alone together / together apart by Thisted Kommune

alone togethertogetherapart - Nordic youth tackling the coronavirus pandemic

mosfellbærloimaafinland skiennorway thisteddenmark uddevallasweden Aada Rantala / Ajla Didelija Anni Mäkelä / Ari Jakobsson / thorsen Stokkeland / Else Therkildsen / Ester Chladek / Heidi Lohtander Brogaard Aeppli / Jasmine Kuikka Buk Stenfeldt / Malin Ehlers / Rigmor alone togethertogether

mosfellbærnorwayfinlandicelanddenmarksweden Didelija / Alen Durakovic / Ann Kristin Kise / Ástrós Hind Rúnarsdóttir / Berit Marie Therkildsen / Emilie Holtskog-Feremans Lohtander / Hooman Muradi / Jakob Frederik Kuikka / Kristín María Eysteinsdóttir / Lærke Rigmor Thing Enevoldsen / Ulriikka Sosi togethertogetherapart

Content Content Preface Mosfellbær / IntroductionIceland Kristín María EysteinsdóttirAriJakobsson ástrós hindAnnHeidiLoimarúnarsdóttir/FinlandIntroductionAadaRantalaLohtanderUlriikkaSosiAnniMäkeläSkien/NorwayIntroductionKristinKiseEsterChladek Berit Marie thorsen Stokkeland Emilie Holtskog-FeremansHoomanMuradiThisted/DenmarkIntroductionAlenDurakovic Jakob frederik brogaard AePpli Rigmor Thing Enevoldsen Lærke Buk Stenfeldt og Ajla Didelija Uddevalla / ElseIntroductionSwedenTherkildsenJasmineKuikkamalinehlers 9490848280767268666462545046444240383430262220181614121087

A huge thank you taktack,takk,takkkiitos,fyrir, - to our 20 generous and brave young writers: Ari Jakobsson (ISL), Ástrós Hind Rúnarsdóttir (ISL), Kristín María Eysteinsdóttir (ISL), Emilie HoltskogFeremans (NO), Ann Kristin Kise (NO), Ester Chladek (NO), Berit Marie Thorsen Stokkeland (NO), Hooman Muradi (NO), Anni Mäkelä (FIN), Heidi Lohtander (FIN), Ulriikka Sosi (FIN), Aada Rantala (FIN), Malin Ehlers (S), Else Therkildsen (S), Jasmine Kuikka (S), Alen Durakovic (DK), Jakob Frederik Brogaard Aeppli (DK), Rigmor Thing Enevoldsen (DK), Ajla Didelija (DK), Lærke Buk Stenfeldt (DK).

five towns, 20 voices One pandemic, five towns, 20 voices

As a time capsule it gathers and presents 20 young voices travelling across countries and language barriers. It allows them to be heard – and hopefully to resonate. We as readers are given the privilege of access to their private thoughts and struggles during a historic time.

A pandemic is by definition a global phenomenon, but it is experienced in a hyper local context – in our specific countries and communities and on each of our bodies. And one of the major lessons we have recently learned is that a pandemic can interfere with our lives in various ways.

Although Covid-19 has (at least here in the North) almost disappeared, its implications has far from vanished. Many experiences, losses and grievances remain. Being isolated from friends, colleagues and family members was most likely hard for many of us. But one group in particular suffered immensely, namely our young people who were isolated from their friends during some very crucial years.

One

It is our hope that these stories will stand as testimonies to the lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, seen from a young Nordic perspective, and that they will be used in schools and elsewhere to initiate conversations about similarities and differences between our Wecountries.hopeyou will enjoy the stories presented here from each of our five cities. pandemic,

Everyone who has endured those transformative teenage years knows how important it is to be surrounded by peers. This book is an attempt to give space and time for reflections on one important question: How did our youth experience this time of seclusion? In each of the towns in our Nordic Twin Cities: Mosfellbær (Iceland), Skien (Norway), Uddevalla (Sweden), Loimaa (Finland) and Thisted (Denmark) we have asked this question to a group of young people. And the result is the book you have here in front of you.

dwindling hope flows like ice thethroughwaterveins Ástrós Hind Rúnarsdóttir

mosfellbærEnglish/

The first public gathering restriction due to Covid-19 was imposed on 16th March 2020. Public gathering restrictions were used intermittently during the pandemic until 25th February 2022 when all public restrictions were lifted domestically. The restrictions ranged from allowing 10 to 2000 people to come together. The government’s actions as well as the actions in the capital area were coordinated which helped to simplify the actions needed and kept the message clear. Obviously, these actions impacted the education system. From the first public gathering restriction in the spring of 2020 colleges and universities switched to distance learning for the reminder of the spring semester. This applied to FMOS, the college in Mosfellsbær. The 2020 autumn semester also implemented distance learning. However, the 2021 spring semester was restructured so the students could return to in-person teaching. That semester was somewhat a return to normal although the cafeteria remained closed and social events for students were not allowed. The restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic affected young people in many ways although it remains to be fully seen how badly they were affected. Some could not manage distance learning and dropped out of school while others experienced depression and social phobia. On the other hand, some people experienced positive changes and enjoyed society’s slower pace and more quality time with those closest to them.

mosfellbærICELAND

Fyrsta samkomubannið á Íslandi vegna covid 19 var sett 16.mars árið 2020. Fjöldatakmarkanir voru nýttar að einhverju leiti allan faraldurinn eða þar til 25.febrúar 2022 þegar þær voru afnumdar í síðasta skiptið hérlendis. Fjöldatakmarkanirnar voru allt frá því að eingöngu 10 manns máttu koma saman í að 2000 manns máttu koma saman. Þessar aðgerðir stjórnvalda höfðu einnig áhrif á skólastarf og voru aðgerðir á höfuðborgarsvæðinu samrýmdar sem einfaldaði þessa vinnu og gerði það að verkum að skilaboðin voru skýr á þessu þéttbýla svæði. Vorið 2020 var kennsla í framhaldsskólum og háskólum nær eingöngu í fjarnámi eða frá 16.mars 2020 eins og fyrsta samkomubannið. Það gilti á flestum stöðum út önnina og átti það við í framhaldsskólanum FMOS í Mosfellsbæ. Haustönnin 2020 var í raun líka nánast öll í fjarkennslu í þeim skóla en á vorönn 2021 var endurskipulagt til að geta boðið nemendum eins mikið og hægt var uppá staðnám. Önnin var því nokkuð eðlileg fyrir utan það að ekkert félagslíf var og ekki hægt að hafa mötuneytið opið frekar en annirnar tvær á Þessarundan. ráðstafanir reyndu mikið á ungt fólk og má segja að það sé enn að koma í ljós hversu mikil þau voru. Einhverjir hættu námi þar sem það reyndist þeim mjög krefjandi að vera í fjarnámi og þá voru einnig einhverjir sem fundu fyrir auknum einkennum þunglyndis og félagsfælni sem afleiðing af ástandinu og aðgerðum tengt því. Það er alltaf hægt að finna jákvæðar hliðar á öllu og því voru einhverjir fegnir því að hraðinn í samfélaginu varð minni og fólk átti fleiri dýrmætar gæðastundir með sínu nánast fólki.

English/ Horse riding in Mosfellsbær

Í Mosfellsbæ er mjög gott að búa, þetta er bær í nágrenni við Reykjavík, okkar höfuðborg. Mosfellsbær er samt mikill sveitabær og heldur í þau gildi. Hér er allt til alls, ég á marga vini í bænum og búa þeir mjög nálægt mér þannig að við hittumst reglulega. Í Mosfellsbæ eða Mosó eins og við köllum bæinn er mikið íþróttalíf. Fótbolti og handbolti eru stærstu íþróttirnar í bænum en hér er hægt að stunda nánast hvaða íþrótt sem Éger.stunda hinsvegar aðeins öðruvísi íþrótt, hestaíþróttir. Pabbi minn er hestamaður og á hesthús í bænum. Ég fer marga daga í viku í reiðtúra og það er það skemmtilegasta sem ég geri. Í Mosó er frábær aðstæða til þess að stunda hestmennsku, hér er góð aðstaða fyrir hestamenn og þar er staðsett blómleg hesthúsabyggð.

I am interested in a different type of sport, horse riding. My dad owns horses and keeps them at the stables in town. I go horse riding every week and I love it. Mosfellsbær is a fantastic place for horse riding. The stables are located at Varmárbakkar. Hörður, the riding club in Mosfellsbær, provides training and runs a range of events. The club has an indoor riding arena that I use when the weather is bad. My friends also ride horses, and we often ride out together and it is so much fun. I am always trying to improve; I’ve entered competitions and I want to become a better rider. My goal is to compete at Landsmót, the national Icelandic horse competition.

