Items
Tag is exactly
apartment
-
2020-05-10
TEN LITTLE TENANTS IN THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
TEN LITTLE TENANTS IN THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS A little story from the lockdown By Berthold von Kamptz (2020, Hamburg, Germany) Before the corona period: Once upon a time there were ten little tenants. They lived in an apartment building near Charlesburg near Castle Newman Street in Atlanta, which was managed by the strict landlord Johann Hermann, a real estate agent and philistine, and his son Rudolf, an often rebellious son and sound engineer who owned a small music studio. The ten tenants lived in the red brick apartment building and not always harmoniously. But as long as they avoided each other and did not know each other well, it worked out reasonably well. Either they were too busy with their work, their relationship, family and other obligations, so that in this often stressful time before the corona pandemic there was hardly any time. Only Grandma Leni asked how Mr. Lemke, Mr. Schmitz, Mr. Weidmann or Mr. Ehlert were doing. Because she was a pensioner, was curious, interested in other people and had time. Otherwise - if you were honest - almost no one was interested in anyone else. Everyone had their own life, something to do with themselves. Most people left the apartment in the morning and then disappeared into the grey mass. And Grandma Leni thought: "My contacts in the building are only superficial. How I hate that." Tenant No. 1: The former humorous gallery owner Jochen Schmitz from Switzerland lived in the basement. He represented many young artists, had sales skills, good taste and often cracked jokes. And what artists he had! Neo-expressionists, conceptual artists, pop artists and cubists. What exhibitions he did. Nobody would have thought of that before! Tenant No. 2: And now we come to Grandma Leni. She lived on the left on the ground floor. Her name was exactly Grandma Leni Saubermann. She always read a lot, knitted and lovingly looked after her two grandchildren, who often visited her, as did her daughter Ruth. At 85, Grandma Leni was fit. And many thought: "What more can she do." But her son Hugo, with whom she had little contact, thought: "She's old, just wait a bit and then she'll leave us." Tenant No. 3: On the right on the ground floor lived the artist Fritz Weidmann. He came from Europe. He always wore trousers with holes in them. He was not successful as an artist. The gallery owner down in the basement didn't want him. Schmitz said: "At 40, he's too old. His work leaves me cold." So Fritz drank a lot and was often drunk. And when he raged, you could hear it throughout the house. And many said: When will the landlord finally throw him out! Tenant No. 4: Upstairs on the second floor on the left lived the singer Daniel Lechler. He often wrote and sang his songs - sometimes even late at night. And that really annoyed the neighbors below and next to him. But that's how he was. Vain and completely gay, that's just how this singer was. He had a friend somewhere that nobody knew.And the neighbor Herbert Lemke in particular got upset and hated guys like Daniel. He had to get up at 5 a.m. because he was a baker! Tenant No. 5: And now we come to the baker Holger Lemke. He lived on the second floor to the right, opposite Lechler's apartment. Lemke was always upset and the only reason they didn't argue was because Mr. Lechler rarely met him in the dark stairwell. And Lemke hated people who were different - people like Lechler, because he was also politically extremely right-wing. Tenant No. 6: To make matters worse, a tenant named Gustav Ehlert lived above him on the third floor to the right. And he wasn't politically right-wing, but politically extremely left-wing. He had lots of left-wing websites with multiple links. And sometimes he was inclined to violence. And he always felt miserable when he heard the tenant Lemke running around the apartment. And heard the people he hated ranting. And one day he came up with a nasty plan. Tenant no. 7: And on the third floor to the left lived Ali with his wife and child. The family came from somewhere in the Middle East Europe - presumably. After the arguments with Holger Lemke, which were caused by both of them, he was protected by Gustav Ehlert, who lived opposite his apartment on the right. Whenever there were problems, he simply went over to Ehlert. Tenant no. 8: Above Ali on the fourth floor to the left lived old Knut Rückner, who was suffering from cancer. He was alone, depressed and addicted to medication. He had an uncertain future. But he did not want to end it because he was a fighter. Reason prevailed here. Tenant no. 9: On the fourth floor to the right opposite Knut Rückner lived Tim Rösler, who often argued with his wife Anna since he had recently been unfaithful. At this point, Anna could not yet decide whether she should forgive her husband and stay with him, or not forgive him and leave him completely. She had already taken another room in Woodberry City in Atlanta and only lived with her husband from time to