, will now be the prevailing criteria to evaluate restrictions in Italian regions.

Two thirds of Italy’s population — about 40 million Italians — have already downloaded the pass, Mr. Speranza said, which had previously been required to attend weddings or visit nursing homes.

He said the pass is a condition to “allow economic activities to stay open” and for Italians to continue sitting at restaurants and bars “with the guarantee of being surrounded by people who are not contagious.”

In April, as outbreaks surged in hospitals where health care professionals had chosen not to be vaccinated, Italy became the first country in Europe to make vaccinations mandatory for medical workers. About 15 percent of Italy’s teachers are still unvaccinated, and the government is now debating whether to also extend the mandate to school staff.

“School is an absolute priority,” Mr. Speranza said. “We have to evaluate all the available tools to catch the 15 percent that’s left.”

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House Republicans Use Call for Vaccinations to Push Inquiry

House Republican leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., to urge Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine and accused Democrats, without proof, of covering up the virus’s origins.

“If we’re ever going to be able to get through this, and especially to prevent something like this from happening again, we need to at least find out how it really did happen. And while Speaker Pelosi refuses to investigate this, many of us have taken action on our own to start digging in to the facts, to try to get the facts as best we can. We know that the Chinese Communist Party won’t release the background, the data, the facts. Won’t let us talk to those people that worked in that Wuhan lab — was there American tax dollars that went directly or indirectly to the Wuhan lab to perform gain-of-function research. A lot of evidence indicates there was — all of these questions deserve answers.” “The question is: Why are Democrats stonewalling our efforts to uncover the origin of the Covid virus? Why are Democrats not investigating the growing list of evidence that leads us directly to the Chinese Communist Party and their cover-up? And why is this administration refusing to hold China accountable? Our Republican members will continue to work to demand answers and accountability and transparency for the American people.”

House Republican leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., to urge Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine and accused Democrats, without proof, of covering up the virus’s origins.CreditCredit…Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times

House Republican leaders and doctors gathered Thursday morning for a news conference ostensibly to urge Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus amid rising infections across the United States, but they used the event to attack Democrats who they said, without proof, had dissembled about the origins of the virus.

The appearance by the second and third-ranking House Republicans, Representatives Steve Scalise of Louisiana, and Elise Stefanik of New York, alongside a dozen doctors suggested that a resurgence in the spread of the virus, driven by the more contagious Delta variant, had not prompted the party to change its tone. Mr. Scalise and Ms. Stefanik instead blasted Democrats for what they called a cover-up on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

Only when pressed by reporters did the leaders address vaccination.

“I would encourage people to get the vaccine,” Mr. Scalise said near the end of the event, when pressed about his position on it. “I have high confidence in it. I got it myself.”

He and other Republicans spent most of their time on Thursday discussing unproven claims that the Chinese had released a virulent, human-made virus on the world and charging that Democrats had ignored it.

The event in front of the Capitol had been billed as a “press conference to discuss the need for individuals to get vaccinated, uncover the origins of the pandemic, and keep schools and businesses open.” Yet Republicans who attended, many of whom represent constituencies that have refused to get the vaccine, could not seem to bring themselves to hammer home the importance of doing so.

Even the doctors who emphasized vaccinations, Representative Andy Harris of Maryland and Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, soft-pedaled and qualified their statements.

“If you are at risk, you should be getting this vaccine,” Dr. Harris said, adding, “We urge all Americans to talk to their doctors about the risks of Covid, talk to their doctors about the benefits of getting vaccinated, and then come to a decision that’s right for them.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that anyone age 12 or over — not only those at higher risk — get vaccinated against the coronavirus as soon as possible.

When pressed, Representative Greg Murphy, Republican of North Carolina, demurred: “This vaccine is a medicine, and just like with any other medicines, there are side effects and this is a personal decision.”

The emphasis on the so-called lab leak theory was something of a surprise given the surge of infections concentrated in rural, strongly Republican regions of the country.

Nationally, the average of new coronavirus infections has surged 171 percent in 14 days, to more than 41,300 a day on Wednesday, and deaths — a lagging number — are up 42 percent from two weeks ago, to nearly 250, according to a New York Times database. Still, new cases, hospitalizations and deaths remain at a fraction from their previous devastating peaks.

Vaccines remain effective against the worst outcomes of Covid-19, including from the Delta variant. Experts say breakthrough infections in vaccinated people are so far still relatively uncommon. The Delta variant is estimated to account for 83 percent of new cases in the United States, the C.D.C. said earlier this week.

The Kaiser Family Foundation reported at the end of June that 86 percent of Democrats had at least one shot, compared with 52 percent of Republicans. An analysis by The Times in April found that the least vaccinated counties in the country had one thing in common: They voted for Mr. Trump.

But Dr. Murphy said the notion that conservatives are hesitant to receive the vaccine “is not only disingenuous; it’s a lie.”

As for the lab leak theory, one after another, Republicans framed the issue as virtually settled: Research at a virus laboratory in Wuhan, China, created the novel coronavirus through risky “gain of function” experiments, then leaked it into the world.

“Criminals have been convicted on less circumstantial evidence than currently exists, and every day more evidence has revealed,” Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa said.

Recently, some scientists have urged that the possibility of a lab leak be taken seriously, alongside the possibility that the coronavirus emerged naturally, most likely from an animal. But they are mostly looking at the possibility that a naturally evolved virus was present in the lab and escaped, not that the virus was created deliberately. Even some of the most vocal scientific supporters of a lab leak possibility do not claim that there is definitive evidence of the origin of the virus.

Rather than cover up the matter, President Biden ordered U.S. intelligence agencies in late May to investigate the origins of the coronavirus and to report back in 90 days.

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C.D.C. Urges Americans to Get Vaccinated Amid Virus Surge

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that the U.S. is at “another pivotal point in this pandemic” as the infectious Delta variant continues to drive the majority of new Covid-19 cases.

“The Delta variant is spreading with incredible efficiency, and now represents more than 83 percent of the virus circulating in the United States. Compared to the virus we had circulating initially in the United States at the start of the pandemic, the Delta variant is more aggressive, and much more transmissible than previously circulating strains. It is one of the most infectious respiratory viruses we know of, and that I have seen in my 20-year career. We are yet at another pivotal moment in this pandemic, with cases rising again and some hospitals reaching their capacity in some areas.” “Unvaccinated individuals account for virtually all 97 percent of the Covid hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. The data is clear. The case increases are concentrated in communities with low vaccination rates.”

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that the U.S. is at “another pivotal point in this pandemic” as the infectious Delta variant continues to drive the majority of new Covid-19 cases.CreditCredit…Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Thursday that the United States was “not out of the woods yet” on the pandemic and was once again at a “pivotal point” as the highly infectious Delta variant is ripping through unvaccinated communities.

Just weeks after President Biden threw a Fourth of July party on the South Lawn of the White House to declare independence from the virus, the director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, called the now dominant variant “one of the most infectious respiratory viruses” known to scientists.