Hesthúsahverfið er á Varmárbökkum í fallegu umhverfi. Hestamannafélagið Hörður í Mosfellsbæ stendur fyrir kraftmiklu íþróttastarfi auk námskeiða í reiðmennsku. Félagið hefur inniaðstöðu í glæsilegri reiðhöll á Varmárbökkum. Ég nota oft reiðhöllina þegar það er ekki veður til þess að fara á bak úti, auðvitað er samt alltaf skemmtilegast að fara í útreiðartúr. Vinkonur mínar eru líka í hestum og mér finnst mjög skemmtilegt að hafa þær með mér í þessu. Við förum mjög oft saman á bak og það er eitt það skemmtilegasta

Fortunately, I have been able to go horse riding despite Covid-19. Many of my friends have not been able to practice any sports at all. I am very lucky and when school was closed because of Covid-19 I went to the stables every day. Of course, it is Kristín María Eysteinsdóttir

íHestamennskaMosfellsbæ

Mosfellsbær is a town near Reykjavík, our capital and it is a great town to live in. It still has characteristics of the countryside. I have many friends who live close to me, so we meet regularly. In Mosfellsbær or “Mosó” as we call it, there is great interest in sports, the most popular ones being football and handball.

Kristin EysteinsdMariaottir Kristín EysteinsdóttirMaría

sem ég geri. Ég er alltaf að reyna að bæta mig, ég hef keppt á mótum og mig langar að verða betri og betri. Markmiðið mitt er að ná að keppa enhverntíman á Landsmóti hestmanna. Sem betur fer er ég búin að geta stundað hestamennsku þrátt fyrir Covid, margir af vinum mínum sem eru í öðrum íþróttum hafa ekki geta æft neitt. Ég er mjög heppin og þegar skólinn var lokaður útaf Covid-19 þá fór ég á hverjum degi í hesthúsið. Það fylgir þessu öllu samt líka smá skítavinna sem er skemmtileg. Maður þarf að moka skítinn eftir hestana, gefa þeim að éta og ganga frá hesthúsinu. Mér finnst mjög gaman að æfa öðruvísi íþrótt en flestir aðrir, ég var aldrei í handbolta eða fótbolta og mér finnst það bara allt í lagi. Hestar eru mitt áhugamál og ég fæ að stunda það þegar mig langar og það er geðveikt.

a lot of work to take care of the horses, but it is fun. You must clean the stables and feed the horses. I really enjoy horse riding; I was never into handball or football and that is OK. Horse riding is my sport and I get to practice it and I love it.

JakobssonAri JakobssonAri

14 Covid-19 hefur haft gríðarleg áhrif á okkur öll en sérstaklega minn aldurshóp. Skólahald hefur verið skert mjög og í marga mánuði var skólinn lokaður og við vorum heima. Þetta hafði mikil áhrif á mína heilsu og annað fólki í kring um mig, á neikvæðan hátt. Ég gat ekki hitt vini mína í bænum mínum. Ég var nýbyrjaður í menntaskóla og hefur menntaskóli í rauninni ekki verið með eðlilegu sniði síðan að ég byrjaði. Allt sem ég hafði hlakkað til að gera í menntaskóla var ekki í boði. Menntaskólaböllin, allt nýja fólkið sem ég var að fara að kynnast. Ég held að Covid-19 hafi haft lang verstu áhrifin á minn aldurshóp. Fólk segir að unglingsárin séu bestu ár lífs þíns, mér finnst að þau hafi í raun verið tekin af mér. Það hefur samt ekki allt verið hræðilegt. Ég elska að gera tónlist og það er það sem hefur haldið mér gangandi í gegnum faraldurinn. Ég gaf úr mína fyrstu plötu í faraldrinum og er mjög stoltur af því. Að vera inni í herbergi English/ Covid-19 has had a huge impact on all of us but especially my age group. We could not attend college for months and had to study from home. This had negative consequences for me and many others. I could not hang out with my friends. It was my first year at college and nothing was how it was supposed to be. Everything I had been looking forward to doing did not happen. All the events were cancelled, and I did not meet any new people. I think Covid-19 has had the worst effect on my age group. People say that the college years are the best years of your life, I feel like that was taken away from me. Not everything has been terrible though. I love making music and that is what kept me going through the pandemic. I released my first album, and I am very proud of it. Being in my room and making music was a lot of fun even though I would have liked meeting my friends and make music with them. Ari Jakobsson

15 að búa til tónlist í tölvunni minni var mjög gaman þótt ég vildi líka hitta vini mína og búa til tónlist með þeim. Mosfellsbær þar sem ég bý hefur verið frekar niðurdrepandi í faraldrinum. Allir þurftu að vera heima hjá sér og með grímu úti í búð. Allt íþróttastarf var sett á stopp í einhvern tíma. Núna er þetta hægt og rólega að fara aftur á stað en þá virðist alltaf koma nýtt og nýtt afbrigði. Covid-19 veiran heldur áfram að hafa áhrif á líf okkar þótt það sé að styttast í annan endan á þessum blessaða faraldri. Af öllu því sem Covid-19 hefur haft vond áhrif á hefur það kannski komið mest niður á ungmennum Íslands þrátt fyrir að það sé ekki mikil umfjöllun um það. Í vetur mátti lengi vel ekki æfa Fullorðnir,íþróttir. unglingar og krakkar máttu ekki stunda sínar uppáhalds íþróttir vegna lokanna. Á meðan þessi æfingalausi tími stóð yfir fundu margir hópar sér eitthvað nýtt að gera og dóu ekki ráðalausir þrátt fyrir að geta ekki mætt á æfingu. Margir fullorðnir fóru í göngutúra á hverjum degi og fundu ástríðu í því, aðrir elduðu og bökuðu eins og aldrei fyrr. Það sem ég hef hins vegar gríðarlegar áhyggjur af eru unglingarnir okkar fóru margir hverjir að hanga úti langt yfir útivistartímann og fóru að sýna áhættuhegðun. Unglingadrykkja og önnur neysla hefur aukist gríðarlega síðastliðið ár og er ég handviss um að íþróttastoppið hafi haft gríðarlega mikil áhrif. Mosfellsbær was rather depressing during the pandemic. Everyone had to stay at home and wear a mask in the stores. Now we are slowly returning to normal but there always seems to be new variants. The Covid-19 virus continues to disrupt everything even though the pandemic is coming to an end. Of all the things that Covid-19 had an effect on it is perhaps the adolescents that suffered the most, even though it is not really Adults,discussed.young people, and kids could not practice sports for the longest time. Some turned to new activities or discovered new passions, like hiking or cooking and baking. What worries me though is that many teenagers stayed out late and there was a significant increase in unhealthy risk-taking behaviours. I am sure that not being able to practice sports influenced that.

16 árið tvö þúsund og tuttugu er ég nýstúdent og í augnaráði mínu vottar nærfærðifjarlægðinæðarnarjökulvatnrennurþverrandiogsvartogádróvoninámeðviðsátumfyrirísérsemtilseinustuseinustuumumbrostinbrostnumfyrirloforðumloforðsamveruseinustudagastundirtækifæriaðsegjaþaðmaðurætlaðialltafhverjuhornisigviðheimaskjáinnskakktbrosvörumendurfundifrágluggunummorgnanahelltiuppásykurlaustvoneinsogumokkurþó English/ rain in march in the year two thousand and twenty i am a graduate and in my eyes there is a trace of broken promises broken promises of togetherness of last days last moments last chances to say what you were always going to insayeach corner we sat alone in front of our withscreenscrooked smiles on our faces the hope of reunion drew the curtains from the windows each morning and brewed a cup of black

cafeteriaforclosercloserdidyetthethroughiceflowsdwindlingunsweetenedcoffeehopelikewaterveinsthedistancebringustothenostalgiaanovercrowded

Ástrós Hind Rúnarsdóttir rigning í mars

nær írigningarinnaroghinseilífabrosamunumvarogloforðþvíáííogskínamunfráeðaáhvortinnoglakafæskuogífyrirmatsalfyrirnostalgíunniyfirfullumstrætóferðumblindhríðeilífriveggjumskólanslífsþorstinnsmaugíkjarnannsemviðhittumstförnumvegivíkjumaldreihliðhvorsannarsþessikjarniúraugnaráðinuspeglasiggömlumbekkjarfélagamatvöruverslunfimmtudegiþóaðbrustudraumumfrestaðviðframanísólóþekktaminnastljúfsártmars for bus rides in a snowstorm and ayoutheternalthirstfor life oozed from the walls of the school and penetrated our core no matter if we meet again along the way or never leave each other‘s sides this core will shine from our eyes and mirror itself in a former classmate in a supermarket on a inonbittersweetlyandofthesmilewewereandpromisesbecausethursdayeventhoughwerebrokendreamspostponedwilltowardseternalsuntheunknownreminiscetherainmarch

Ástrós RúnarsdóttirHind Astros Hind Runarsdottir

In the long term,time just flew. Everyones life changed in aninstant and I personally gainedsomething goodfrom it.

