Throwback to a day, more than one year ago (9th of November, 2020), when I was finally free to leave one of Covid-19 specialized hotels somewhere in Shanghai. I was spending 14-day quarantine, in which I was transferred immediately after my arrival to Shanghai (China) airport from Helsinki (Finland). Some important things for me happened at that time, both before and after, as well as during quarantine, when captured behind 4 walls. That is why I decided to look back on some memories, and share them in this post.
After eight months spending in Slovenia and after many failed tries to get all the documents and permissions I needed to return back in China, I somehow – with the connections I gained from my previous stays in China – found an answer to all the obstacles and got the 2-month China travel visa. It was a hard, long and nerve-wracking way to do it, and I took many risks along with it. At the time I was planning to book a flight ticket to Shanghai, world was again heavily in the grip of a virus. In Slovenia the situation after pretty calm summer started to worsen day after day, with more and more confirmed infections. China was an isolated ‘island’, where people had been living and working normally for more than half a year already. China success of mastering the virus is attributable to rigorous and timely measures, effective infection tracking and strict quarantines. However, the situation in Europe, not only Slovenia, has deteriorated drastically, as winter was already knocking on the door. The borders across Europe started to close, ways of transportation got limited, many were already cancelled, as very strict controls were carried out. It was a massive chaos. It was hard to predict and follow what can happen in a very next minute and what blockades more governments across Europe will (have to) pull out. The visa expiration date was limited to two months only, so I needed to be fast in my decisions. I risked it and bought (comparing to normal times) 4 time more expensive one-way ticket from Vienna (Austria) to Helsinki and from there all the way to Shanghai. As a matter of fact, I was very lucky to purchase one of rare flight tickets to China at that time, since flights to China from Europe were limited to one flight a week only. An expensive ticket was inevitable, but still, this was the minor problem comparing to all happening around. It was a really nervous, unpredictable period in which you could only wait helplessly, and your fate was left entirely to the decisions of others. I tried to stay calm – constantly repeating to myself: “all will be just fine”, but within me the mixed and stormy feelings were not so easy to silence. For the very last minute I did not even know whether I would be able to cross the Slovenian-Austrian border approx. 100 kilometers away and continue the trip to airport, or expensive ticket purchase would be lost. That how strict it was. Shanghai, 10,000 kilometers away, however, almost seemed like a mission impossible… And it was, it was a real movie scenario, luckily with a happy ending.
To board a plane, it was necessary to submit a medical certificate, not more than 3 days before the takeoff to China, stating I was negative for Covid-19. The flight was on Sunday (25th of October, 2020), and I was booked for a Covid-19 test at one of the health institutions two days earlier, on Friday. The capacities of the Covid-19 testing clinics in my home city of Ljubljana were, already due to the unmanageable and chaotic situation, fully occupied. I had no choice, but to cross the borders of the country’s regions – which at that time were forbidden to pass by government decree, with a reason (by government’s logic) to prevent the transmission of the virus – and go 60 kilometers north of our capital, in city of Kranj. I took the test early in the morning and came for the results the same day, very late in the evening. Just in those days, the media reported more than 30 percent positive among all people tested for the virus, which further increased my concern. Fortunately, the test was negative. I remember first sharing the result with my aunt, whom I quickly visited on the way back from Kranj to Ljubljana.
October 25 was the day when it was time to head back to China.
At one in the morning, on the night from Saturday to Sunday, the transport I had ordered a few days earlier was waiting for me at the Ljubljana bus station. The city and roads were completely empty, as traffic was banned after 9PM until the morning, due to curfew. My dear parents took me to the station. It was one of my hardest rides in my life, apart from the one, when I first said goodbye to my family for a year nearly 8 years ago now. At that time only my dad drove me to, same place, Ljubljana bus station. My dad crushed completely then.
I vividly remember having hard times and having great sadness on one more occasion. It was a farewell of my sister, who, many years ago, went to study in Munich.
