Hi everyone! My name is Jeric and I am an expat here in Florence, Italy. As we all know, the whole Italy now is in lockdown. Lockdown here is very serious. I've never encountered any pandemic situation in my entire life.

Living as an expat is quite difficult for me. I have my family in the Philippines, I have no friends here, the food is different and now the pandemic came. I am very afraid of this situation. I know that this will make a very big impact on the country and for everyone. I know that this is something that we can conquer. I miss my family and as much as I wanted to see my own country, I cant. But after all, I still decided to continue living here at the moment.

At first, Italy was super relaxed about this situation until the time came that the government has to suspend all classes in all schools. When they suspended, many Italians rejoice and thinking that they were on vacation only. But until it reaches thousands of cases and the government decided to fully lock down the country.

In Florence now, it is prohibited to go out without masks and gloves. I know that it was a little bit late when they decided to fully lockdown the country. But now, I guess they are doing their very best to minimize the physical contacts. As my part-time job, I work at home doing blogging.

Since the Philippines is in lockdown too in some parts, my family is struggling too. We communicate more frequently than before. Honesty, this pandemic made our relationship stronger than before. Luckily we have messaging apps nowadays to use to contact our loved ones more frequently.

 

Right now we are still waiting for the final announcement from the government. But according to the latest news, they will make an announcement on 1st of May and it will be effected by 3rd of May.

In the Philippines they haven’t announced yet when they are ending the enhanced quarantine. But finger crossed that we will end this sooner... in terms of cases, Italy is dropping the number of affected everyday. Which is a very positive result of quarantine.

 

Right now, all we can do is to wait until further notice. It is hard but we can’t do anything.

 

Hello, I'm Chinese living in Shanghai, welcome to Shanghai. Hope the international air flights will be resumed soon. The Covid situation has been OK in Shanghai, we can freely move and work now. Do have fun there.

Since the Covid has ruined all the int'l biz now, I'm taking the time to tutor the foreign friends the Chinese mandarin now, if you 're looking for a Chinese tutor, please do not hesitate to approach me.

 

Hi In ITALY I,m Resident in Roma covid 19 Situation Pandemic has Been.no to mach tourist no work I Before Visit BERMUDA Very Paradise

I would like to move to Bermuda me and my wife a hug I am positive

 

Hi,
my name is Paulina Ludwigstorff and I am currently studying CEMS/International Management at WU Vienna. For my Master Thesis, I have chosen the topic of Expatriate Crisis Management and I am currently looking for expatriates to answer my survey.
The aim of the thesis and the goal of this survey is to explore the actions companies have taken during the COVID-19 crisis in regards to their expatriates. Through my findings I try to help organisations and expatriates during possible future crises. This survey takes 5-10min.

Here is the link: https://wuvienna.limequery.net/541511?lang=en

I would be very grateful if anyone takes the time to fill out my survey!

Thanks in advance to everyone!
Paulina

 

Hello from Madrid, here we have had a very hard situation for three months but now Madrid is back (hopefully for a long time)

On Sunday 21 June, the three-month state of alarm came to an end. The borders have now reopened to visitors from Schengen countries, the UK and twelve other third countries. People are allowed to travel freely around the country, face masks continue to be mandatory in public places and social distancing rules must be followed.

Madrid is back

In Madrid, the following measures are in place from 6 July:

• Maximum capacity in most establishments (including shops, shopping centres, libraries, cinemas, theatres, indoor sports centres, theme parks and bullrings) is 75%.
  
• Restaurants, bars and cafés can open indoor dining at 75% capacity, and are allowed to serve at the bar. Outside terraces may now open at 100% capacity.
  
• Night clubs and other late night venues may now open with a maximum capacity of 40% and without dance floor.
  
• Public pools, both indoor and outdoor, may open at 50% capacity.
  
• Hotels are allowed to reopen their common areas up to 75% of capacity.
  
• Children's parks, skate parks and outdoor activities managed by the Region of Madrid are allowed to open as long as long as there is at least 4m2 of space per person.
  In the Madrid mountains, picnic areas and other recreation areas will remain closed unless a maximum capacity of 75% and the proper disinfection of tables, benches and fountains can be guaranteed.
  
• Large shopping centres are allowed to open at a 75% capacity (common areas can only be used for walking). Outdoor markets may also open with a maximum capacity of 75%.

 

Hi, I'm Ana, Coordinator of Guri Family Studies in Uruguay. What a beautiful forum, I just wanted to say hello and wish everyone the best in this difficult time we are living.
In our study centers it is really difficult to coordinate in a new course. I hope that a solution will be found soon and we will return to our routine. But let us not forget and do our part to make a better world. Especially in the part that concerns us teachers and professors. Regards

[EDIT Moderation: Link removed]

 

Hello, I am Nensy. It is really heartbreaking.

 

Hi I am Tra My from Vietnam. Currently, I live in Barcelona. The situation of Covid-19 in Vietnam is very good, and we have few cases. The authority has controlled very well with strict restrictions so we are not in the crisis like Europe. If you want to go to live in Vietnam, let me know and I can help you.