time. At first he begged her to stay with him. But gradually he had had enough of her swearing, accusations, frustration and jealousy. And he thought: "If it doesn't stop, I'll kill her or leave her, then finally stop shouting!" Tenant No. 10: And in the attic lived the graphic artist Albert Eisenblätter, a graphic artist who had been left by his girlfriend and who either cried now and then, watched TV or masturbated in his attic apartment. He had messed up several relationships. This was now the fourth! The landlord Johann Hermann and his son Rudolf: They lived in a single-family house in Greenwood City (Atlanta). And the father-son relationship was not always easy. Johann Hermann had a lot to do with managing the property. Since Rudolf often didn't help much in the past, this sometimes caused the relationship to cool down.Because Rudolf had a job and a lot to do. And therefore often had little time for property management. He was a sound engineer, was involved in various small music productions - also in advertising - and also had a small recording studio, but what he earned was not enough to live well from it. He had also gambled in the casino, had too many women who often stole money from his pocket. At some point he was in debt, it was no longer possible, and there were discussions with his father. And then everything came out. And then his previous life was over. And so he promised to pull himself together. And also to do property management and earn some extra money. His father told him: "You have to change, because if you don't, it will tear the whole family apart." And so they did property management together and Rudolf pulled himself together after these incidents. And soon father and son got along well again. And his father encouraged him. Then suddenly Corona came... Then suddenly Corona came and changed everything. Like a huge monster, Corona swept across the whole world. And turned everything upside down. In America. In Europe. In Afrika.... During the lockdown, all shops closed. Hotels, sports clubs, concert halls, opera houses, bars, restaurants, hotels, clubs, brothels, cafes,... Only supermarkets, doctor's offices and pharmacies were open. The landlord Johann Hermann and his son Rudolf: They panicked. Johann immediately bought masks from the pharmacy. And Johann immediately sent his son to panic buy. And soon the cans were piling up in the basement. But there was almost no toilet paper anywhere! It was a lot of running around to at least get kitchen paper as a toilet paper substitute. Fortunately, Johann earned well and had fortunately saved a lot of money during the Corona period. That was enough for the time being. Rudolf was not so lucky. He lost his job as a musician because concerts were not allowed and contact restrictions necessarily applied and could no longer keep his head above water financially. So Johann helped his son and then he managed to make ends meet. As the number of people infected with Corona kept increasing, Johann and Rudolf stocked up on food in the basement and then stayed at home. They were afraid. And they told themselves: If they stayed at home, nothing would happen. When they turned their attention to the property management, they noticed something frightening: There were more and more arguments among the tenants, some had not paid. Everyone against everyone, nothing had been normal since the Corona crisis. And if it continued like this, chaos would break out. That had a lot to do with Corona, Corona acted as a problem amplifier, nerves were frayed and this led to more arguments. Also due to tight budgets. Johann often said: "But often it is not just Corona, but also the people themselves, who have not learned to show solidarity and deal with problems. Many were doing too well before the crisis,could have everything they wanted and now there is a lockdown. A lot of things are different. You can't blame everything on Corona." Victim number 1 was tenant number 10: graphic artist Albert Eisenblätter was the first to freak out. He couldn't handle the lockdown and the loneliness at all, he kept thinking about his ex-girlfriend and masturbated constantly. And he often drank too much alcohol to the point of almost fainting. He couldn't handle losing all his graphic design jobs at all. He could no longer pay the rent and so Johann Hermann and his son Rudolf sent him several reminders by letter. They wanted to throw him out if he could no longer pay the rent. Then one day during the lockdown he stopped responding to their reminders. Finally, Johann and Rudolf drove to his apartment and knocked on his door. But he didn't open it! He seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Then Johann called the police and they broke down the door. Then they saw Albert Eisenblätter and the rope around his neck. He had hanged himself! There were only 9 tenants left in the house. Victim No. 2 was tenant No. 8: Knut Rückner could not cope at all with the fact that tenant Eisenblaetter had hanged himself above him. He was still battling with his cancer. He only made it to his doctor's office in great pain and