Heidi Lohtander

loimaaFINLAND

English/ In Loimaa schools have been able to provide classroom study after a two month lock down during spring 2020 and a one month lock down in spring 2021. The municipality has followed the recommendations given by The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare besides regional restrictions. Both in school and in the youth services, new digital platforms were taken into use, some of which will remain in the repertoire even in the future. Still the lesson that have been learned is, that even if for example the youth work done via these platforms in valuable, it will never be able to replace face to face interaction, discussionssupport.and As the need of adult support both in schools and spare time has increased significantly due to the pandemic, youth work has been taken as a more integrated part of schoolwork thanks to financial support from the state. To be able to meet and reach young people outside of school and outside the schoolyear, there is also a new form of going around the municipality with the so called Nubu-van since spring 2021. This as an addition to the existing youth houses that have been open as much as the restrictions have enabled. After the stricter restrictions, there has been an increase of young people joining the youth activities compared to the time before the pandemic started. This can be seen as something positive. We need each other more than we can imagine.

Loimaalla koulunkäyntiä ollaan pitkälti pystytty toteuttamaan lähiopetuksena kevään 2020 kahta kuukautta ja kevään 2021 yhtä kuukautta lukuun ottamatta. Kaupunki on noudattanut Terveyden- ja hyvinvointilaitoksen, sekä aluehallintoviraston suosituksia toiminnassaan. Koulut ja nuorisotoimi ottivat käyttöönsä digitalisia alustoja, joista osa jää käyttöön myös rajoitusten jälkeen. On kuitenkin todettava, ettei esimerkiksi digitaalinen nuorisotyö – vaikka arvokasta onkin – kykene korvaamaan henkilökohtaista kasvotusten tapahtuvaa kanssakäymistä, keskustelua ja tukea. Tuen tarve on merkittävästi lisääntynyt sekä koulutyössä, että vapaa-ajalla pandemian myötä. Valtiolta saaman tuen turvin, nuorisotyötä ollaan voitu jalkauttaa suoraan kouluille. Tavoittaakseen nuoria koulun ulkopuolella ja lomien aikaan, nuorisotoimessa ollaan otettu käyttöön myös liikkuvan nuorisotilan, tuttavallisesti Nubu:n (nuokkaribussin), joka on kiertänyt eri puolilla kuntaa keväästä 2021 lähtien. Perinteiset nuorisotalot ovat olleet avoinna mahdollisuuksien mukaan. Tiukkojen rajoitustoimine jälkeen, nuorisotoimintaan osallistuvien nuorten määrä on kasvanut pandemian edeltävään aikaan verrattuna. Tämän voi nähdä positiivisena asiana. Tarvitsemme toisiamme enemmän kuin osaamme kuvitella.

English/ Was Corona Not the End of the World After All?

One year ago everything changed with the coronavirus. Schools were closed, events cancelled, the future was pretty much unforeseeable. Once restrictions on gatherings and meetings were forced, you had to stay home within four walls, without permission to see your mates or Whenfriends.weheard about the transition to distance learning, everything seemed so unreal. You didn’t want to believe that schools would be closed and that you’d be studying at the computer at home for the following months. Fear kicked in, uncertainty about what’s to come. No one was used to something like this. No one knew when this would end. With distance learning, life became one-sided and days became meaningless. No need to go out in the morning to wait for a taxi, or eat breakfast in a hurry. You could wake up and enjoy your breakfast in peace at home. No need to invest in your looks at all. No one telling you even to get up in the morning, let alone brush your hair. You could have done your schoolwork in bed, wearing pyjamas.

Oliko maailmanloppu?sittenkäänkorona

22 Vuosi sitten kaikki muuttui koronan myötä. Koulut sulkeutuivat, tapahtumat peruttiin, tulevaisuudesta ei ollut paljoakaan tietoa. Kokoontumisrajoitusten astuessa voimaan piti pysyä kotona neljän seinän sisällä eikä saanut nähdä kavereita tai ystäviä. Kun tuli tieto etäopetukseen siirtymisestä, kaikki oli niin epätodellista. Ei halunnut uskoa, että koulut sulkeutuisivat ja joutuisi opiskelemaan seuraavat kuukaudet kotona tietokoneen ääressä. Iski pelko, epätietoisuus tulevasta. Kukaan ei ollut tottunut tähän. Kukaan ei tiennyt, milloin tämä loppuu. Etäopetuksen alkaessa elämästä tuli yksipuolista ja päivistä merkityksettömiä. Enää ei tarvinnut lähteä aamulla ulos odottamaan taksia eikä syödä kiireessä aamupalaa. Sai heräillä ja syödä aamupalan rauhassa kotona. Ei tarvinnut panostaa ulkonäköön lainkaan. Kukaan ei pakottanut aamulla edes nousemaan sängystä tai harjaamaan hiuksia. Olisi voinut tehdä kouluhommat sängyssä pyjamassa. Aada Rantala

RantalaAada RantalaAada

23 Days felt really long. Teachers gave a lot of assignments to be returned the same day. After school, you could stay inside and do your homework for several hours. Breaks from class, sometimes even lunch breaks were missed due to the amount of assignments. Luckily the gym class forced you out of the door for at least one hour every day. Distance learning and restrictions on gatherings continuing for a month, it would’ve been unbearable to stay put at home any longer. You wanted to get back to normal school, see your friends, hug other people. All the time you wished this coronavirus was just a bad dream, and you’d soon wake up. School started to get very tiring both physically and mentally. Every day you’d get too many new assignments. You wanted to throw the laptop and schoolbooks out of the window, cry yourself to sleep, and Päivät tuntuivat tosi pitkiltä. Opettajat antoivat tosi paljon tehtäviä, jotka piti palauttaa samana päivänä. Koulupäivän jälkeen saattoi jäädä muutamaksikin tunniksi sisälle tekemään läksyjä. Joskus jopa ruokatauot tai välitunnin jäivät pitämättä tehtävien pal-jouden vuoksi. Onneksi liikuntatunnit pakottivat joka päivä ulos vähintään tunniksi. Etäopetuksen ja kokoontumisrajoitusten jatkuttua kuukauden ei olisi jaksanut enää olla kotona. Olisi halunnut päästä normaaliin kouluun, nähdä ystäviä ja halata muita. Koko ajan toivoi, että korona olisi vain pahaa unta, josta pian heräisi. Koulu alkoi käydä niin henkisesti kuin fyysisestikin voimille. Joka päivä tuli liikaa uusia tehtäviä. Olisi tehnyt mieli heittää läppäri ja koulukirjat ulos ikkunasta, itkeä itsensä uneen, unohtaa koulu ja korona. Onneksi oli jo kevät ja tiesi kesäloman alkavan muutaman kuukauden päästä. Aurinkokin alkoi lämmittää. Oli ihan

24 hirveää, ettei voinut nähdä ketään kasvotusten. Onneksi puhelimet, netti ja kaikki muukin nykyteknologia on keksitty, ja onneksi on kavereita ja ystäviä, joille pystyi soittamaan tai laittamaan viestiä. Pitkät v deopuhelut ystävien kanssa oli parhaita. Ne pitivät pinnalla, motivoivat jatkamaan ja antoivat uskoa tulevaisuuteen. Myös positiivinen palaute opettajilta koulutöistä motivoi paljon. Myös musiikki ja etänä olevat harrastukset, lähinnä pianonsoitto, piristivät päivää. Oli enemmän aikaa soittaa pianoa ja taidot karttuivat sekä motivaatio soittamista kohtaan kasvoi. Soittamisesta tuli myös säännöllisempää: enää ei soittanut pia oläksyjä vain kerran viikossa vaan joka päivä, kiitos Koronakoronan.toi mukanaan paljon huonoa, mielenterveysongelmia, kokoontumisrajoitu sia ja yksinäisyyttä. Samalla se sai kuitenkin ymmärtämään, kuinka tärkeitä ennen niin itsestään selvät asiat, kuten toimiva terveydenhuolto, sukulaiset, perhe ja ystävät, harrastukset ja mahdollisuus koulunkäyntiin, ovat. Fortunately spring arrived and summer vacation would start in a few months. The sun began to warm the air. It was truly terrible that you could not see anyone face to face. Luckily smartphones, the internet and every other modern technology has been invented, and luckily you have mates and friends you could call or send messages to. Long video calls with friends were just the best. They kept you afloat, motivated to continue, and gave faith in the future. Positive homework feedback from teachers also motivated a lot. So did music. Engaging in hobbies by remote access invigorated the day, mainly piano playing. There was more time to play the keys, my skills improved, and motivation for playing also increased. Playing music also became more regular; not just wading through homework exercises on the keys once a week, but daily, thanks to Coronaviruscorona. brought much mishap and bad things, mental problems, restrictions on gatherings, and loneliness. At the same time, it made me realize how important all the things I used to view as given really are, like functioning health care, family, relatives and friends, hobbies and the opportunity of going to school.