The renewed sense of urgency inside the administration was aimed at tens of millions of people who have not yet been vaccinated and therefore are most likely to be infected and become sick. Dr. Walensky’s grim message came at a time of growing anxiety and confusion, especially among parents of young children who are still not eligible to take the shot. And it underscored how quickly the pandemic’s latest surge had unsettled Americans who had begun to believe the worst was over, sending politicians and public health officials scrambling to recalibrate their responses.

“This is like the moment in the horror movie when you think the horror is over and the credits are about to roll,” said Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland. “And it all starts back up again.”

The choice by millions to reject the vaccine has had the consequences that public health officials predicted: The number of new cases in the country has shot up almost 250 percent since the beginning of the month, with an average of more than 45,000 infections being diagnosed each day during the past week — up from 12,800 on July 1.

The disease caused by the virus is claiming about 250 lives each day — far fewer than during the peaks last year, but still 42 percent higher than two weeks ago. More than 97 percent of those hospitalized are unvaccinated, Dr. Walensky said last week.

Vaccines remain effective against the worst outcomes of Covid-19, including from the Delta variant. Experts say breakthrough infections in vaccinated people are so far still relatively uncommon.

The public health crisis is particularly acute in parts of the country where vaccination rates are the lowest. In Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, the number of daily new cases is up more than 200 percent in the past two weeks, driving new hospitalizations and deaths almost exclusively among the unvaccinated. Intensive care units are filled or filling in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.

The turnabout is forcing both political parties in Washington to grapple — so far in halting and tentative ways — with questions about what tone they should strike, what guidance they should provide and what changes they need to make to confront the latest iteration of the worst public health crisis in a century.

The surge in infections and hospitalizations in some parts of the country, even if limited mostly to people who have chosen not to be vaccinated, has presented Mr. Biden with an evolving challenge that could threaten the economic recovery and his own political standing.

The COVID-19 contact tracing smartphone app of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) is displayed on an iPhone in this illustration photograph taken in Keele, Britain, last year.Credit…Carl Recine/Reuters

LONDON — Gas stations closed, garbage collection canceled and supermarket shelves stripped bare of food, water and other essential goods.

In a week when Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised England a return to normality after the end of months of lockdown rules, a coronavirus-weary nation has instead been battered by a new crisis.

This one is being called the “pingdemic.”

With virus case numbers surging again, hundreds of thousands of people have been notified — or pinged — by a government-sponsored phone app asking them to self-isolate for 10 days because they were in contact with someone who had tested positive.

In the week of July 8 to 15, more than 600,000 alerts were issued by the app, putting acute strain on many businesses and public services.

Supermarkets have warned of staff shortages, as have trucking firms, and the British Meat Processors Association said that 5 to 10 percent of the work force of some of its companies had been pinged. If the situation deteriorates further, some will be forced to start shutting down production lines, it said.

So many workers have been affected that some businesses have closed their doors or started a desperate search for new staff, and a political battle has erupted with the opposition Labour Party warning of “a summer of chaos” after contradictory statements from the government about how to respond if pinged.

Those notified by the app are not required by law to isolate but the government’s official position is that it wants them to do so. On Thursday, it was planning to publish a list of critical workers to be exempted from self-isolation in order to keep things running.

That followed a warning from the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, of possible disruption to the capital’s transportation network, food supplies and refuse collection services. A police force in the West Midlands said it had been hit by staff shortages. Stores have appealed to customers not to indulge in panic buying, and there have even been calls for the government to consider using the military to help fill a shortfall of truck drivers.

“There does seem to be utter chaos at the heart of government at the moment: You have ministers not speaking from the same script, and that suggests that there isn’t a script,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, adding that it was obvious that a rise in case numbers — which the government itself predicted — would mean more people being pinged.

This was not what the government was hoping for when it lifted most coronavirus legal restrictions in England on Monday, a moment hailed as “Freedom Day” by the tabloids.

Camp Pontiac in Copake, N.Y.Credit…Cindy Schultz for The New York Times

The outbreak at Camp Pontiac, a sleep-away camp in upstate New York, started in the girls’ dormitories. Nurses, worried that young campers were showing symptoms of Covid-19, began administering tests. Last Saturday, one came back positive.

More followed: As of Thursday morning, 31 of the camp’s 550 campers had tested positive for the virus, said Jack Mabb, the health director of Columbia County, where the camp is located.

All 31 children are under the age of 12 and none of them were seriously ill, Mr. Mabb said.

The New York outbreak is one of a spate of recent camp-related Covid-19 clusters across the United States this summer. In Texas, more than 125 teenagers and adults at a church-run camp tested positive after an indoor event. Kansas’s health department has reported multiple outbreaks tied to camps in and around the state. Illinois reported more than 80 cases, most of them among teens, at a summer camp there.

Those outbreaks, by and large, have come in states with lower vaccination rates than New York State, where 74 percent of adults and 62 percent of all residents have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Camp Pontiac, located in Copake, N.Y., sits about 110 miles north of New York City on 150 acres at the foot of the Berkshires.

The camp will not close despite the outbreak, Mr. Mabb said.

A healthcare worker administered a coronavirus test last week in Los Angeles.Credit…Mario Tama/Getty Images

As the Delta variant surges across the United States, reports of so-called breakthrough infections in vaccinated people have become increasingly frequent — including, most recently, when at least six Texas Democrats and an aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi tested positive.

The highly contagious variant, combined with the near absence of preventive restrictions, is fueling a rapid rise in cases in all states, and hospitalizations in nearly all of them. It now accounts for about 83 percent of infections diagnosed in the United States.

But as worrying as the trend may seem, breakthrough infections in vaccinated people are still relatively uncommon, experts said, and those that cause serious illness, hospitalization or death even more so. More than 97 percent of people hospitalized for Covid-19 are unvaccinated.

“The takeaway message remains, if you’re vaccinated, you are protected,” said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York. “You are not going to end up with severe disease, hospitalization or death.”

Reports of breakthrough infections should not be taken to mean that the vaccines do not work, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Biden administration’s top pandemic adviser, said on Thursday.

“By no means does that mean that you’re dealing with an unsuccessful vaccine,” he said. “The success of the vaccine is based on the prevention of illness.”

Still, vaccinated people can come down with infections, overwhelmingly asymptomatic to mild. That may come as a surprise to vaccinated Americans, who often assume that they are completely shielded from the virus. And breakthrough infections raise the possibility, as yet unresolved, that vaccinated people may spread the virus.

Given the upwelling of virus across much of the country, some scientists say it is time for vaccinated people to consider wearing masks indoors and in crowded spaces like subways, shopping malls or concert halls — a recommendation that goes beyond current guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends masking only for unvaccinated people.

The agency does not plan to change its guidelines unless there is a significant change in the science, said a federal official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

The agency’s guidance already gives local leaders latitude to adjust their policies based on rates of transmission in their communities, he added. Citing the rise of the Delta variant, health officials in several California jurisdictions are already urging a return to indoor masking; Los Angeles County is requiring it.

“Seatbelts reduce risk, but we still need to drive carefully,” said Dr. Scott Dryden-Peterson, an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. “We’re still trying to figure out what is ‘drive carefully’ in the Delta era, and what we should be doing.”

The uncertainty about Delta results in part from how it differs from previous versions of the coronavirus. Although its mode of transmission is the same — it is inhaled, usually in indoor spaces — Delta is thought to be about twice as contagious as the original virus.