with the risk of contracting the coronavirus. And he couldn't even get all of his medication from the pharmacy. He only got one pack of antidepressants. Then he was taken to hospital and died. Then there were only 8 left. Victim No. 3 was tenant No. 2: Grandma Leni Saubermann fell into depression. Her grandchildren could no longer visit her during the coronavirus lockdown because of the risk of infection. She became increasingly lonely and depressed. Finally, her daughter Ruth made sure that she went to a nursing home. But before that, she caught the coronavirus when she secretly met an old friend. So she ended up in a nursing home and died a little later of Covid-19. Then there were only 7 left. Victim No. 4 was tenant No. 3: Tenant Tim Rösner did not die. But the lockdown frustration and certain circumstances caused him to become angrier and angrier. And his anger was directed at the gallery owner down in the converted basement, who did not appreciate his art. How humiliated he felt! He had already earned little from his art before and then Corona came along, so that he could not pay his rent. Finally, at some point he went crazy and beat up the gallery owner and devastated his gallery. He was then taken away by the police and had to go to a psychiatric hospital. Then there were only 6 left. Victim No. 5 was tenant No. 1: The Corona crisis also made the gallery owner Jochen Schmitz feel bad. After being attacked by the artist Fritz, he became depressed and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He could no longer pay the rent,had to move and rent other premises. Nobody knew for sure whether he went bankrupt. When he moved out there were only 5 left. Soon after, the apartment was rented out again. Victim No. 6 was tenant No. 9: After a short period of peace in the apartment building, Tim and his wife argued more and more. The arguments were often so violent that everyone in the house heard everything. Then one day he almost beat her to death. Then he had to go to prison. She barely survived and then moved out too. There were only 4 left. Victim No. 7 was tenant No. 7: Ali got it in the fall. He attacked Mr. Lemke, Mr. Lemke attacked him. Nobody knew exactly who started it. Since Corona, it got worse and worse. Mr. Ehlert, who lived to his left, wanted to help him wherever he could. Even the singer Daniel Lecher! When Ali left the house one day, he was knocked down by an unknown man wearing a mask. The police could not prove anything against Mr. Lemke. Maybe it wasn't him. Only Ehlert suspected that Mr. Lemke was behind it. Ali was taken to the hospital. His family then moved out of the apartment. Ali did recover. But as we later learned, Ali became infected with Corona through unfortunate circumstances. So Ali eventually died of Corona. Then there were only 3 left. Victims No. 8 and 9 were tenants No. 5 and No. 6: After Ali's attack and his entire family moved out, Lemke and Ehlert got into increasingly serious arguments. When they met by chance outside, a fight broke out. Later there was a stabbing and both killed each other. So there was only one left. Victim No. 10 was tenant No. 4: One day during the Corona crisis, singer Daniel Lechner learned that his friend had contracted Corona in May 2020. According to stories, he visited him. The latter then died suddenly. Daniel became depressed and drank more and more. Then one day during the corona crisis he fell from the first floor. He later died in hospital. It was inexplicable and incomprehensible. Then everyone left the house and then there were only 0. The landlord Johann Hermann and his son Rudolf: The fact that so much was happening in the apartment building frightened Johann Hermann and his son Rudolf. It was pure madness! That wasn't the case before the corona crisis! First bills piled up. Then there was the first major trouble. The unpleasant tenant Lemke wanted a lot of repairs to be done in the house. All of the electrical systems in the basement, the doorbell panel, lights in the entrance, pipe inspections in the basement, a new refrigerator and the heating in his apartment, which was supposedly making noises. Some of it was certainly necessary, others not. A lot of it was lies or made up. He wanted to have the whole house done ideally and then live cheaply! And he acted as a caretaker, threatening to inform the building authorities.Who was going to pay for all of this? And all of this during the lockdown and the Corona crisis that followed! A little later, an unknown person caused a riot in the house and damaged doors in the basement, the railing, the steps, and rubbish was scattered around the basement. Nobody knew who it was. Johann suspected that it was a frustrated tenant or a tenant who had gone crazy during the lockdown and who hated Johann and Rudolf. Probably the evil Lemke! Or Ehlert - he was also a suspect! But nothing could be proven if there were no witnesses. Because suspicions were not enough for the police. Then, a little later, there were serious conflicts between the tenants. There were the first deaths. First the tenant Eisenblätter, then the