Heidi Lohtander

This is a letter to You. It tells a little about my life in a world changed by the coronavirus. You may have wondered, how others have experienced it and that is why I decided to write. Each one of us has their personal experiences, but there is something in common: frustration and the longing to get away from the centre of the pandemic. From the big change arriving in spring 2020 there seems to be no quick way out and back to normal. Will there ever be that previous normal around anymore Theeither?change properly started one day in March. I was on my way to town with my mother, we were listening to the radio. The coronavirus had entered Finland in January and the government was planning methods of action. “This is just like a warfare Tämä on kirje Sinulle. Se kertoo hieman elämästäni koronan muuttamassa maailmassa. Olet ehkä miettinyt, millaisena toiset sen ovat kokeneet ja siksi päätinkin kirjoittaa. Jokaisen meidän kokemuksemme ovat erilaisia, mutta niissä on jotain samaa: turhautuneisuutta ja kaipuuta pois pandemian keskeltä. Keväällä 2020 tulleesta isosta muu oksesta ei olekaan enää nopeaa paluuta normaaliin. Tuleeko edes sitä aiempaa normaalia enää? Se muutos alkoi kunnolla eräänä maaliskuisena päivänä. Olin menossa äitini kanssa kaupunkiin ja kuuntelimme radiota. Tammikuussa Suomeenkin rantautunut koronavirus oli levinnyt ja hallitus suunnitteli toimia. “Tämä on

LohtanderHeidi

27 situation”, I said. “Everybody’s listening to the news and wondering what’s coming up next.” And that’s how it was. A war against a microscopically minuscule virus.

The future suddenly looked truly uncertain, including what’s going to happen the day after.

I found the news of distance learning actually quite nice. Not having to go to school; this was truly tempting. No guilt, either, of not acting sufficiently sociable. It felt good for a change. Having four schoolaged children and two preschool kids at home, our common holler sounded: “Now be quiet, I’m about to have a Meet!” Although the method of studying was altered and thereby became more burdensome, it still felt more relaxed in a way, especially as regards social pressures.

Routines of new kind of everyday life developed quickly: morning walk, schoolwork and classes, and then leisure. Once a week I had both lessons in piano playing and singing remotely via WhatsApp calls. In the long term, time just flew. Everyone’s life changed in an instant and I personally gained something good from it. I had peaceful time to gather fragments of my life and enjoy the spring and the company of my family. Despite uncertain future, I was quite contented. I was able to think things over, about life in general, and of what really matters to me in the end.

The season of spring went by swiftly, in outdoor activities and gardening, in true Cottage and Outhouse TV show style. Manual work and fresh air were a welcome alternative to sitting at the computer. Time went by nicely and I greatly enjoyed life. Being unbusy gave time for other things, and I noticed smaller sources of joy better. Despite the fact that summer was easier, with restrictions loosening you were able to move around more freely, the same thing troubled my mind and overshadowed my ihan kuin sotatilanne”, sanoin. “Kaikki kuuntelevat uutisia ja miettivät mitä tapahtuu seuraavaksi.” Niinhän se oli. Sota mikroskooppisen pientä virusta vastaan. Tulevaisuus tuntui yhtäkkiä todella epävarmalta, myös se, mitä huomenna tapahtuu. Minusta uutinen etäopetuksen alkamisesta tuntui oikeastaan mukavalta. Se, ettei tarvitsisi mennä kouluun, kuulosti todella houkuttelevalta. Silloin ei myöskään tarvitsisi kokea syyllisyyttä siitä, jos ei ole tarpeeksi sosiaalinen. Tuntui hyvältä saada vaihtelua. Kun kotona oli neljä kouluikäistä ja kaksi alle kouluikäistä, yleiseksi huudahdukseksi tuli: “Nyt hiljaa, mulla alkaa miitti!”. Vaikka opiskelumuoto muuttuikin ja siinä mielessä tuli rankemmaksi, niin oli se rennompaa tietyllä tavalla, etenkin sosiaalisten paineiden suhteen. Uudenlaisen arjen rutiinit muodostuivat nopeasti: aamuisin lenkki, koulutyöt ja -tunnit ja sitten rentoutumista. Kerran viikossa minulla oli sekä pianoettä laulutunti etänä WhatsApp-puhelun avulla. Pidemmän päälle aika kului kuin siivillä. Kaikkien elämä muuttui kerrasta ja minulle siitä koitui jotain hyvääkin. Sain rauhassa aikaa kerätä eläm ni osia kasaan ja nauttia keväästä sekä perheeni seurasta. Epävarmasta tulevaisuudesta huolimat-ta olin silti ihan tyytyväinen. Sain ajatella asioita ja elämää sekä sitä, mikä on minulle loppujen lopuksi Kevättärkeää.sujui nopeasti ulkona ollessa ja pihaa muokatessa Huvila & Huussi -tyyliin. Käsillä tekeminen ja raitis ilma olivat tervetullutta vastapainoa koneen ääressä istumiselle. Aika kului mukavasti ja nautin suuresti elämästä.

28 life: What if I infect others, and what if I get sick myself? In the summer I had almost forgotten what it was like before the corona. Memories started to get vague, and it felt like we had always lived like this, in a peculiar kind of way. In the autumn, school continued as distance learning. It became normal to wash one’s hands prior to class and to wear a face mask. The situation in Finland declined again, and restrictions were tightened further. That was when everything related to corona really began to frustrate and enrage me more than before.

Kiireettömyys antoi aikaa muullekin ja huomasin paremmin pienetkin ilonaiheet. Huolimatta siitä, että kesä oli helpompi, kun rajoitukset löystyivät ja liikkumaan pääsi vapaammin, mielessä pyöri ja elämää varjosti sama asia: entä jos minä tartutan toisia tai entä jos minä sairastun. Kesällä olin jo lähes unohtanut millaista oli ennen koronaa. Muistikuvat hämärtyivät ja tuntui siltä, että tällä erilaisella tavalla olisi eletty aina. Syksyllä koulu jatkui lähiopetuksena. Tuli normaaliksi pestä kädet tuntien alussa ja pitää maskia. Tilanne Suomessa taas paheni ja rajoitukset kiristyivät uudestaan. Silloin todellakin kaikki koronaan liittyvä rupesi turhauttamaan ja raivostuttamaan entistä enemmän. Kaikki ystäväni asuvat muualla, kuin Loimaalla ja heistä lähin yli sadan kilometrin päässä. Olin suunnitellut käyväni ystävieni luona viikonloppuisin, mutta enpä paljoa käynyt. Kun se joskus harvoin onnistui, se antoi uutta voimaa ja piristi elämää. Koronaaika on opettanut sen, miten tärkeitä ystävät ovat. Ilman heitä ja heidän tukeaan ei pitkälle jaksa. Säännöllisen epäsäännölliset videopuhelut ystävien kanssa tulivatkin osaksi arkea heti poikkeusolojen alussa. Koulujuttujen lisäksi puheluissa oli luonnollisena osana myös uusimmat tiedot ja tapahtumat pandemiasta. Tämä kaikki on vaikuttanut nuortenkin elämään. Sitä odotettua ja ikimuistoista nuoruutta varjostaa ja rajoittaa nyt virus, jota ihmisillä ei ole täysi valta kukistaa. Edes sosiaalinen media ei voi korvata yhteisiä Korona-ajanhetkiä. myötä, kun kiireet ovat poissa, on aikaa enemmän muuhunkin.

In the corona era, when you’re in no hurry, there’s more time for other things, too. Hectivity subsiding, personal creativity can be expressed more freely. The world is full of inspiration, it only has to be found. It’s not often found at once and not exactly when you want it, but it’s there. This global pandemic touches everyone in one way or another. No one is left out, but neither is anyone alone.

All my friends live elsewhere, over 100 kilometres from Loimaa at the nearest. I had planned to visit my friends on weekends, but I barely did. Occasions when it succeeded were scarce, but gave me strength and refreshed my life at the time. The corona period has taught me how important friends are. Without them and their support I could not go on much further. Regularly irregular video calls with friends became part of my everyday life already at the beginning of the state of emergency. Besides school stuff, we also naturally discussed the newest info and events on the pandemic. All this has affected lives of young people also. The forever memorable time of youth we all long for is now overshadowed and restricted by the virus, which people have no total power to defeat. Not even the social media can replace the time together with friends and loved ones.