Significantly, early evidence also suggests that people infected with the Delta variant may carry roughly a thousandfold more virus than those infected with the original virus. While that does not seem to mean that they get sicker, it does probably mean that they are more contagious and for longer.

Dose also matters: A vaccinated person exposed to a low dose of the coronavirus may never become infected, or not noticeably so. A vaccinated person exposed to extremely high viral loads of the Delta variant is more likely to find his or her immune defenses overwhelmed.

The problem grows worse as community transmission rates rise, because exposures in dose and number will increase. Vaccination rates in the country have stalled, with less than half of Americans fully immunized, giving the virus plenty of room to spread.

Ali Allawi and his daughters Lana and Mila Allawi wore protective face masks as they fed birds on the Georgetown waterfront during a Sunday afternoon outing in Washington, D.C., last week.Credit…Sarah Silbiger for The New York Times

As the Delta variant spreads among the unvaccinated, many fully vaccinated people are also beginning to worry. Is it time to mask up again?

While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to the question, most experts agree that masks remain a wise precaution in certain settings for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Here are answers to common questions about how you can protect yourself and lower your risk for a breakthrough infection.

When should a vaccinated person wear a mask?

To decide whether a mask is needed, first ask yourself these questions.

Are the people I’m with also vaccinated?

What’s the case rate and vaccination rate in my community?

Will I be in a poorly ventilated indoor space, or outside? Will the increased risk of exposure last for a few minutes or for hours?

What’s my personal risk (or the risk for those around me) for complications from Covid-19?

Experts agree that if everyone you’re with is vaccinated and symptom-free, you don’t need to wear a mask.

“I don’t wear a mask hanging out with other vaccinated people,” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. “I don’t even think about it. I’m going to the office with a bunch of people, and they’re all vaccinated. I’m not worried about it.”

Is it safe for vaccinated people to go to restaurants, museums, the movies, a wedding or other large gatherings?

The answer depends on your personal risk tolerance and the level of vaccinations and Covid-19 cases in your community. The more time you spend with unvaccinated people in enclosed spaces for long periods of time, the higher your risk of crossing paths with the Delta variant, or any other variants that may crop up.

But even with the Delta variant, full vaccination appears to be about 90 percent effective at preventing serious illness and hospitalization from Covid-19. If you are at very high risk for complications from Covid-19, however, you should consider avoiding risky situations and wearing a mask when the vaccination status of those around you is unknown.

If breakthrough infections are rare, why do I keep hearing about them?

Breakthrough infections get a lot of attention because vaccinated people talk about them on social media. When clusters of breakthrough infections happen, they also are reported in science journals or the media.

But it’s important to remember that while breakthrough cases are relatively rare, they can still occur no matter what vaccine you get.

“No vaccines are 100 percent effective at preventing illness in vaccinated people,” the C.D.C. states on its website. “There will be a small percentage of fully vaccinated people who still get sick, are hospitalized or die from Covid-19.”

A security agent checked visitors’ health passes in front of the entrance of the Louvre museum in Paris on Wednesday.Credit…Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

With the Delta variant of the coronavirus spreading rapidly and the pace of vaccinations slowing, France and now Italy have chosen to turn to a new tool: ordering people who seek to enter most public venues — including restaurants, movie theaters and sporting venues — to provide health passes.

To participate in public life, people in those countries must prove they have been vaccinated or had a negative test within the last 48 hours.

France’s system is yet to come fully into force, and Italy just announced its decision Thursday, so it is hard to know how it will work in practice or what impact it will have.

But the mere announcement of the new measure in France led to a rush of people getting their shots.

More than 3.7 million people booked a first-injection appointment in the week after the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, announced the plan in a July 12 address. Nearly 50 percent of the population is now fully vaccinated.

The move has also been met with a backlash, as more than 100,000 people marched in the streets last weekend to protest what they say is government overreach.

Still, as the United States confronts its own increase in coronavirus cases driven by the Delta variant, local, state and federal authorities are looking for ways to increase the uptake of the vaccine.

A national policy relying on vaccine status to circumscribe behavior would be difficult for the United States to adopt. The country’s approach to the pandemic has always been highly decentralized. From mask mandates to testing requirements, there has never been a universal federal policy that was mandated across the 50 states. Likewise, America has no nationally recognized standard proof of vaccination.

The European Union, on the other hand, recently unveiled a “Digital Green Pass,” which shows a person’s vaccination status. It is recognized by all the nations in the bloc and has already eased travel between nations, allowing vaccine status to play a role in restrictions upon entry.

In Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently reversed what had been a hard-line stance against making people prove their health status for entry to social and cultural venues, there is a nationally recognized app from the National Health Service that can be used to quickly check vaccination status.

But there is fierce political resistance to the idea of adopting mandatory rules around a health pass when it comes to social and cultural life in Britain. Mr. Johnson’s talk of a reversal sparked outrage from many lawmakers and any new program is unlikely to be considered until September, when all adults will have had the chance to be vaccinated.

For months, U.S. states and local governments have been offering a panoply of incentives to get people to take the shot.

By May, Ohio, Colorado and Oregon were among states offering $1 million lottery prizes for people who got the jab. Prizes large and small — including free beer in Erie County, N.Y. and dinner with the governor of New Jersey — may have driven some to be vaccinated, but the average pace of vaccinations has decreased by more than 80 percent since mid-April.

Attempts at mandates by private industry have been met with court challenges.

A federal judge upheld Indiana University’s requirement for vaccination, rejecting arguments from students who contended the mandate was unconstitutional.

The C.D.C.’s attempt to impose mandates on the cruise industry is now being fought in federal court after the state of Florida challenged the rules.

Even efforts by private hospitals to require health workers to get vaccinated have been challenged.

But while a national policy similar to those in France and now Italy may be unlikely, it remains to be seen if states will look to find their own ways to increase vaccination rates — not by the prospect of prizes but with threats of making life harder for those who do not want to be vaccinated.

People walked past a sign telling customers that masks were required for entry on Sunday, on the first day the mask mandate was reintroduced in Los Angeles.Credit…Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times

Last week, exactly a month after Californians exalted in the state’s grand reopening, Los Angeles County officials announced that masks would be required, once again, in indoor public settings.

The move, which came in response to the explosive spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, was an emotional setback for Angelenos, who lived with stringent pandemic restrictions for more than a year.

I spoke with Barbara Ferrer, the county’s public health director, about what’s ahead and why her office decided to return to mandatory indoor masking. Here’s our conversation, lightly edited and condensed.

First, Dr. Ferrer, can you explain why it was necessary to put in place the mandate rather than continuing with mask guidance?

We were hopeful that more people would mask indoors with the recommendation. With the Delta variant, the situation has changed. I don’t think we’d see a surge in cases without the Delta variant.

All along, this department has been very clear we’re recommending masking indoors because of what we’ve been seeing in other countries with this variant.

Now that we know more, it’s time to mandate masks indoors.

How much is the indoor masking mandate meant to prevent the virus from spreading among unvaccinated Angelenos versus preventing those who’ve been vaccinated from getting sick?