tenant Rückner.... Every time Rudolf heard of a tenant's death in the apartment building, his hands shook. Johann was also worried. "During the Corona crisis and the lockdown, many people are going crazy. Unfortunately. Everyone against everyone. At first, during the Corona crisis in March and April, solidarity was the order of the day. But the longer the Corona crisis lasts, the more aggressive many people become. The good people seem to be dwindling. In the past, the bad people lived at the expense of the good. If everyone becomes bad, then even the bad people will eventually be afraid and no longer want to live in such a world. A philosopher once said something similar," said Johann. It was an attempt to explain these strange occurrences. Because of all the problems in the house, they eventually got into financial difficulties. Then their son Rudolf had an accident during the second lockdown. He drove drunk into a tree and then died. A little later, their father Johann died of a heart attack from grief. Uncle Jochen Hermann was Johann's brother. He inherited the apartment building from his brother. Renovations were carried out and new tenants moved in. Everyone thought that Jochen Hermann had solved all the problems with the apartment building. But then another disaster happened later: the house was set on fire by a leftist, a friend of Ehlert. Several new tenants died and the house burned down almost completely. Only rubble towered into the sky like individual memorials. They were images like from a war. The conclusion: And the undertaker Walter had a lot to do. And he shamelessly exploited the grief. For example, he made a mourner pay him 3000 euros for an expensive coffin and instead of the expensive coffin he only took a cheap coffin for 300 euros. That's how he made a profit. And how good the business was! Lots of people died - like mayflies - of Corona or perished or killed themselves or each other. "I love the Grim Reaper as long as he doesn't find me. And if he's looking for me, I'll hide somewhere in the cemetery behind the gravestones. But the money is there. And when the money is there, a good woman isn't far away for me. Because money is power. To be honest, I never let anything burn.I already have a steady wife. I'm a Corona denier anyway. For me, the hysteria about Corona is exaggerated, the people who died of Corona had pre-existing conditions and would have died anyway. I don't care. Life is too short, I don't care about rules. I have my wife. What does the Bible say? It says: The man should give to the woman what is due to her, and the woman to the man in the same way. Do not deprive one another of it, so that Satan does not tempt you... A pastor once said to me who was transferred because of a scandal. Walter, like many others, lived by the motto: "Let us eat and drink, tomorrow we die." How wrong he was! Even in the wrong interpretation of the Bible. He became careless with his contacts, later no longer paid attention to keeping his distance and wearing a mask. Shortly afterwards, he contracted Corona while giving a blowjob to a strange woman. He died a short time later. And finally, one more gravestone adorned Atlantas' Greenwood cemetery and on it sat a black crow with very black eyes. And it cawed horribly. It almost sounded like: "When is the next one's turn? In the meantime, I'll look at the graves." THE END -
2020-01-07
500 Square Feet
When my wife and I got our first apartment together, we chose one which was affordable and small with the intention that we would spend as little time as possible there. Then we were quarantined and spent nearly an entire year in the apartment. We bought a house shortly after. -
05/03/2021Kyle Sauley Oral History, 2021/05/03
-
2021-10-17Fish Food
Since the Pandemic began and I was moved to remote work I have been spending more time than ever in my apartment. I bought some house plants to liven up my humble abode but they are easy to care for and don't do too much other than exist. I was looking to get a pet to occupy some of my time but unfortunately my building does not allow for cats or dogs, so I went for a fish friend as the lease was ambiguous towards fish. In college my roommate had two fish tanks and cared for them very well. The fish were always big hits with house guests and caring for them seemed easy enough. It was with this in mind that I purchased a male betta fish, which I named Tarzan after the drug smuggler Ludwig Fainberg from the documentary "Operation Odessa" which I highly recommend. However caring for a betta fish is not as simple as I initially thought. Yet with the help of the internet and all its wisdom I was able to do enough research and find exactly what I needed to make my tank as comfortable as possible for Tarzan. I purchased a five gallon tank along with, a filter, a heater (betta fish like it warm), gravel, a background poster, a pagoda, live plants, a net, a gravel pump for cleaning, ph chemicals, a large moss rock and of course fish food. He gets fed twice a day, once in the AM and once in the PM. The tank needs to be cleaned at least once a