Dispatches From Our Women Abroad

What are the restrictions in your city and country?

Everything shut down last Thursday. Until then it seemed very far away and it wasn’t impacting our daily life.

The kids went to school on Thursday as normal and then all the schools closed on Friday. Since then, there have been additional restrictions. Nothing is open except grocery stores and pharmacies. We’re not even allowed to go to national parks, playgrounds or beaches. Now they’re shutting major public transport routes too. You can still walk around though and I’m still getting Amazon deliveries.

What has been the biggest impact on you personally so far?

The schools closing. There has been very little guidance from educators in terms of what we’re meant to be achieving, and juggling three [children of] three different ages has been challenging. I tried to take a very structured approach and I quickly moved to keep expectations very low. They might do a craft project or help me with cooking. I have lots of helpers to help me fold washing! I am a stay-at-home mum, and feel very empathetic for my friends who work full-time and who are still juggling working from home,

What advice would you give to yourself a week ago? 

I’ve been telling my friends in Australia to stock up on things like children’s Panadol and the kinds of things you might need if you unfortunately contracted Covid-19. All those things, as well as bleaching wipes, sanitizing wipes, have disappeared off the shelf. They are impossible to get.

What’s your biggest learning or discovery from this experience so far?

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the slower pace. Usually everyone’s rushing around from sport to music to this to that, and I thought it was quite well-balanced. But having all this time at home where we have nowhere to go, nothing to do apart from being a family at home, has been such a positive thing. And the kids are happier for it. They’re loving it.

Also, I feel as though even though everyone is isolated, it feels like we’re all in this together. I went for a walk tonight and everybody stops and says, ‘How are you doing’ to passing strangers, and instead of people saying ‘Fine’ or ‘Good’, they’re saying ‘Today was a really hard day for me’ and I think that honesty is good.

What three words would you use to describe the atmosphere in Boston right now?

Community, solidarity, panic.

SINGAPORE

Nathalie Danks, 36, from Sydney lives in Singapore with her fiancé and two children, who are 10 and three.

What are the restrictions in your city and country?

Singapore has been more transparent and organised than lots other countries because they’ve lived through SARS. They were able to action things really quickly because they had put protocols in place after SARS. Temperature screening started at airports in January. Around Chinese New Year [January 25], large gatherings were cancelled. Singapore also has full contact tracing. So, if you’ve been in a taxi, for example, and the driver comes down with it, you’ll be contact traced [through your payment details] and told to self-isolate.

It’s important to note that culturally, Singapore is really different to Australia. People will do as they’re told. This is a country that still has [compulsory] national service in place.

What has been the biggest impact on you personally so far?

Back in January I had friends in Hong Kong tell me there was a really bad flu going around. My fiancé was going over [to Hong Kong] just before Chinese New Year and I planned to take the kids and take them to Disneyland. But stories started to circulate about this flu, so I cancelled. Thank God we didn’t go.

I think the biggest change for us has been the travel bans. I think the expat community is in shock. We’re wondering when we’re going to be able to go home.

What advice would you give to yourself a week ago? 

I wish I had more nappies. I can’t get nappies! There was a lot of panic buying – or preparation shopping as people are now calling it – early on. Then it was calm until about four days ago. My friend went to a supermarket at midnight last night somewhere in woop woop and said she’d got some nappies for us.

 What’s your biggest learning or discovery from this experience so far?

I’ve been surprised by the sense of personal responsibility. People are really trying not to put others at risk. Some are quarantining themselves where they don’t technically have to, and everyone’s coming together.

What three words would you use to describe the atmosphere in Singapore right now?

Quiet, boring and scared. People are scared.

ITALY

Saskia Tillers, 28, is a journalist living in Milan.

What are the restrictions in Milan?

We’re in the 11^th day of forced lockdown in our homes, with fines being handed out if you’re caught wandering the streets, unless you’re exercising or buying groceries. There’s a nation-wide travel ban, even between states; all events and gatherings have been cancelled; parks are locked; all business are closed except food stores or pharmacies.

What has been the biggest impact on you personally so far?

As a freelancer, I work from home anyway, so it’s not such a huge deviation from my regular routine (just minus leaving the house for social engagements and to go to the gym).