29 Hektisyyden hellittäessä oma luovuus pääsee paremmin esiin. Maailma on täynnä inspiraatiota, mutta se vain pitää löytää. Sitä ei löydy aina heti eikä juuri silloin kuin haluaisi, mutta sitä on. Tämä maailmanlaajuinen pandemia koskettaa tavalla tai toisella kaikkia. Kukaan ei jää siitä paitsi, mutta kukaan myöskään ole yksin. Yli vuosi on käyty koulua ja eletty poikkeuksellisissa oloissa. On löydettävä voimia eri paikoista, kuin yleensä. Mikäpä sen mukavampaa, kuin keksiä itselleen uutta puuhasteltavaa tylsyyden tappamiseksi. Opettele vaikka uusi taito, suunnittele ja toteuta itseäsi kiinnostava projekti tai anna luovuutesi virrata musiikin, taiteen, liikkumisen tai esimerkiksi kirjoittamisen avulla. Jokin asia, joka on ennen voinut tuntua tylsältä tai epämiellyttävältä, voikin osoittautua innostavaksi ja kiinnostavaksi. Mitä vaan, mikä tuntuu sinusta mukavalta. Voisiko se kenties olla jotain, jonka avulla rentoutua ja palautua? Vaikka elämä ei ole aina helppoa, se on kuitenkin annettu lahjaksi juuri sinulle, joten älä käytä sitä turhaan. We’ve had school for over a year while living in emergency conditions. One must find strength in other places than usually. What could be nicer than finding new things to do in order to kill boredom. Learn a new skill, design and realise a project that interests you, or let your creativity flow with the help of music, art, outdoor exercise or writing. Something which may have felt boring or unpleasant in the past, may well turn out to be invigorating and interesting. Anything that makes you feel comfortable. Could it perchance be something that helps you chill out and recover? Although life isn’t always easy, it is a gift given to you personally, so do not waste it in vain.

A couple of years ago I was so looking forward to my upcoming birthday. Becoming an adult is a remarkable waypoint in every young person’s life. Summer looked promising and was packed with plans, as reaching the age of 18 would bring new liberties, summer terraces and concerts. In summer I’d have time to go the gym, relax and travel with my mates, and thus get prepared for the final spurt in my studies. My last year in the upper secondary would start in August, leading to my participation in the TJ100 Day

Pari vuotta sitten odotin innolla syntymäpäivääni, onhan täysi-ikäistyminen merkittävä etappi jokaisen nuoren elämässä. Kesä vaikutti lupaavalta ja oli täynnä suunnitelmia, sillä 18 vuoden iän saavuttaminen toisi mukanaan uusia vapauksia, kesäterasseja ja konsertteja. Kesällä ehtisin käydä kuntosalilla, rentoutua ja reissata kavereiden kanssa ja näin valmistautua edessä olevaan opintojen loppurutistukseen. Elokuussa alkaisi nimittäin viimeinen vuoteni lukiossa, jonka myötä pääsisin osallistumaan TJ100-päivään, Ullriikka Sosi

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SosiUlriikka SosiUlriikka

My friend remembers that I had spontaneously spoken a totally absurd thought: “What if corona strikes Finland in the same way it has done in many other countries?” I believe that no one took this idea seriously, but then only a few weeks after, and in the middle of my gym workout, a notification pinged on my phone, informing we’d switch to distance learning for a short period.

maaliskuu ja siinä samassa myös syntymäpäiväni, jota juhlimme isolla porukalla vailla huolta huomisesta. Ensimmäiset koronatapaukset Lapissa oli jo havaittu ja keskustelimme aiheesta ohimennen. Ystäväni muistaa, kuinka olin heittänyt ilmoille täysin absurdin ajatuksen: “Entä jos korona iskee Suomeen samalla tavalla kuin monessa muussa maassa on käynyt?” Uskon, ettei kukaan ottanut tuota ajatusta tosissaan, mutta vain muutaman viikon kuluttua, kesken salitreenin, puhelimeeni kilahti ilmoitus, jonka mukaan siirtyisimme lyhyeksi jaksoksi etäopetukseen. Muutos ei tehnyt oloani huolestuneeksi, vaan etäkoulu oli mielestäni jopa kiehtova ajatus ja mukavaa vaihtelua, sillä se säästäisi paljon aikaa muun muassa koulumatkojen puuttuessa. Yhtäkkiä iso pyörä lähti kuitenkin pyörimään ja arki muuttui totaalisesti. Koulun lisäksi kuntosalit ja monet muut paikat suljettiin, kaupassa käynnistä tuli pienimuotoinen suoritus ja julkisesti aivastaminen nousi pelättyjen tilanteiden listalleni. Kokonainen alue Suomen sisällä eristettiin ja Suomeen julistettiin poikkeustila. Vaikka esimerkiksi kesätyöpaikkani peruuntui ja monet reissut ja tapahtumat jäivät kesällä toteutumatta, oli mielestäni ikävintä se, että muiden ihmisten tapaaminen hankaloitui. Samalla paikkakunnalla eläviä ystäviä uskalsi tavata juuri ja juuri, mutta kauempana, (in celebration of just 100 days of school remaining), then the penkkarit (the fest of the last day in school), a sea cruise for candidates for the matriculation exams; and of course the most important thing, the matriculation exams, and hopefully the final school-leaving ceremony.

The transition didn’t make me feel apprehensive; instead I found remote school a fascinating idea, and a nice change, as a lot of time would be saved in the absence of school rides and walks. Suddenly, however, the big wheel started turning, and ordinary life was totally transformed. Besides school, also gyms and many other places were closed; going to the grocery store became something of a minor accomplishment, and sneezing in public climbed up the charts of my feared situations. An entire province inside Finland was isolated, and a state of emergency was declared in Finland. Although for example my summer job was cancelled and many trips and events never happened in the summer, the saddest thing for me was that meeting other people became so difficult. One barely dared see friends living in the same locality,

31 penkkareihin, abiristeilylle ja tietenkin kaikista tärkeimpiin, eli ylioppilaskirjoituksiin ja toivottavasti lakkiaisiin. Tulevaisuudessa häämötti siis useita selkeitä virstanpylväitä, joita odotin innolla kuten monet muutkin Lopultaikäiseni.saapui

The future had in store several distinct milestones which I eagerly anticipated, like many others of my Eventuallyage. the month of March arrived, including my birthday which we celebrated in a large group with no worries about tomorrow. The first cases of coronavirus in Lapland had already been detected, and we discussed the subject in passing.

32 suurissa kaupungeissa asuvien kavereiden kanssa ajan viettäminen tuntui liian suurelta riskiltä. En olisi koskaan uskonut joutuvani tilanteeseen, jossa oman parhaan ystävän tapaaminen pelottaa Kesänliikaa.taittuessa syksyyn palasimme taas lähiopetukseen. Koin paluun itse asiassa jännittäväksi, vaikka olin käynyt samaa koulua samojen ihmisten kanssa jo kauan. Etäopiskelun myötä muodostunut uusi rutiini oli ehtinyt jo piirtyä selkärankaani, jonka vuoksi paluu konkreettisesti koulun penkille oli suuri muutos. Olin ehtinyt muutenkin tottua koronatilanteen tuomiin uusiin järjestelyihin ja esimerkiksi monta vuotta sitten julkaistua romaania lukiessani olin hetkellisesti aidon hämmentynyt, kuinka kirjan henkilöt voivat jonottaa pankissa ilman turvavälejä, toisilleen jutellen. Paluu lähiopetukseen tarkoitti kuitenkin sitä, että oli tehtävä uusia järjestelyjä, jotta voitaisiin taata mahdollisimman turvallinen opiskelu. Henkilökohtaisesti koen että suurimmat ja harmillisimmat poikkeukset koulunkäynnin osalta olivat penkkareiden ja abiristeilyn peruuntuminen, sillä olin useiden ikätovereideni tavoin odottanut niitä jo kauan, penkkareita lähestulkoon alakoulusta asti. Myöskään ylioppilaskirjoitusten osalta en säästynyt koronan aiheuttamalta lisästressiltä. Vain muutama päivä ennen syksyn viimeistä ylioppilaskoetta minulle nousi kuume, jonka tiesin johtuvan stressistä, sillä kyseinen oire oli tuttu usean vuoden ajalta. Uudessa maailmantilanteessa tämä tarkoitti kuitenkin sitä, että ellei kuume laskisi ennen koepäivää, en saisi osallistua but meeting friends living farther away in big cities and spending time with them just seemed like too big a risk. I would never have believed I could end up in a situation where meeting my own best friend frightens me too much. As summer was turning into autumn, we returned to contact teaching. I actually found the return exciting, despite my many years in that same school with the same people. With distance learning, the new routine had already been written in my spine; therefore going back to school concretely was a big change. I had gotten used to the new arrangements brought on by the corona situation anyhow. For example reading a novel from years back, in which people would queue in a bank and have a conversation without safety distance, had me momentarily truly puzzled. The return to contact teaching also required new arrangements in order to guarantee that learning was as safe as possible. I personally feel that the most formidable and regrettable exceptions regarding school were the cancellations of the penkkarit and the students sea cruise. Like so many of my age-mates, I had looked forward to these events for so long; especially penkkarit, almost since I was in primary school. Neither was I spared from the added stress over the matriculation exams, caused by the coronavirus. Only a few days before the autumn’s final exam, my body temperature rose, and I knew the fever was caused by stress, a familiar symptom of several years. In the new world situation this meant, however, that if the fever won’t fall before the day of the exam, I wouldn’t be allowed to partake, possibly meaning in the worst case that I’d miss graduation. Luckily I was able to do the exam and managed to finish the upper secondary in spite of all the anomalities caused by the corona. Unfortunately the school-leaving ceremony had to be