I think it’s both. You don’t want a lot of community transmission because it leads to more mutations. As we’ve seen with the Delta variant, while vaccines are super powerful, they’re reduced. But the loss of life and the most severe health consequences are experienced by far by unvaccinated people.

Are you concerned at all about undermining trust in the vaccine or trust in public health officials?

This is a new virus. Every time we have a new explosion attributed to the new variant, we’re kind of starting over in the sense that we have to assess how it’s interacting with human beings.

A lot of folks hang onto the optics: Take off your mask, to show we’re really safe again. That was never true. Absolutely, people who are fully vaccinated have much more protection, but we’re going to continue to have variants. That is our reality.

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil has disparaged vaccines and the use of face masks.Credit…Adriano Machado/Reuters

YouTube removed videos from President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil on Wednesday for spreading misinformation about Covid-19, becoming the latest internet platform to act against a leader whose country has one of the world’s highest death counts, but who has disparaged vaccines and the use of masks and called governors “tyrants” for ordering lockdowns.

YouTube, which played an important role in Mr. Bolsonaro’s rise to power and says it is more widely watched in Brazil than all but one television channel, said in a statement that the president had violated the company’s policies about vaccine misinformation, including the promotion of unproven cures.

“Our policies don’t allow content that claims hydroxychloroquine and/or Ivermectin are effective to treat or prevent Covid-19, claims that there is a guaranteed cure for Covid-19, and claims that masks don’t work to prevent the spread of the virus,” YouTube said in a statement. “This is in line with the guidance of local and global health authorities, and we update our policies as guidance changes.”

Like former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Bolsonaro has tested the tendency of social media platforms to allow major political figures to make claims that would be likely to get other users censured.

Last year, Facebook removed statements by Mr. Bolsonaro after he promoted hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the virus. Around the same time, Twitter deleted posts from the far-right Brazilian president for pushing false remedies and calling for an end to social distancing.

YouTube said it applies policies consistently across the platform, regardless of the person or political view.

The video-sharing service has faced pressure throughout the pandemic to do more to limit the spread of Covid-related misinformation. In November, it issued a one-week suspension of One America News Network, a right-wing news channel, after removing a video it said violated its Covid misinformation policies.

Criticized at home and abroad for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, Brazil has suffered some of the worst effects of the pandemic. While more than 545,000 people have died from the disease, Mr. Bolsonaro has continued to play down its significance, ridiculing people for wearing masks and declaring he did not plan to get a vaccine.

Mr. Bolsonaro’s YouTube channel is a popular outlet for the president to share his views about the pandemic. In a weekly program in which the president takes questions from viewers, the president has blasted lockdown orders and praised unproven cures.

As of Thursday, the channel had 3.44 million subscribers.

A shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines that arrived under the Covax initiative was unloaded at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in March. The E.U. has promised to donate vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.Credit…Tiksa Negeri/Reuters

The European Union pledged on Thursday to double the amount of Covid vaccines it will donate to low- and middle-income countries to 200 million by the end of the year, officials said.

“Vaccination is key,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in a statement. “That’s why it is essential to ensure access to Covid-19 vaccines to countries worldwide.”

However, so far the E.U. countries donated only 4.9 million doses out of 500 million that were delivered for the bloc’s population of 450 million, according to the commission’s spokesman on health policy. 1.9 million were donated through Covax, the World Health Organization initiative for sharing vaccines with the developing world.

To date, only 1.1 percent of people in low-income countries have received at least one shot of the vaccine, according to data from the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford.

After initially lagging behind other developed parts of the world, Europe’s vaccination campaign gained considerable speed in recent weeks.

Over 67 percent of the population is now inoculated with at least one dose, and 53 percent are fully immunized, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

After struggling with supply issues this winter, the European Commission said earlier this month that member states will all now have enough doses to reach the goal of fully immunizing 70 percent of all adult residents by the end of July.

The administration of vaccines remains dependent on each national government, and there are considerable divergences between vaccination levels in the E.U. member nations, ranging from 65.5 percent of residents who are fully inoculated in Ireland, to 16.5 percent in Bulgaria.

A woman got a haircut at a salon in Glasgow after Scotland eased some coronavirus restrictions in April. Scotland is taking a conservative approach and keeping many restrictions in place despite the lifting of all restrictions in England as of Monday.Credit…Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

EDINBURGH, Scotland — “Freedom Day” means something different north of the English border, so it was perhaps not surprising that independence-minded Scotland declined to fall in line earlier this week when Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain lifted virtually all remaining coronavirus restrictions in England.

While the Scottish authorities did follow England in relaxing curbs — the British tabloids proclaimed it “Freedom Day” — nightclubs in Edinburgh and other cities remain closed; face masks are compulsory in pubs and shops; and the government has told people to stay one meter apart from one another and keep working from home.

It is the latest example of a divergence that stretches back to the start of the pandemic. Scotland’s nationalist leader, Nicola Sturgeon, a politician whose rallying cry is freedom from the United Kingdom, has frequently taken a more cautious, deliberate approach to the virus than the more freewheeling Mr. Johnson.

This time, though, it may prove to be a decisive fork in the road. In a relationship in which so much is refracted through the prism of Scottish nationalism, Ms. Sturgeon’s conservative stance could pay off politically, especially if Mr. Johnson’s experiment backfires.

Credit…Getty Images

Yes, the summer cold and cough season really is worse than usual.

“I’ve had bad colds, but I’ve never experienced a virus like this,” said Holly Riddel, 55, an entrepreneur in Redondo Beach, Calif., who has been suffering from congestion, clogged ears and a raspy throat for about two weeks. “I want this gone. I haven’t been able to work out. I’m just not feeling like myself.”

Months of pandemic restrictions aimed at Covid-19 had the unintended but welcome effect of stopping flu, cold and other viruses from spreading. But now that masks are off and social gatherings, hugs and handshakes are back, the run-of-the-mill viruses that cause drippy noses, stuffy heads, coughs and sneezes have also returned with a vengeance.

“It was a bad chest cold — chest congestion, a rattling cough,” said Laura Wehrman, 52, a wardrobe supervisor for film and television, who caught a weeklong bug after flying to New York from Austin in late June to visit friends. Although she’s fully vaccinated against Covid-19, she took multiple tests to be sure she wasn’t infected. Eventually a doctor confirmed it was a rhinovirus, a common cold virus. She said several of her other friends also have been sick with colds and coughs as well.

Infectious disease experts say there are a number of factors fueling this hot, sneezy summer. While pandemic lockdowns protected many people from Covid-19, our immune systems missed the daily workout of being exposed to a multitude of microbes back when we commuted on subways, spent time at the office, gathered with friends and sent children to day care and school.

Although your immune system is likely as strong as it always was, if it hasn’t been alerted to a microbial intruder in a while, it may take a bit longer to get revved up when challenged by a pathogen again, experts say. And while some viral exposures in our past have conferred lasting immunity, other illnesses may have given us only transient immunity that waned as we were isolating at home.