The main thing has been that it’s impacting how we spend our downtime on weekends. Prior to this, we’ve been using our weekends to travel. That’s well and truly off the table now. The travel ban has also been particularly disappointing as my sister, who lives in Germany, recently had a baby. I’ve had to make my peace with the fact that I won’t get to see him, or my sissy for at least a few months.

What advice would you give to yourself a week ago? 

A week ago, we were already in lockdown. There’s not a whole lot I’d do differently, other than to tell myself, “Don’t panic, but maybe make peace with the fact that things are going to get worse before they get better.”

What’s your biggest learning or discovery from this experience so far?

Growing up in Australia, we’ve lived a pretty privileged and comparatively trauma-free life, relatively sheltered from catastrophic global events. We’ve never had to fight in a war, or experience something of this magnitude, so maybe this is our time to sit tight, quit whingeing and gain a bit of perspective for what people in other parts of the world both during our lifetime and throughout history have had to endure..

What three words would you use to describe the atmosphere in Milan?

Quiet, solidarity, acceptance

SWITZERLAND

Tiffany Mitchell, 37, is from Sydney and is a marketing and events manager at The Global Fund in Geneva.

What are the restrictions in Switzerland?

Switzerland went into lock-down this week, with all ‘non-essential’ activity halted. Schools and universities across the country are closed. Bars, restaurants and stores other than food stores or pharmacies are also closed. Banks, post offices, and train stations are still open, and public transport is still running.

For now, we can still leave our homes freely, unlike the more extreme measures in neighbouring France. These exceptional measures are in place until April 19 at least.

What has been the biggest impact on you personally so far?

It has all happened so fast. Just last Friday I was still going to work in an office, and even attending social events over the weekend. In just a matter of days, the situation has rapidly escalated as case levels rise. The speed at which this is all happening, the uncertainty around how long it will last combined with the isolation makes it all very hard to process.

What advice would you give to you of a week ago?

Like many of us, I was downplaying the risks, even just a week ago. The rising cases we are seeing today come from infections that occurred a couple of weeks ago when everything was mostly ‘normal’.

We know from other countries’ experiences that social distancing and isolation of cases can stem the spread, and we each need to play our part. If we don’t, we know what will happen, so my advice to myself would be to take this seriously, so that we can collectively protect those most at risk, support our health system and end it sooner.

What’s your biggest learning or discovery from this experience so far?

The last few days have felt like a rollercoaster, but as we often hear in times of crisis, there are beautiful moments. I’ve reconnected with friends around the world and been moved by the cheering and clapping from windows around Geneva in the evenings in support of our health workers.

I’ve also been reminded of the fragility of life as we know it, despite having the chance to live in a country known for its stability and prosperity, and the importance of community. At the end of the day, we all share the same fundamental needs – to feel safe, to feel free and to feel connected to others. As a global community, what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart.

What three words would you use to describe the atmosphere in Geneva?

Worried, anxious, hopeful.

LONDON

Anna Tskouras is a university press officer from Melbourne, living in London

What are the restrictions in London?

I would say it’s a ‘phased’ or ‘partial’ approach. Just yesterday they announced that school would close to all kids except those who are vulnerable – and rely upon school meals  or have special needs – or whose parents are doing frontline work, like medical staff. GCSEs [end-of-year high school exams] have been cancelled.

I work for a university, and officially they are open. But museums, cinemas and large organisations have closed. Everything else is kind of open as normal. We’re not going to pubs but some people are [with the approach that] they’re trying to support local businesses.

What has been the biggest impact on you personally so far?

Overall, [my fiancé and I] are so thrilled and grateful we work for [a university and a museum] and have jobs that are secure. We have a lot of friends in creative industries who are very concerned. The biggest change for us is working from home. For me, the reason I came to London was to travel… and because of the cultural vibrancy and energy – the museums, the restaurants and the theatre – and all that energy has disappeared.

What advice would you give to yourself a week ago?

Not a huge amount. I think we’ve had to embrace the whole English culture of ‘keep calm and carry on’. I’ve really noticed that sense of resilience – it’s a real cultural thing.

What’s your biggest learning or discovery from this experience so far?

It might seem clichéd but you realise that we’re all interconnected and the only thing that matters is people. Living in London, we get so swept up in needing to do better, and promotions and bigger houses and stuff and actually in the end what you miss is that social interaction and caring for people.

 What three words would you use to describe the atmosphere in London?

Cautious, resilience and optimistic.

FRANCE