arranged without the presence of audience and close relatives, and also the graduation party at home had to be prepared for only a small number of guests. Guests had to be selected and their arrival times scattered. Eventually, I celebrated my graduation on three different days and on five separate occasions. And now, a few months later, the situation seems to have calmed down a bit. My university opened their campus doors properly some time ago and the corona pass allows more versatile freetime. The situation has now changed though, just before I’ve even finished writing this paragraph. Contaminations have increased and my school recommends distance learning again. This describes the present world quite well. Although at times you feel there’s light at the end of the tunnel, at the same time there’s the feeling of the corona having left a permanent mark in not just society and individuals, but in my mind and spirit too. I sense that the future is considerably more uncertain than how I felt before, as many things can turn the disease situation and the whole society upside down again, also forcing new restrictions. Life with the coronavirus feels like the new normal, and sometimes I don’t even remember what life was like before it. Many things I used to view as normal seem distant now, and I can appreciate them in a whole new way. Although the corona has made life difficult and hampered so many pleasing things, I may still be grateful that I and my loved ones have, at least for now, been spared from the disease.

33 ja näin ollen saattaisin pahimmassa tapauksessa jäädä valmistumatta. Onnekseni pystyin tekemään kokeen ja sain lukion suoritettua kaikista koronan tuomista muutoksista huolimatta. Lakitustilaisuus täytyi harmiksemme järjestää ilman yleisöä ja läheisten läsnäoloa ja myös ylioppilasjuhlat piti suunnitella niin, ettei vierasmäärä nouse liian korkeaksi. Vieraita piti siis karsia ja saapumisaikoja porrastaa. Loppujen lopuksi juhlin valmistumistani kolmena eri päivänä viidessä eri osassa. Nyt muutamaa kuukautta myöhemmin tilanne tuntui kuitenkin hieman tasoittuneen. Yliopistoni avasi kampuksensa ovet kunnolla jokin aika sitten ja koronapassi mahdollistaa monipuolisemman vapaaajan vieton. Tilanne ehti kuitenkin muuttua jo ennen kuin sain tämän kyseisen kappaleen viimeisteltyä. Tartunnat ovat lisääntyneet ja kouluni suosittelee taas etäopiskelua. Tämä kuvaa hyvin nykyistä maailmaa. Vaikka ajoittain tuntuu siltä, että tunnelin päässä on valoa, niin samaan aikaan koen, että korona on jättänyt pysyvän jäljen yhteiskunnan ja yksilöiden lisäksi myös omaan ajatusmaailmaani. Koen tulevaisuuden huomattavasti epävarmemmaksi kuin ennen, sillä moni asia voi kääntää tautitilanteen ja sitä myötä koko yhteiskunnan taas päälaelleen ja pakottaa esimerkiksi ottamaan käyttöön uusia rajoituksia. Elämä koronan kanssa tuntuu uudelta normaalilta, enkä välillä edes muista, millaista elämä oli ennen sitä. Monet silloin normaaliksi koetut asiat tuntuvat nyt kaukaisilta ja niitä osaa arvostaa aivan uudella tavalla. Vaikka korona on hankaloittanut elämää ja estänyt monet mieluisat asiat, saan olla kuitenkin kiitollinen siitä, että minä ja läheiseni ovat ainakin toistaiseksi säästyneet taudilta.

Anni Mäkelä On hyvin mielenkiintoista pohtia, miten korona oikeasti vaikutti elämääni. Kun koulut maaliskuussa siirtyivät etäopetukseen, oli päällimmäinen tunteeni helpotus. Seuraavat kaksi viikkoa kotona. Lähestulkoon loma! Minulla, kuten ei monella muullakaan ollut aavistusta, miten kauan joutuisimme elämään Etäkoulupoikkeusoloissa.kuulosti aluksi erittäin houkuttelevalta ajatukselta. Jos koulu alkaa 8.50, voi herätyksen asettaa 8.40. Ennen tuntien alkua kerkeää käynnistää koneen ja hakea ensimmäisen kupin kahvia. Google meet auki ja facetime puhelu parhaille ystävilleni. Ensimmäisen välitunnin aikana jotain aamupalaa ja lisää kahvia. Ennen kolmatta tuntia vaihtamaan vaatteet ja suunnittelemaan, mitä lounasta tekisin itselleni ja sisaruksilleni. Päivän viimeiset tunnit menikin sitten puoliksi nukkuen ja kavereiden kanssa jutellessa. Etäopiskelun myötä, koulun käyminen muuttui paljon rennommaksi. Kaikki olivat uuden opettelun äärellä. Kokeissa pystyi lunttaamaan, tuntien aikana saattoi vaikkapa siivota eikä kukaan huomannut. Sen vuoksi yhdeksännen luokan aloittaminen syksyllä 2020 tuntui aika raskaalta.

34 englisH/ When Year 2020 Became a Swear Word

It is very interesting to ponder how the coronavirus has actually affected my life. When schools switched into distance learning mode in March, my foremost feeling was relief. The next two weeks at home. Almost like a holiday! Like nearly everyone else, I too had no clue how long we’d be forced to live in emergency Atconditions.first,remote school sounded like a very tempting idea. If school starts at 8:50, you can set the alarm for 8:40. Before classes start, you have time to open the computer and fetch the first cup of coffee. Google Meet open, and then FaceTime my best friends. During the first break, a little breakfast and more coffee. Before the third class, change of clothes and then plan to prepare lunch for myself and my siblings. Last hours of the day spent half sleeping and half chatting with my Thanksmates.

to distance learning, school became much more relaxed. Everyone was on the brink of learning something new. You could cheat in the exams, during class you could for instance simultaneously do house cleaning, without anybody noticing. Therefore starting the ninth grade in the autumn 2020 felt pretty burdensome.

Kun vuodesta 2020 tuli kirosana

When the first coronavirus infections were found in Finland, my feelings were very incongruous. The uppermost emotion was undoubtedly the fear of my closed ones getting sick. My friends and I have always had really close relationships. We have known each other since we were little kids of playing age, and we’ve always spent a lot of time together. Since the state of emergency began, we didn’t see each other for over a month. When we finally had the courage to see each other, it took place out-of-doors while keeping the safety distance. This didn’t, however, last very long, because we are very Seclusionclose.atmy home never caused much pain. This was surely due to my liking of being alone. Although I didn’t have to be completely alone, of course. I do have my family and my horse after all. In the spring 2020 I happened to find my motivation for horseriding again. Horses have always been of really special importance to me, but before the year 2020 I had a break from riding, because my dear late pony was on a sick leave for a long time. If school had continued Kun ensimmäiset korona tartunnat todettiin Suomessa, olivat tunteeni hyvin ristiriitaisia. Päällimmäisenä tunteena varmasti pelko läheisten sairastumisesta. Minulla ja ystävilläni on aina ollut hyvin tiiviit suhteet. Olemme tunteneet jo leikki ikäisestä asti, ja viettäneet aina paljon aikaa yhdessä. Poikkeusolojen alkamisen jälkeen, emme tavanneet toisiamme yli kuukauteen. Kun viimein uskalsimme tavata tapahtui se ulkotiloissa turvavälejä noudattaen. Tätä ei kuitenkaan kestänyt kovin kauaa, koska olemme hyvin läheisiä. Minulle kotiin eristäytyminen ei aiheuttanut suurta tuskaa. Tähän varmasti vaikuttaa se, että pidän yksin olemisesta. Vaikka en toki joutunut olemaan täysin yksin. Onhan minulla perheeni ja hevoseni. Keväällä 2020 löysinkin uudestaan motivaation ratsastamiseen.