month and the filter is changed during that process as well. Every time I crack open his food my nose is greeted by a distinct fish food smell that is unmistakable and equally unpleasant. While I do not think that it would be impossible to care for Tarzan if I was still going into the office every day, it is definitely easier now that I am home more often. Cleaning the tank takes about an hour and can get smelly at times depending on how long it has been since its last cleaning. Without the current work from home situation brought on by the pandemic I would not have considered owning any type of pet that I would have to care for on a daily basis. The average lifespan of a betta fish is between three to five years, hopefully with enough care Tarzan can live to the full five and see the other side of the pandemic. -
2021-10A fitness lovers life during a pandemic in the UK
It describes how I struggled during the pandemic as I was not able to do what I love doing the most: training. -
2020-08-08Positivity Throughout a Pandemic
I submitted a story of my life during the pandemic and the positives that I have decided to focus on when looking back on this past year. -
2020-05-10My sister during the pandemic
Throughout living in this pandemic many people have had a multitude of different reactions regarding it. There is the people who really don't care too much about the pandemic and have not taken to many precautions in their life in regards to the pandemic. The next group of people are the ones who realize there is a pandemic follow the necessary precautions but don't obsess over it and make it consume their lives. And the final group of people are the ones who have let the pandemic take over their lives. My sister is in this last group. She has let it consume her and made her life revolve around this pandemic. She refuses to leave her apartment at all costs. In fact I think I have seen her in person maybe one or two times in the past year since the start of the pandemic. Along with that when I do see her even when it is known that I do not have COVID it has to be outside wearing a mask at least six feet apart and for not longer than fifteen minutes. Yes I understand the precautions of COVID but it is sad to me that this pandemic has caused family members to distance themselves from one another and has really put a lot of strain and stress on people. Hopefully the vaccine will be rolled out quickly and efficiently. -
2020-03-28
Moving Out of My First Apartment
During the 2019-2020, I was living at Vista Del Sol, the apartment style housing available to upper division Barrett students at Arizona State University. I was fortunate to share my apartment with three close friends, and over the course of the school year, we had often gotten together with some of our other friends to hang out and enjoy the college lifestyle in our apartment. After we all returned from spring break, we discussed how uncertain our futures would be with the pandemic, and with so little information or precedent available to us, we all faced uncertain circumstances. Three of us were from Tucson, but our fourth roommate was an out of state student, but we all wanted to remain in our room until the conclusion of the semester (when we were sure the whole situation would be over). However, with added stress from our parents, we found out over the course of a week, that all of our parents expected us to return home, where they presumed we'd be safer and better monitored, instead of leaving us to our own devices. Packing and spending those moments together were heartbreaking, and would only be amplified in the coming months as we were unable to see each other and spend time together, even for special occasions such as birthdays or other events. As a last hurrah, the weekend before our first roommate moved out, we threw ourselves a little goodbye party, with a roommates photoshoot that we reference even now, a year later. -
2020-06-302020 Goals from June 30
This item was created in June when I had fully decided to stay home for the semester rather than renting an apartment close to campus. It was another ploy to create some kind of hope that this lockdown would be over in the next few months. There are four major sections divided into my dream room since I was allowed to remodel it (spoiler: the only thing that changed was my new bed and shifting the furniture), clothing, places that I was hoping to visit, and random photos that I wanted for my ‘aesthetic’. The only one I came even close to completing was the clothing with my four pairs of plaid pants and mountain of sweaters. Out of all the criteria listed, I think that this “item of interest to future historians that helps illustrate something particularly significant about the year 2020”. During the beginning of lockdown, self-improvement was a topic that many people in my generation along with others were attempting to tackle with this time at home. For this photo, it highlights my personal life and the things I thought was important during this time. I connected this with the Social Dilemma documentary because I did post it to Instagram for a reaction, showing the importance of social media and my computer through Photoshop is important for my life. -