Among the biggest increases:

2019 2020 Telephone calls 5 min. 8 min. Lawn and garden care 12 min. 16 min. Relaxing and leisure 3.9 hr. 4.6 hr. Sports, exercise and recreation 19 min. 22 min. Housework 32 min. 36 min. Food preparation and cleanup 37 min. 40 min. Animal and pet care 7 min. 8 min. Sleeping 8.8 hr. 9 hr.

Among the biggest decreases:

2019 2020 Household management 11 min. 11 min. Caring for children in household (as primary focus) 20 min. 19 min. Working 3.2 hr. 3 hr. Grooming 41 min. 36 min. Travel related to consumer purchases 14 min. 12 min. Socializing and communicating 36 min. 30 min. Shopping 21 min. 17 min. Travel related to work 16 min. 11 min.

The pandemic upended every aspect of daily life last year — work, leisure, even sleep. New government data paints the most detailed picture yet of just how fundamental those disruptions were.

Americans spent nearly 10 waking hours a day at home in 2020, compared with less than eight hours a day in 2019. They commuted less (11 minutes a day in 2020 on average, down from 16 minutes a day in 2019), shopped less (17 minutes in 2020, down from 21) and worked out more (22 minutes, up from 19).

And, perhaps unsurprisingly in a year of canceled vacations and government-mandated lockdowns, they spent a lot more time alone — nearly an hour a day more than in 2019. Seniors, in particular, spent more than eight hours a day alone in 2020.

Those numbers are from the American Time Use Survey, which every year asks thousands of people to track, minute by minute, how they spend their day. Normally, the changes are small from one year to the next. Not this time.

Some of the most telling changes are the ones that reflect the unique nature of the pandemic. People spent more time talking on the phone last year, and less time socializing outside their homes. They spent more time taking care of their lawns, and less time taking care of their personal appearance. And, of course, they spent far more time working from home: About 42 percent of employed adults were working at home on a given day in 2020, nearly double the share in 2019.

For some people, the disruptions were far more fundamental. Mass layoffs meant that millions fewer people had jobs in 2020, pushing down the average time spent working by 17 minutes on average. (Among those who kept their jobs, there was little change in the amount of time they worked.)

Parents with school-aged children spent an average of 1.6 hours more a day providing “secondary child care” — time spent taking care of children while also doing other things, such as working. (“Primary” child care, the time spent taking care of children while not engaging in other activities, was little changed.) Women shouldered more of that burden than men: Women with school-age children spent more than seven hours a day with children in their care, compared to less than five hours for men.

The pandemic even affected the data itself: The government put the survey on hold from mid-March until mid-May, so the numbers don’t reflect the most intense period of lockdowns and business closings last year. (The report released Thursday compares the period from mid-May to the end of the year in 2020 to the same period in 2019.)

A gravedigger rested after the burial of a Covid victim in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, earlier this month. Indonesia is struggling to cope with a devastating wave of cases driven by the Delta variant.Credit…Willy Kurniawan/Reuters

The spread of the super-contagious Delta variant has prompted new restrictions around the world and spurred stark new warnings from public health officials.

Here are some of the questions people have raised about the variant.

Why are people worried about the Delta variant?

Delta, formerly known as B.1.617.2, is believed to be the most transmissible variant yet, roughly twice as contagious as the original virus. Other evidence suggests that the variant may be able to partially evade the antibodies made by the body after a coronavirus infection or vaccination.

But much is still unknown or unproven, including whether this variant may cause more severe illness.

Where is it spreading?

Delta has been reported in 124 countries, and is now the most common variant in many of them.

It first appeared in the United States in March and spread quickly. In early April, Delta represented just 0.1 percent of cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency now estimates that the number has hit 83.2 percent.

Does the Delta variant cause different symptoms?

It’s not clear yet. “We’re hurting for good data,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. In Britain, where the variant is widespread, reports have emerged that Delta may cause different symptoms than other variants do.

If I’m vaccinated, do I need to worry?

Although there is not yet good data on how all of the vaccines hold up against Delta, two doses of several widely used shots, including those made by Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, appear to retain most of their effectiveness against the Delta variant, research suggests.

Even with Delta, breakthrough infections, or infections in people who have been fully vaccinated, remain relatively rare, scientists believe, and tend to be mild or asymptomatic.

Will Delta return us to last year’s pandemic peak?

After a long and steady decline, cases are on the rise again in the United States, likely fueled by Delta.

But the numbers remain far below last winter’s peak, and experts do not expect them to rise that high again. “I think we are not going to see another big, national surge in the United States because we have enough vaccination to prevent that,” Dr. Michael Osterholm said last month.

What can I do?

Get vaccinated. If you’re already vaccinated, encourage your family, friends and neighbors to get vaccinated.

Face masks, which remain a particularly important tool for those who are ineligible for or do not have access to vaccines, can provide additional protection.

Maria Rapier with her husband, Beau Rapier, and their child Guinevere at home in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday. Ms. Rapier left her job during the pandemic to take a lower-level, less demanding position.Credit…Carolyn Fong for The New York Times

Millions of parents, mostly mothers, have stopped working for pay because of the pandemic child care crisis. But for many more who have held on to their jobs, child care demands have also affected their careers, often in less visible ways. They have worked fewer hours, declined assignments or decided not to take a promotion or pursue a new job.

“I think a lot of women who weren’t forced out count themselves lucky — but they were forced to be quiet,” said Maria Rapier, a mother of three who left a job where she ran a department and contributed to board meetings to take a lower-level, less demanding position. “Even if they did get to keep their job, they couldn’t participate fully because half the time they were looking over their laptop at their kids and the laundry piling up.”

In a survey by Morning Consult for The New York Times during the school year, of 468 mothers working for pay, one-third said they had worked fewer hours during the pandemic because of child care issues, and an additional one-fifth had moved to part time.

Twenty-eight percent declined new responsibilities at work. Twenty-three percent did not apply for new jobs, and 16 percent did not pursue a promotion.

The American territory of Guam is offering visitors vaccinations as it attempts to restart its struggling tourism industry.Credit…Mar-Vic Cagurangen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

TAMUNING, Guam — As countries around Asia struggle to swiftly vaccinate their populations against Covid-19, the American territory of Guam has an offer: Come get your shots here, and enjoy a beach vacation while you’re at it.

The economy of Guam, an island in the Western Pacific about the size of Chicago, is driven mainly by tourism, which was all but wiped out by the pandemic. Its “Air V&V” program is an effort to bring travelers back.

But few have trickled in, and those who do are finding that it’s not quite business as usual.

Near a popular beach and across from a complex of big-brand hotels, a McDonald’s remains closed, as do several bars and clubs. A large shopping center has yellow tape across its doorways. Some visitors have struggled to find taxis at the international airport, and the local ride-hailing app, Stroll Guam, sometimes says that it has no drivers. Without tourists, business owners say it costs too much to stay open.

“I plan to have fun here, but I see that a lot of stores are not open. I wanted to go shopping,” said Wang Hao-en, an 18-year-old vaccine tourist from Taiwan.

In the 2019 fiscal year, Guam received 1.63 million visitors — almost 10 times its population. The number of incoming travelers dropped more than three-quarters from January to October 2020.

With nearly 80 percent of its 120,000 adult residents vaccinated, Guam is offering shots to visitors from anywhere. The program offers a choice of the three vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States — made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — for $100 or less per dose.