Hevoset ovat aina olleet minulle hyvin tärkeitä, mutta ennen vuotta 2020 pidin ratsastuksesta taukoa, Anni Makela

Anni Mäkelä

36 koska rakas edesmennyt ponini oli pitkään sairaslomalla. Jos koulu olisi jatkunut normaalisti, olisi ratsastustauko luultavasti venynyt pidemmäksi. Ja silloin minulla ei olisi nykyistä hevostani. Korona ei siis ainoastaan aiheuttanut huonoja asioita. Pelko läheisten sairastumisesta oli kuitenkin koko ajan läsnä. Myös julkisilla paikoilla käyminen aiheutti minussa ahdistusta. Varsinkin jos ihmiset yskivät tai niistävät, tulevat liian lähelle tai koskevat kaupassa kaikkeen. Maskien yleiseen käyttöön ottamisen jälkeen myös maskittomat ihmiset aiheuttavat minussa ahdistusta. Edelleenkin sarjojen ja elokuvien katsominen, joissa ihmiset käyvät festareilla, kaupassa ilman maskia, matkustavat tai ovat koulussa lähekkäin hämmästyttää minua. Tuntuu oudolta katsoa vanhoja kuvia lomamatkoilta tai keikoilta. Se aiheuttaa minussa hyvin ristiriitaisia tunteita. Vanha normaali tuntuu hyvin kaukaiselta. Unohdan usein, ettei aina koulussa ole nähty maski päisiä opiskelijoita ja opettajia visiirien kanssa. Jos muutama vuosi sitten olisin nähnyt ruokakaupassa jonkun maski naamalla, olisin luultavasti pelästynyt. Nykyään saman tunteen aiheuttaa maskiton ihminen. Moni varmaankin voi samaistua siihen, miten haastavaa nykyään on suunnitella mitään. Teatteri projekteja, juhlia ja suunniteltuja matkoja on jouduttu perumaan hyvinkin lyhyellä varoitusajalla. Vaikka tilanne on jo parempi, en vieläkään uskalla suunnitella menoja kuin muutaman viikon päähän. as usual, it would probably have been a much longer pause. And then I wouldn’t have the horse that I have now. Therefore the corona did not lead to bad things only.

Fear of loss of loved ones was however continuously present. Also visiting public places caused anxiety in me. Especially if people coughed or sneezed, came too close or touched all kinds of things at the shop. Also after face masks were generally in use, people without masks made me feel distressed. And still, watching TV series and movies where people go to festivals unmasked, go shopping unmasked, travelling or hanging out at school continues to amaze me. It feels weird to look at old pictures from holiday trips or gigs. It stirs up really disturbing feelings in me. The old normal feels very distant. I often forget that we have not always seen pupils or teachers with their masks or visors on. If I had seen a few years ago someone with a mask on at a grocery store, I’d have probably freaked out. Now, the same reaction comes from seeing an unmasked person. Many people can probably relate to how challenging it is nowadays to actually make plans. Theatre projects, parties and organized adventure travels have been cancelled at really short notice. Although the situation is a little better now, I still don’t have the courage to plan for more than maybe a few weeks

Happilyahead.

I am in the position that I was able to start the upper secondary on site. A new start was needed for me in any case. The unfortunate fact is that the corona has increased young people’s unwellbeing. Seclusion into your home can be hard for a variety of reasons. Also decrease in freetime occupations can result in some serious negative consequences.

Corona has also awakened me to think about my privileges. I am very privileged to live in a country where healthcare is so progressive and we can afford the vaccines. On top of so many casualties, especially women’s and children’s rights have suffered globally. For me as a feminist, this feels terrible. At the moment I do still have faith in a better tomorrow. I sincerely hope that the backwash of the corona outbreak shall be taken care of well and properly, in more ways than just by resurgence of the economy.

Olen onneksi siltä kantilta onnekkaassa asemassa, että pääsin aloittamaan lukio opinnot paikan päällä. Uusi alku oli minulle muutenkin tarpeessa. Valitettava fakta on se, miten paljon korona on lisännyt nuorten pahoinvointia. Kotiin eristäytyminen voi olla vaikeaa hyvin monista syistä. Myös vapaa-ajan toiminnan väheneminen voi saattaa saada aikaan hyvin negatiivisia vaikutuksia. Korona on myös herättänyt ajattelemaan omia etuoikeuksiani. Olen hyvin etuoikeutettu saadessani elää maassa, missä terveydenhuolto on edistyksellistä ja varaa rokotteisiin on. Useiden kuolonuhrien lisäksi varsinkin naisten ja tyttöjen ovat oikeudet kärsineet globaalisti. Feministinä se kuulostaa mielestäni kamalalta. Tällä hetkellä minulla on kuitenkin uskoa parempaan huomiseen. Toivon todella, että koronan jälkipyykit hoidetaan hyvin muutenkin, kuin talouden elpymisen kannalta.

Each day was pretty much thesame, so the outlines phone.theonlyfromseparatedthatthemoneanotherremainedonpixelsofmy Hooman Muradi

There have also been periods during the pandemic where outdoor activities was the only option. Then we have organized walking groups with young people who wanted someone to talk to and outreach teams where we ourselves have traveled to locations where we know young people gather to get in touch with the desired groups. Being able to spend more time with every young person has contributed to us having more focus on relationship building and coming into close contact with vulnerable young people who need safe adults. We also see that we have reached young people via digital services that we do not reach to the same extent with our regular physical offers. That is why digital youth work is also something we will continue with in the future. Now that the society have reopened as normal, we see a significant increase in participants on our offers compared to before the pandemic.

skienNORWAY

English/ In Skien municipality, the services for young people have been kept open as much as safe and possible during the entire pandemic. The goal has always been to provide good leisure activities for young people, even when physical activities have not been possible. During periods of strict regulations and limitations, where our physical services have been completely closed, we have organized services for young people using the digital platform Discord. We have had a digital hangout-place, game nights and competitions. This was groundbreaking work for us, and we have gained good and important experiences from digital youth work. In periods where there has been a partial opening to organize leisure activities for children and young people, we have followed the school’s traffic light model and divided our services into the same cohorts as school.at

skien I Skien kommune har tilbudene til ungdom holdt åpent så mye som det var mulig og forsvarlig, under hele pandemien. Målet har hele tiden vært å gi gode fritidstilbud til ungdom, også når fysiske tilbud ikke har vært mulig. I perioder med strenge tiltak, der våre fysiske tilbud har vært helt stengt, har vi organisert tilbud til ungdom via den digitale plattformen Discord. Vi har hatt digital ungdomsklubb, spillekvelder og konkurranser. Dette var nybrottsarbeid for oss og vi har høstet gode og viktige erfaringer fra digitalt ungdomsarbeid. I perioder der det har vært delvis åpning for å organisere fritidstilbud for barn og unge, har vi fulgt skolens trafikklys modell og delt inn tilbudet i de samme kohortene som på skolen. Det har også vært perioder under pandemien der fritidstilbudene bare kunne foregå utendørs. Da har vi organisert gågrupper med ungdom som ønsket noen å prate med og oppsøkende team der vi selv har reist ut til lokasjoner der vi vet ungdom samles for å komme i kontakt med målgruppen. Det å kunne bruke mer tid per ungdom har bidratt til at vi har hatt mer fokus på relasjonsbygging og kommet i nær kontakt med sårbar ungdom som trenger trygge Vivoksenpersoner.serogsåatvi via digital tilbud har nådd ut til ungdom som vi ikke i samme grad når ut til med våre fysiske tilbud. Derfor er det digitale ungdomsarbeidet også noe vi tar med oss videre. Nå som våre tilbud igjen har åpnet som normalt ser vi en betydelig økning av deltagere på våre tilbud sammenlignet med før pandemien.