2020-11-25Nova Scotian provincial government caps rent increases at 2% and bans 'renovictions' during pandemic
This new article details how the provincial government of Nova Scotia humanely reacted to the pandemic. -
2020-03-13The Creation of Memories
March 13, the covid-19 virus struck my highschool. We were sent home early and spring break was prolonged. Everyone assumed this would last a week maybe a month, but I knew that the devastation would last a long while more. Everyday during my lockdown, I focused on myself, more than I ever had before. I worked out every day, I baked, I did my school work, I was on a schedule. Over the four weeks I barely went out of my apartment, I tried my best to keep my head up high and try not to worry about the essential and front line workers. I buried myself into Tik Tok, which is what my story is going to be about. Through lock-down I became quite the dancer. I managed to learn most of the Tik-Tok dances and become fascinated with the Tik Tok algorithm. Although this sounds like a bit of a problem, I was happy, I spent hours a day on my phone scrolling. A screenager, I know. Well, in the midst of my scrolling I would come to romanticize my life post covid, how I will be making new friends and exploring new places. I made one Tik Tok a day, no kidding. I created an archive of the lockdown in my drafts. I devoted a lot of my day to Tik Tok, I kept up with the drama and followed all of the baking trends. However, my Tik Tok debut never occurred, sadly. But, I did come to find out new things about myself. I know, most people find social media toxic in some sort of way, as I do now, but during lockdown I felt it was a sort of outlet. I expressed myself and laughed, and saw a little happiness while being inside. I realized that all of my saved videos on Tik Tok would be an archive for my children, they would look at the videos and the umpteenth amount of selfies I took and laugh. Of course, the pandemic is no funny situation at all, but when my children learn about it and question how covid was for me I can show them. The photograph is not as important as my realization of how the Tik Tok changed the pandemic. It might have altered it in a bad way at times because people were glued to their screens. But it is okay for people to spend time on it, to make them laugh and to make them maybe become more creative. -
2020-04-10The Balcony: My Families Sanctuary
During the first, and most unknown parts of the pandemic, my family and I were in a small apartment in Miami. There was less information about the pandemic, so we weren't really leaving the house for anything, and our only access to the outside world was a small balcony. We had never really used the balcony, or the apartment for that matter, but it was a safe place where we could regain our sanity at the end of the day, together. Whether this was my mom and I reading our books, or my entire family watching the sunset, listening to music, and talking, we could not have made it through those first few months of the pandemic without this outside space. -
10/17/2022Sachiko Mortia-Mulaney Oral History, 2020/10/17
This is an Oral History interview with University of Cincinnati student Sachiko Morita-Mullaney. Sachiko discusses her experience as a student at the University of Cincinnati. She brings up her identity as a Japanese-American woman and how that has affected her personally during the pandemic due to anti-Asian racism. She also talks about her small online business, and the different ways her and her family’s employment have been affected by Covid-19. Sachiko, a Political Science major at the University of Cincinnati, is very informed about the government’s response to Covid-19. She shares her opinions about healthcare in the United States and how racism and classism have affected the United States’ response to the coronavirus. Finally, we talked about the future and the quality of the US response to the coronavirus. -
2020-10-29Keys, Wallet, Mask
The image I chose to share was of the basket of masks in my room. Never in my life could I have predicted that this would be something I have, never mind how much of a staple it would become in my everyday life. I think what I titles thing story holds a certain importance as well. Keys, Wallet, Mask, really emphasizes how much masks have come to be a part of my daily routine. Going from living at home to moving into my new apartment in North End during the middle of the pandemic in July, just minutes from Downtown Boston, I went from only wearing a masks when going to get groceries indoors to wearing a mask every time I walk out my front door, even just walking down the street. I truly has just become such a natural thing to have a mask on my face and for everyone I walk by to have one on as well. I think the significance of the mask during the pandemic and that it has really been the only constant in my or everyone’s lives throughout this COVID-19 experience. Every day I hear contradicting statements about the pandemic, not knowing what’s true and what’s not. My masks for me symbolize a sense of protection at a very vulnerable time in life. I’m not sure if they help or if they don’t, but I know for sure that wearing a mask has given me some sense of security throughout all this chaos and uncertainty. -