Me and parents drove to the station in almost complete silence. We couldn’t say many words with a lump in our throat. Tears welled up in my eyes as soon as we closed the apartment door and headed for the car. The station is only 10 minutes away from our apartment. The time we had the last 8 months was running out and all three of us knew that. Only 10 minutes more. When we arrived, I – with bitterness and tears in my eyes, which I unsuccessfully tried to cover up with a few positive words, a smile and a small joke – hugged and kissed my parents. They couldn’t stayed long duo the curfew. When they drove away, I gave them the glance, expressing all will be just fine, and waved. I spent a wonderful 8 months in their company, so this time it was really hard to say goodbye and leave. Full of mixed feelings, I sat in the van and drove towards Vienna with the other passengers, one passenger to be precise. Unaware of what would happen at the border, we sat quietly and with masks on our faces, waiting and counting down the kilometers. It was almost impossible to see the surroundings all the way, as the fog was so thick. On the way, near Maribor, one more passenger joined us.
We crossed the border without any problems and surprisingly completely without controls. Everything went as it should. I was at the Vienna airport on time and calmly getting ready for the flight to Helsinki, until… the lady at the check-in desk, while reviewing the plane ticket, passport and luggage, additionally asked me for a certificate of non-infection issued by the Chinese Embassy in Ljubljana. A certificate, which, despite the consul’s promise, I had not received on my e-mail yet. I had all the paperwork with me: a visa and a medical proof I was uninfected, but without this document I would be forbidden to continue the journey, as this document is strictly required by the Chinese government later. In a panic, there was no other option for me than picking up the emergency phone number from the Chinese Embassy in Ljubljana and calling the consul directly. It was 4AM, just an hour and a half before flight. I breathed a sigh of relief when, on the other hand, I heard a voice and a reassuring apology from the consul, that he had made a mistake and forgot to address me in emails with the others. In a few minutes everything was arranged. I was on a flight to Helsinki, and from there I transferred to Shanghai. When, after a two-day trip, I finally reached the Shanghai airport, I was sent to a strict 14-day quarantine. You can read more about my quarantine experience in one of the previous posts.
In quarantine, where after a two-day trip comparable to a movie drama, I was finally able to calm down and breathe a little. But… I felt that moment of relief only for a moment, and then, there were 14 long days and 4 walls in front of me, where after a day or two I missed the action and normal life already. In quarantine I mostly spent time exercising, listening to music, browsing the internet, writing, etc. I also remember how passionately I followed the election of the new president of USA. On my computer I monitored the results of the counted ballots by each states every few minutes, by clicking the ‘refresh button’ on Yahoo page, that bored I was. I was going to bed very late, at about 2 in the morning, as I did not feel any fatigue. In short, I would not like to repeat the quarantine again.
Few days before leaving quarantine, I posted – on one of the social medias I use – a picture I took through a plane window, when on the flight to Shanghai, and attributed: ”I am happy to be back.” It didn’t take long, when, to my surprise, I receive a message from a LjubljanaInfo journalist, asking if I would like to do an interview for their portal. Of course I agreed. From the journalist I received about 20 questions, which were mainly about how the trip went and what measures were waiting for me on the way, how quarantine looks like, as well as about my life in China in general.
I am very precise and strict with myself about my work, be it when we talk about the work of a model or something else. I am never completely satisfied with the end result, as I believe that it can always be better. So it was with this interview, like with any other interviews I did before. I did care a lot how the final composition would turn out, just one awkward or wrong word could have presented me among readers in a different light, so it took me a long time before I decided to send back the answers. When going through words and their sequence, I tried to be as short, modest and concise as possible. Answering this questions thus interrupted the quarantine boredom at least a little.
The interview was published 10 days after the I was released from quarantine. At that time I was already staying on my own, also a hotel, but not Covid-19 one. Immediately after the publication, to my great surprise, I got two more interview requests from two major media houses, Slovenske novice and Siol. Of course I agreed again.
These two interviews were more extensive. We weren’t talking only about my lifestyle in China and how the trip back with all the measures went, but there was talk about private life more and modeling also – which brands I represented so far, about goals for the future and whether I’m too old to work as a model or not, as well as about funny anecdotes from the past.
If you are interested in what all the fuss was about, you can read the interviews on the links to the media below (unfortunately only in Slovene).
SLOVENSKE NOVICE (Nedeljske novice)
I am immensely grateful for all three interview opportunities, as this does not happen very often. Thank you very much!
Big thanks also to everyone – friends, acquaintances and strangers – for the nice response I received!
