Crochet
door Sarah Barchichat
Love in the Time of Corona
”I was going to China to do a language course. It was right before the virus broke out. Just before my flight, I started to worry a bit, so I called the school. They assured me that everything was safe and I could come. When I arrived in Hangzhou, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Hangzhou is a city with over 13 million inhabitants, but the streets were completely deserted. That same day, the city had gone into a lockdown. I went straight to my apartment and didn’t leave the house for a month. I didn’t have a roommate, and all my classes were online, so it was quite lonely. After a month, the city slowly started to open up again. To get to know people, I downloaded Tinder. There were about a hundred people on the app, and that’s how I got to know Moira. After a few days of chatting, we went on a date. We clicked from the beginning, but we both didn’t believe in long-distance relationships, so we agreed that it would be like the movie: Before sunrise. Have you seen it? It’s about a guy from New York and a girl from Paris who meet on the train from Budapest to Vienna. They decide to spend one magical night together in Vienna and move on the next day without exchanging contact information. We just wanted to enjoy our time together for as long as it would last. However, a few weeks later, we broke down and realized our feelings were much deeper. When I returned to Amsterdam in September, it felt like leaving behind my teenage summer love, but this was the more serious version. I cried so hard that I got a severe throat infection. Moira is here now on a temporary visa. We know that we will be in this situation for a while. I always said: I’m not going to be that dipshit who has a long-distance relationship, well guess what, I am that dipshit. I realized that you do anything for love. It’s difficult, especially with this pandemic, but If I have to, I’ll walk to China for her. ”
by Debra Barraud
Next story
#30 online classes
Our
partners