2020-06-15Ph.D. exams in quarantine
My family stayed mostly at home through July. I began my Ph.D. exams in June and finished them at the beginning of July. I had to work in the office of our apartment complex, because I couldn't concentrate in our apartment with two kids. When the cases began to rise in July in Arizona, the governor closed bars, gyms, and water parks. As a result my complex closed the offices, and I had to scramble to find another place to work. Thankfully our professors decided to give us 2 weeks (instead of 1) to answer each question, and I passed with high scores. -
09/19/2020Jared Walpurgis Oral History, 2020/09/19
Despite this assignment being for university students, most American’s do not know the realities that students now face during the pandemic; even myself, who is working full-time from my childhood home while taking this course. I can skip Northeastern’s Covid-19 updates and I am completely ignorant of the protocols that on-campus students have to remember everyday, and the consequences that they face if they do not. I didn’t know that NEU had tents set up for outdoor gathering or studying, or that roommate quotas in on-campus housing has remained the same despite social distancing protocols. I hope this interview shows a glimpse of university life and the students sentiment towards university decisions, such as NEU’s very public and controversial suspension of 11 freshman without a refund, as it is not the norm for all of us. That’s why it was a pleasure in getting this insight from Jared, a third year Asian studies major. We learned the most before the recording, by simply getting to know how the coronavirus has impacted our location, surroundings, and day-to-day life. This introduction went well, because it set us up for asking more targeted questions with a storyline during the interview. I especially appreciated Jared’s conversational tone, as it felt more like a re-do of our first conversation than a formal one. I liked being the interviewee for this reason, as it took the pressure off having to keep a natural discussion going. Our interviews went over the time limit, mostly because we were both invested in answering each question thoroughly and thoughtfully, and we realized it would have been very difficult to gain the insight that we had without doing so. However, maybe with some more practice we could have been more succinct. -
2020-08-09
I'm sorry my love.
Dear son, I am so sorry you are having to live through these crazy times. You are only three and don't understand why we can't go see your grandparents and your friends. I know that it sucks that we can't play outside and living in an apartment makes it even worse. It will be over some day soon. I am so proud of you wearing your mask anytime we have to go somewhere. I am so glad you're in such good spirts at all times. When all of this is all over we will go and visit family and friends. We might have lost a year but my love we will go on vacation and see our family and friends. Just a little longer and we won't have to wear our masks. Until then my son keep strong and we will get through this. -
2020-05-15Dawn
I can't sleep past 5:30 these mornings. So I roam my house in the quietude, waiting for the sun to come up and animate the static space. Like many artist I'm trying to use my living space (which I'm fortunate to have) as studio, set, character. -
05/17/2020Thank you, Key Food window signs
As I walked past the Key Food grocery store in downtown Jersey City, I saw hand-made signs in the windows of an apartment across the street. Normally these would be expressions of gratitude to health care workers, but these were directed at the grocery store. It expressed how hard it has been to get food at times during the lockdown, and how much we have learned to appreciate the people who work in grocery stores. -
2020-04Life Changes
My life experience during this pandemic and how it has changed. Though many have had the opportunity to have access to resources I have not which has become a challenge! #CSUS #HIST15H -
2020-05-07
A Change of Pace: Life During Quarantine
This is just a brief look into my personal adjustment to the COVID-19 quarantine and how it has affected my everyday life. I discuss what an average day looks like for me in light of the situation. I also highlight the challenges I have faced during this time, as well as the changes that have occurred in my life. #CSUS #HIST15H -
2020-03-19"Don't Pay Your Rent" Message
A chalk message that states "DON'T PAY YOUR RENT" written on the back of my apartment building. This was during the period of quarantine when people were questioning whether or not landlords would still charge rent. I ended up paying my rent. -
2020-04-30How the pandemic changed my everyday actions.