Japan and South Korea, Guam’s two biggest sources of tourists, have both been slow to administer vaccines. But testing costs, the curtailment of flights and stringent quarantine requirements upon returning home have made even a four-hour flight undesirable to many.

At least 1,000 vaccine tourists, mostly from Taiwan, have arrived so far, according to Gerald Perez, vice president of the Guam Visitors Bureau, who said the numbers would increase.

“These local businesses probably haven’t seen the full impact because we haven’t scaled up yet. We are just tip-toeing into restarting tourism,” Dr. Perez said.

Jason Cheng, an elevator company worker from Taiwan and a father of two, booked a 21-day trip for his entire family to get vaccinated.

“My daughters have to go to school in September, and I have no confidence that they will have a chance to get the shots before then” in Taiwan, he said. “We plan to go swimming, to go diving, to play golf and go snorkeling — there are many things to do.”

Yet even with the slight increase in visitors, officials say tourism may not return to prepandemic levels for at least a couple of years. Some car rental shops have sold off inventory or begun leasing to locals, and several hotels said that their rooms remained mostly unoccupied.

“If we compare it to normal times, it’s not a lot,” said Jason LaMattery, a marketing and customer service coordinator at the Guam Reef Hotel. “But it’s slowly starting to recover.”

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Australian Prime Minister Apologizes for Delayed Vaccine Rollout

Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia took responsibility for the country’s vaccine program, and apologized for the population’s low vaccination rate. One month ago, only 5 percent of those over age 16 were fully vaccinated.

Now, as I said yesterday, I take responsibility for the vaccination program. I also take responsibility for the challenges we’ve had. Obviously some things within our control, some things that are not. And I’m keen to ensure, as we have been over these many months, that we’ve been turning this around. I’m certainly sorry that we haven’t been able to achieve the marks that we had hoped for at the beginning of this year. Of course, I am. But what’s more important is that we’re totally focused on ensuring that we’ve been turning this around. That’s the sort of country we live in. People make their own decisions about their own health and their own bodies. That’s why we don’t have mandatory vaccination in relation to the general population here, because people make their own decisions. And we encourage people to make those decisions. We make as much information available to them as is possible. We all understand that with any vaccine, there are risk factors, and they’re enumerated and they’re made available to people and people make decisions about that.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia took responsibility for the country’s vaccine program, and apologized for the population’s low vaccination rate. One month ago, only 5 percent of those over age 16 were fully vaccinated.CreditCredit…Lukas Coch/EPA, via Shutterstock

Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia apologized on Thursday for delays in the country’s vaccine program, amid mounting pressure to take responsibility with half the population in lockdown because of outbreaks driven by the Delta variant.

“I’m certainly sorry we haven’t been able to achieve the marks we had hoped for at the beginning of the year, of course I am,” Mr. Morrison said at a news conference. “But what’s more important is we’re totally focused on ensuring we’ve been turning this around.”

At the beginning of the year, Mr. Morrison had said that he aimed to vaccinate everyone who wanted the shots by the end of October. The target has since been pushed back to the end of the year.

One month ago, only 5 percent of Australians over age 16 were fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates among rich countries. Mr. Morrison said the program had picked up pace and that rate was now 15 percent, with 36 percent having received at least one dose, according to government statistics.

Mr. Morrison’s comments as New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, reported 124 new community cases — its highest daily total so far — in its fourth week of lockdown. The state’s premier, Gladys Berejiklian, warned that she was “expecting case numbers to go up even higher” because many people had been infectious while in the community.

The state of Victoria, also in lockdown, recorded 26 daily cases, its highest this year.

On Wednesday, Mr. Morrison had refused to apologize for the vaccine rollout during a radio interview on the commercial station KIIS. The host, Jason Hawkins, asked him to apologize repeatedly, at one point saying: “Scott, I’d even take a ‘My bad, Jase.’”

The prime minister replied: “We’re fixing the problem and getting on with it.”

The United States and other governments have pressed China to share more information, especially from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, above.Credit…Ng Han Guan/Associated Press

Chinese officials said on Thursday that they were shocked and offended by a World Health Organization proposal to further investigate whether the coronavirus emerged from a lab in Wuhan, exposing a widening rift over the inquiry into the origins of the pandemic.

Senior Chinese health and science officials pushed back vigorously against the idea of opening the Wuhan Institute of Virology to renewed investigation after the W.H.O. director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, laid out plans to examine laboratories in the central city of Wuhan, where the first cases of Covid-19 appeared in late 2019.

Zeng Yixin, the vice minister of the Chinese National Health Commission, said at a news conference in Beijing that he was “extremely shocked” at the W.H.O. plan to renew attention on the possibility that the virus had leaked from a Wuhan lab.

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Zeng Yixin, the vice minister of the Chinese National Health Commission, dismissed the theory that the coronavirus was man-made in a lab after the World Health Organization proposed to further investigate the labs in Wuhan.CreditCredit…Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

“I could feel that this plan revealed a lack of respect for common sense and an arrogant attitude toward science,” Mr. Zeng said. “We can’t possibly accept such a plan for investigating the origins.”

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said on Thursday that “we are deeply disappointed” with China’s response, calling it “irresponsible and frankly dangerous.”

“Alongside other member states around the world we continue to call for China to provide the needed access to data and samples, and this is critical so we can understand to prevent the next pandemic,” she continued. “This is about saving lives in the future, and it’s not a time to be stonewalling.”

A joint investigation by the W.H.O. and China found that said it was “extremely unlikely” that the coronavirus escaped from a Wuhan lab, according to a report released in March. Many scientists say that the virus most likely jumped from animals to people through natural spillover in a market or a similar setting.

But some scientists have said that the initial inquiry was premature in dismissing the lab leak idea. The United States and other governments have pressed China to share more information, especially from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

At the news conference on Thursday, several Chinese officials asserted that the W.H.O. inquiry got it right the first time, and that there was no evidence to justify renewed checks of the labs. The W.H.O. investigators should instead focus their search on signs of natural transmission, they said, and the possibility that the virus may have first spread outside China.

In recent days, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry and Global Times, a news outlet overseen by the Chinese Communist Party, have gone even further in pushing back against the demands on Beijing. They have reiterated claims — widely dismissed by scientists — that the coronavirus may have escaped from a U.S. military laboratory. A petition organized by Global Times calling for an inquiry into the American facility claims to have collected nearly six million signatures.

Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.

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[newstfionline]

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Budget office expects $2.3T deficit before Biden relief plan (AP) The Congressional Budget Office says the federal government is on track for a $2.3 trillion deficit this year. The deficit could soon be revised upward if President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package becomes law. The additional aid—coming after roughly $4 trillion was approved last year—would add more red ink once enacted, but isn’t included in Thursday’s CBO projections. Several decades of deficit spending has meant that the total federal debt held by the public is slightly larger than GDP. That figure is projected to rise to 107% of GDP by 2031 as spending on Medicare and Social Security increases.