Every day, I cook (kitchen not pictured but in the same room), work out, study, relax, and work from home all in the same room. This goes to show that even though the world is changing in huge ways during this time, every day actions such as going to the gym have had to transition into the home. Small changes like this show how we have had to adapt routines that we wouldn't normally give a second thought to. #REL101 -
2020-04-22USPS note left in mailbox
My apartment complex front office isn’t receiving packages anymore. USPS left this note in the mailbox and I went down to the post office the next day to receive my package (a book from B&N). -
2020-04-27My personal isolation
A personal account of the pandemic. -
2020-04-23Young woman confined in Paris, France
Description of a woman living in Paris, France during the COVID-19 pandemic. -
2020-05-26A Day in the Life III
This is my third entry, and I have found that people are beginning to not pay rent. The apartment complex have posted notes on the door's of people who have yet to pay, threatening to evict them. Sadly, I doubt this will amount to anything, as very few people are still here and so I wish them luck in evicting people who aren't even here, since they are threatening to actually evict people. It truly shows how much they care for us as their tenants when they shut down all of their services and leave rent prices the same, truly magnificent. -
2020-04-14Goodbye Basketball
Since the COVID-19 pandemic many businesses and housing facilities have closed common areas to promote social distancing. Since March many residents have not followed through with the warnings and now landlords and managers have taken measures to keep people from gathering such as at One North Apartments, a University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign student housing facility where they have taken the hoops off the basketball rims #DePaulHST391. -
04/17/2020A Day in the Life
Entry about 4/17/20: It's sad to think about how different things were only a month ago. On a Friday only a month ago I would have been out with friends, going to clubs at night and partying until I dropped. And now, I just sit in my apartment, sleeping all day and sitting up all night. My friends have all gone home, and I am the only one left that I know in this town. Yep, can't wait for all of this to be over. -
2020-04-18A Day in the Life
Entry about 4/17/20: It's sad to think about how different things were only a month ago. On a Friday only a month ago I would have been out with friends, going to clubs at night and partying until I dropped. And now, I just sit in my apartment, sleeping all day and sitting up all night. My friends have all gone home, and I am the only one left that I know in this town. Yep, can't wait for all of this to be over. -
2020-04-01Landlord left a list of homeless shelters
The tweet shows a picture of a list of homeless shelters the twitter users landlord displayed on their doors. This is due to financial issues for many. Many people were unable to pay rent due to being laid off for jobs. The person replying to the tweet expresses outrage that the landlord is not willing to make an exception since this is in the middle of the pandemic. -
2020-03-20Quarantine Tik Tok Toe
TikTok of playing tic tac toe with a window cleaner while creator is staying home. #HIST5241 -
2020-03-18Apartment front office closure
Office has closed to residents and does not accept packages for residents to the front office. The office has asked residents to make sure that deliveries go directly to our front door. -
2020-03-25Apartment Pool Closure
Tempe, Arizona. Apartment complex - Green Leaf Tempe Station. -
2020-03-23Self-isolation desk
As an Australian who has just arrived back from overseas (Thailand) on 20 March 2020, I am required to self-isolate for 14 days. As I am sharing a small one-bedroom inner urban apartment. I need to stick to my own room, while my fellow inhabitant lives in the lounge room. I’m also a PhD student in the final throes of trying to get my thesis done and do various casual research jobs at two different universities. This is my makeshift desk set up at the side of the bed to enable me to hopefully get some work done throughout this uncertain period. I also have a tiny 1.5mx2m space set up on the other side of the bed to try to do some yoga during the isolation period.