Hard-hit restaurants feed COVID doctors, nurses to survive (AP) It was the week after Christmas and coronavirus case numbers and hospitalizations were soaring in Portland, Oregon. At Oregon Health & Science University, the state’s largest hospital, morale was low. Doctors and nurses caring for the most critically ill were burning out just when they were needed the most. Then, the food started coming: hot and delicious individually wrapped meals from some of the city’s trendiest restaurants, a buffet of cuisines from Chinese to Italian to Lebanese to Southern comfort food. For staffers who only took off their N95 masks once to eat during a 12-hour shift, the meals were more than just food—they were emotional sustenance. “It’s almost like having a weight lifted. It’s like getting a surprise dozen roses or something,” nurse Alice Clark said. “We’re so grateful.” But the meals, paid for by a wellness grant from the Oregon-based insurance fund SAIF, also served another purpose: They kept struggling restaurants afloat. As fall and then winter set in, eateries were folding under the strain of a monthslong indoor dining ban. The hospital orders—sometimes 150 or 160 meals at a time—were a financial lifeline. “It’s kept the doors open and a small workforce employed. It’s been the most heartfelt catering we’ve ever done,” said Kiauna Floyd, third-generation owner of Amalfi’s, a Portland institution that’s been serving up Italian cuisine for 62 years.

Trump defense wraps up case in three hours (AP) The defense attorneys for Donald Trump have wrapped up their presentation in the former president’s impeachment trial. Lawyers argued for three hours Friday that Trump didn’t incite the Jan. 6 rally crowd to riot at the U.S. Capitol and that his words were merely figures of speech. They say the case against Trump was a political witch hunt by Democrats and was not valid because he is no longer in office. Their truncated defense barely used the full time allotted, 16 hours over two days. Many senators minds appear already made up.

Trump Was Sicker Than Acknowledged With Covid-19 (NYT) President Donald J. Trump was sicker with Covid-19 in October than publicly acknowledged at the time, with extremely depressed blood oxygen levels at one point and a lung problem associated with pneumonia caused by the coronavirus, according to four people familiar with his condition. His prognosis became so worrisome before he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that officials believed he would need to be put on a ventilator, two of the people familiar with his condition said. Mr. Trump’s blood oxygen level alone was cause for extreme concern, dipping into the 80s, according to the people familiar with his evaluation. The disease is considered severe when the blood oxygen level falls to the low 90s. The new revelations about Mr. Trump’s struggle with the virus underscore the limited and sometimes misleading nature of the information disclosed at the time about his condition.

Powering through appendicitis for perfect score on Chile’s national exam (Las Ultimas Noticias/Chile) The two-day, standardized exam that Chilean high school students must take to gain entry into university is grueling enough to make anyone a bit sick to their stomach. Antonia Schmohol, 18, was no exception, although in her case, the abdominal aches that began bothering her on the eve of the dreaded PTU, as the test is called, turned out to be more than just a case of nerves, the Chilean daily Las Ultimas Notícias reports. Despite her discomfort, the teenager—who hails from Chiguayante, a small city about 500 km south of Santiago—soldiered through the long, first day of the exam. That night, the pain only worsened, but still, Schmohol’s family kept insisting that she was probably just anxious. Having barely slept, the bleary-eyed young woman returned to the testing center the next day, Jan. 9, doubled over in pain at times, nonetheless completed the final portion of the test, the mathematics section. Relieved to finally have the PTU behind her, Schmohol knew at that point that something was seriously wrong in her stomach area, and soon after went to a nearby hospital, where she was diagnosed with appendicitis and operated on right away. The determined young Chilena has since made a full recovery. But this week—just over a month after her gut-wrenching ordeal—she received a call from the Education Ministry informing her that she was one of just 218 students nationwide to earn a perfect score on the PTU’s math section. Talk about grace under pressure.

Money moving out of London (Financial Times) In January, an average of €9.2 billion shares per day were traded in Amsterdam on the Euronext Amsterdam and CBOE Europe and Turquoise exchanges, up from just north of €2 billion worth of shares a day in December 2020. Also in January, trade volumes in London were €8.6 billion, an enormous €6.5 billion fall from December. Both Paris and Dublin also saw slight increases in their trade volumes, as seemingly overnight the financial capital of Europe crossed the English Channel on to the continent following the conclusion of the Brexit transition period.

The Pandemic Emptied Europe’s Cities. What Will Bring People Back? (NYT) When the coronavirus exploded across Europe in March, it realigned city life, shifting office workers to their homes, shuttering the hospitality sector and reshuffling life for millions. Unshackled from offices—many for the first time in their working lives—city dwellers throughout Europe began to leave, some to avoid the virus but others to escape cramped and pricey apartments and to connect more with the natural world. Now, nearly a year after the first lockdowns and with months more of restrictions looming, the easy assumption that most of the coronavirus exiles would naturally return once the virus was tamed is being questioned. In the reverse of the old song, the question now is not how you keep them down on the farm, but how you dissuade them from moving there for good. For city planners and urban design experts, that means beginning to grapple with problems that have long plagued many of these cities—housing affordability, safe transportation and access to green space—but that have grown more urgent because of the pandemic. More broadly, cities will have to address new desires about connecting with nature and “reconnecting with life,” said Philipp Rode, the executive director of LSE Cities, a research center at the London School of Economics.

Urban Arrivederci (Worldcrunch) An increasing number of young Italians are leaving cities and offices to rediscover a love for the countryside. The biggest farmer’s association in Italy reports a 14% rise in the number of young farmers over the last five year. The group said the rise was partly propelled by the coronavirus crisis. Many of these young farmers came from different professional backgrounds, looking to reconnect with nature and a more genuine lifestyle.

China and India pull back (Foreign Policy) China and India have begun pulling back troops along their disputed Himalayan border, months after a deadly clash between the two sides. On Thursday, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said troops would be removed in a “phased, coordinated and verified manner,” while China’s defense ministry said it had begun a “synchronized and organized” disengagement. Military officials from both countries have been in de-escalation talks for months following a June 15 skirmish that left 20 Indian soldiers dead, along with an unknown number of Chinese.

Myanmar coup leader: ‘Join hands’ with army for democracy (AP) Myanmar’s coup leader used the country’s Union Day holiday on Friday to call on people to work with the military if they want democracy, a request likely to be met with derision by protesters who are pushing for the release from detention of their country’s elected leaders. “I would seriously urge the entire nation to join hands with the Tatmadaw for the successful realization of democracy,” Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said using the local term for the military. “Historical lessons have taught us that only national unity can ensure the non-disintegration of the Union and the perpetuation of sovereignty,” he added. Min Aung Hlaing’s Feb. 1 coup ousted the civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and prevented recently elected lawmakers from opening a new session of Parliament. It reversed nearly a decade of progress toward democracy following 50 years of military rule and has led to widespread protests in cities around the country. The rallies against the coup—now daily occurrences in Myanmar’s two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay—have drawn people from all walks of life, despite an official ban on gatherings of more than five people.

Australian city Melbourne begins 3rd lockdown due to cluster (AP) Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, will begin its third lockdown on Friday due to a rapidly spreading COVID-19 cluster centered on hotel quarantine. The five-day lockdown will be enforced across Victoria state to prevent the virus spreading from the state capital, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said. Only international flights that were already in the air when the lockdown was announced will be allowed to land at Melbourne Airport. Schools and many businesses will be closed. Residents are ordered to stay at home except to exercise and for essential purposes. A population of 6.5 million will be locked down from 11:59 p.m. until the same time on Wednesday because of a contagious British variant of the virus first detected at a Melbourne Airport hotel that has infected 13 people.

Is Biden ghosting Bibi? (Washington Post) Since President Biden took office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or Bibi as he is known here, has been waiting for the traditional courtesy call from the Oval Office. After all, both Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama reached the prime minister within days of taking their oaths of office. But three weeks into his term, as Biden has worked deep into his Rolodex of world leaders without dialing Netanyahu’s Balfour Street office, much of Israel’s political class is ready to declare it a full-blown diplomatic snub.

Despite Biden’s push, a difficult road to peace in Yemen (AP) Buthaina al-Raimi was five years old when a Saudi airstrike destroyed her home in the Yemeni capital and killed her parents and all five of her siblings in August 2017. Ever since, she still breaks into tears for seemingly no reason. When planes fly overhead, she shouts to her uncle, “They’re going to hit us!” For her uncle, Khalid Mohammed Saleh, the U.S. decision last month to stop backing the Saudi coalition and push for an end to the war can do nothing to end her suffering. “It’s a wise decision, but it’s too late,” he said. It’s also too early, he said—too early to say whether President Joe Biden’s move will bring peace to Yemen. Reaching peace will be a difficult path. The warring parties have not held substantive negotiations since 2019. Fighting on the ground and coalition airstrikes continue. The Houthis’ grip on the north of the country has only grown stronger, and they have captured new territory from pro-government forces over the past year. Peter Salisbury, Yemen expert at the International Crisis Group, said Biden’s policy shift was “really welcome news” but “won’t automatically mean an end to the war.”

The pandemic has left a huge cache of dinosaur bones stuck in the Sahara (Washington Post) In secret patches of the south-central Sahara, blankets of sand hide 20 tons of dinosaur bones. There are flying reptiles. A creature that resembles an armored dog. Eleven species yet to be identified—all with long necks. They roamed the desert when it was still green, scientists concluded. This is one of Africa’s biggest fossil caches, a prehistoric graveyard that sparked dreams of a world-class exhibition in Niger. The rare discovery is vulnerable to looters and collapsing dunes. But excavation must wait as the nation confronts a second wave of the coronavirus on top of escalating Islamist insurgencies. Niger, about twice the size of France and two-thirds desert, has long boasted dinosaur riches. Countless bones poke through the sand. Paleontologists face a sweltering trek through bandit territory to reach what researchers call the continent’s most diverse mix of extinct giants.

#headlines #news

[sherlock-study]

Yes, from elementary school to college.

It’s been one heckuva wild ride so bear with me.

MY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAYS

I went to an international/bilingual school the first eight years of my school years, from kindergarten to 7th grade. There I was classified as highly gifted (with an IQ three standard deviations above average) and sent to the new mathematically talented program and the biology Olympiad program. I did not yet realize what the gifted label would do to me, and the fact that it, while affirming, was hindering my development. I thought being smart meant that I could learn stuff faster and that I could put work off until the last minute. I was very wrong. The reason I decided to join these is, of course, for more stuff to learn. 

But the biggest motivator for me and my family is the tuition discount we get for being in these classes. Private school is expensive, and the tuition for this particular school is getting ridiculous. It soon became too much for my upper-middle class parents (more than a few kids wear Ferragamo shoes to PE. I’m not even joking), the school decided to cancel the benefits we get from being in the programs, and I left along with several classmates.

I was happy there, to be honest. If I had stayed, I would’ve been able to continue triathlon and soccer training. I would’ve been a great Scout leader, and I think I could’ve gotten accepted at more than one of the Ivies. But all these changed when I left the international school to assimilate myself back into the “mainstream”.

THAT OTHER SCHOOL

So, in Taiwan you have to take exams not only to get into college but also into high school. In order to get my ass into one of the private prep schools known for sending loads of kids into a “star” high school, I had to take yet another exam. I got in. The tuition was significantly lower and kids less snobby, which was very nice, but there is literally nothing else I like about that place.

My homeroom teacher was one who publicly shamed me for being different (lending an eraser to a friend during study hall), kept telling me I couldn’t do it (getting into the best high school for people with XX chromosomes in Taipei) and to just go to this prep school’s high school because I “can’t do it”.

I was not cool with that, especially after learning that our homeroom teachers actually get money to convince kids with better grades to go to this high school. I studied my ass off for a few months, and guess what? I was in.

HIGH SCHOOL

I was in the low 98th-high 97th percentile when I took the exams. I messed up, but still narrowly managed to get into Taipei First Girls’ High School. Since the entire school is made up of the top 1-2% of Taiwanese kids, there was not a lot of room for me to shine academically.

In some ways I did. I made it to the CTBO semifinals (which is the Taiwanese version of the USABO but 5% instead of 10%). Ultimately I didn’t make the national team for IBO, and that was very hard on me. In Taiwan IBO gold medalists win a free ticket to any university and any major they want (with rare exceptions) so I was actually counting on that to get me into med school.

I also was the senior patrol leader/club president for my Scout troop at school, and won quite a few other competitions. But at the same time I was rubbish in every other aspect of my academics. I was an A+ student in Bio and English, but I have failed Math, Chinese, Physics. My other subjects also sucked. I ended up with a terrible GPA that comes from my ~vibrant~ extracurricular life, a general loathing of the educational system in Taiwan, and the top 2% student pool of my high school.

My college entrance exam scores were at the top 1/3 of my class, which is nice compared to what I have been in the past three years. But that wasn’t enough for medical school, so I took a gap year to retake the exams. I almost ended up at TMU’s pharmacy school, but ultimately got placed at NTU as an occupational therapy major.

COLLEGE

As a freshman I wanted to try something new. I have always wanted to go to med school in the United States, but one of the unspoken prerequisites is doing premed in the US or Canada. Took the SAT without any real prep, received a 1500/1600 (=34 ACT), got my application together to apply to 5 schools with need-blind FA for internationals…to receive 5 rejections. Oh well. I think it was my horrible GPA plus the fact that I am a international college student reapplying that got me rejected.

So I’m doing occupational therapy (which I don’t like tbh; it was decided for me by a computer, from a list of schools/majors I made in July 2016) at the world’s 68th best university while going through high school books to try and get into even the lowest-ranking MD program in Taiwan. It’s true. Taiwanese kids and parents are so infatuated with the idea of going to medical school, only those who score in the top ~0.5% can safely say they’ll pass the first round of selection.

Had I been born in the US (lots of schools I can apply to and not so insane a rat race), had a wealthy family (a friend who didn’t get into a Taiwanese medical school is now doing her MD in Italy), or actually studied a little harder to become a little better at the “boring” parts of school, I could’ve ended up in a different place. A better place. 

And the only thing I’m able to change is that last one. My high school friends are halfway through medical school now, and I don’t even know I’ll make it in this Fall. But I have to try.

#mine #personal #studyblr #studyspo #studyspiration #medblr #story #text #lots of text so read this on the toilet