Ann Kristin Kise

Det er 2 måneder siden skolen ble stengt, og jeg ligger i senga og ser i taket. Jeg føler all motivasjon renne ut av kroppen min det sekundet jeg står opp av senga. Føttene mine subber sløvt på bakken mens jeg tvinger meg selv til å våkne og dra på badet. Det er mørke poser under øynene mine. Jeg skifter ut av pysjen min bare for å ta på en joggebukse. Så subber jeg videre for å lage frokost. Jeg lager en bolle frokostblanding og setter meg foran pcen. Læreren sitt ansikt spretter opp på skjermen og hun begynner å snakke om ukeplanen. Jeg sitter og spiser, og hører halvhjertet etter. Dagene blir bare lengre og lengre. Vennene mine er i sine egne hus, der vi alle sitter, samlet av nettet og en skjerm. Vi sitter bak hver vår skjerm og snakker. Det er ikke så mye å snakke om, men vi får det til. Det er en ting jeg er takknemlig for. Om det først skulle kommet en pandemi, har jeg i hvert fall tilgang til å snakke med andre. Jeg tror jeg hadde blitt gal om jeg ikke fikk menneskelig kontakt. Selv om jeg også har familien min, er det noe rørende ved å se vennene mine sine ansikter etter å føle seg så alene. Jeg har også vært mindre ute, noe som har resultert til at jeg har blek hud, kviser og generelt dårligere helse. Men korona har gitt meg tid. Tid til å tenke på hva jeg vil, mine mål og hvordan jeg skal nå de. Jeg har aldri fått uttrykt meg selv kreativt i så stor grad som i disse tider. Jeg skulle ønske det var så fredfullt for alle. Det har også vært tider jeg ENglish/ Isolated It’s two months since school closed, and I’m lying in bed staring at the ceiling. I feel all the motivation draining from my body the moment I get out of bed. My feet shuffle along listlessly, as I force myself to wake up and go to the bathroom. There are dark bags under my eyes. I take off my pyjamas, but only to put on a pair of joggers. Then I shuffle on to make my breakfast. I get myself a bowl of cereal and sit down in front of the PC. The teacher’s face pops up on the screen and she starts talking about the plan for the week. I sit eating my cereal and listen half-heartedly. The days just get longer and longer. My friends are in their own homes, where we all sit, connected by the internet and a screen. We all sit in front of our screens and talk. There isn’t much to talk about, but we find something. This is one thing I’m grateful for. If there had to be a pandemic, at least I have a way to talk to other people. I think I would have gone mad without some human contact. Although I have my family too, there’s something quite moving about seeing my friends’ faces after feeling so alone. I’ve been going out less too, so now I’m pale and have zits, and feel generally less healthy. But coronavirus has given me time. Time to think about what I want, my goals and how I’ll achieve them. I’ve never been able to express myself so creatively as now. I wish it was such a peaceful time for everyone. There have also been times when I’ve felt restless. I trimmed my own fringe and I’ve coloured my hair for

Isolert

KiseKristinAnn KiseKristinAnn

43 har vært rastløs. Jeg klipte min egen pannelugg og har farget håret for andre gang. Jeg vurderer å bleke det på nytt. Alt i alt har jeg fått tid for meg selv. Jeg håper verden kan gro og bli et bedre sted for alle. the second time. I’m thinking about bleaching it again. Overall, I’ve had time for myself. I hope the world can heal and become a better place for everyone.

44 Ester Chladek ChladekEster ChladekEster

Livet mitt var godt nok. Livet mitt trengte ikke å bli byttet på. Plutselig kom korona Og tiden begynte å gå. Hvorfor skjedde dette? Det er det ingen som vet. Før korona kom var det vanlig liv Nå var det slutt på det. En melding hadde skylda For alt det dårlige som skjedde Og at korona kom til å gå over Det torde ingen å vedde Dere må i karantene, sto det Der er det best å være For meg var det bare trist Men karantene har nå fått sin ære. My life was good enough. My life didn’t need changing. Then suddenly Covid came, And time started to go by. Why did it happen? No one knows. Before Covid, life was normal; Now those days had gone. An announcement was to blame For all the bad stuff that happened And no one dared to bet That Covid would pass. You have to quarantine, it said; That’s the best place to be. For me, it was so sad But quarantine has proved itself.

StokkelandThorsenMarie

5. mai 2021 God kveld, kjære dagbok.

5 May 2021 Good evening, dear diary.

Jeg begynte nesten å le da jeg leste gjennom hva jeg hadde skrevet tidligere om pandemien, i dagboken min. Den 28. oktober 2020 var jeg sjokkert over at det var fire nye smittede i Skien kommune på en dag. Hadde jeg bare visst hvor ille det ville bli i julen. Faktisk er julen 2020 den første julen noensinne, hvor jeg ikke har hatt jule-følelsen. Det er sånn det blir når det er 41 nye smittede den 22. desember, nærmest er Lock Down, og farmor ikke får lov til å forlate gamlehjemmet. Enda tristere er det når jeg nå vet, at denne julen var den siste farmor noen gang ville oppleve. Likevel var det ikke Covid-19 som tok farmor fra oss, den har bare skyld i å ha stjålet

I almost started laughing when I read through what I’d written previously in my diary about the pandemic. On 28 October 2020, I was shocked that there were four new cases in Skien Municipality in one day. If only I’d known how bad it would be by Christmas. In fact, Christmas 2020 was the first time ever that I didn’t feel Christmassy. That’s what happens when there are 41 new cases on 22 December, lockdown is imminent, and Granny isn’t allowed to leave her care home. It’s even sadder now I know that last Christmas was to be Granny’s last. All the same, it wasn’t Covid-19 that took her from us, but it stole what was left of our time with her. It still feels strange not to go to Gulset every Thursday to share her favourite cakes.

Berit Marie Thorsen Stokkeland

Berit

StokkelandthorsenMarie Berit

47 den siste tiden vår sammen med henne. Det føles fortsatt rart å ikke dra for å spise fyrstekaker på Gulset hver torsdag. Må sove nå, skole i morgen. God natt 7. mai 2021 Hei, og god ettermiddag, kjære dagbok. Kom akkurat hjem fra skolen, og fikk beskjed i Teams om at vi skal ha hjemmeskole neste uke, igjen. Ikke at jeg ble overasket, siden vi hadde ny smittetopp i byen den 4. mai. Det var 53 nye smittede! Og jeg har bare en kommentar om hjemmeskole: Det er superkjedelig, men det er litt deilig å sove lenger om morgenen. Skolen i dag var ganske gøy da. Vi lekte ute i de første timene og slappet egentlig bare av. Nå skal jeg gå en tur rundt Hjelle-vannet med bestevennen min Ingrid. Hjellen har på en måte blitt den eneste måten å henge med folk på, man kan gå rundt vannet med en venn og en meters avstand. «En meter’n» har skapt en trist sosial avstand, og jeg savner virkelig å kunne klemme vennene mine. En av vennene mine gikk en gang rundt vannet 4 ganger på en dag, fordi hun skulle være med forskjellige folk. En tur rundt vannet er 5,4 km, hun gikk over 2 mil. Oi, klokken går fort, jeg skal møte Ingrid om 10 min. Snakkes :) 18. juni 2021 Hei, min kjære dagbok. I dag var det siste dag på skolen jeg kan ikke tro hvor fort 8. klasse har

Goodtomorrow.night 7 May 2021 Hi, and good afternoon, dear diary. Just got home from school and got a message in Teams to say it’s home-schooling next week. Again. Not that it’s any surprise, since Skien recorded a peak number of new infections on 4 May – 53 new cases! And I’ve got only one thing to say about home-schooling: it’s soooooooo boring, but it’s nice to stay in bed longer in the mornings. School was quite good fun today. We were outside for the first classes and actually just relaxed. Now I’m going for a walk around Hjellevannet lake with my best friend Ingrid. The lake has kind of become the only way of hanging out with people. You can walk around the lake with a friend, keeping one metre apart. The “onemetre rule” makes for sad social distancing, and I really miss being able to hug my friends. One of my friends once walked around the lake four times in one day, with different people. It’s 5.4 km around the lake, so she walked more than 20 km! Oops, where did that time go? I’m meeting Ingrid in 10 minutes. Speak later :) 18 June 2021 Hi, my dear diary.

Today was the last day at school. I can’t believe how quickly Year 8 has gone! It was super-great at school today. We finished early and were given our report cards. But it’s funny to think how we’ve been living with coronavirus for more than a year now! I’ve never known a time at lower-secondary school without coronavirus, so strange. It’s strange that we’ve taken rapid tests (for Covid-19) twice a week

Have to go to sleep now. School

Noen ganger tenker jeg på menneskene som passerer meg når jeg går gjennom gater i Skien, og tenker på hva historiene deres er. Alle forsvinner i forskjellige retninger av forskjellige grunner. Men når man sitter sammen på et fly, har alle minst et felles mål. I dette tilfellet for the last few weeks. It’s strange that sometimes this year I haven’t been able to be with my best friend because we’re in different classes now. It’s strange having all the signs saying, “Stay at least one metre apart”, “We take care of one another: we don’t touch one another”, “Face coverings required”, “Sorry, adults must not come into school with their children” and “No more than 10 people in the shop because of Allcoronavirus”.thenewexpressions

we now use every day such as isolating, homeschooling, quarantine, sanitising your phone, level 5B restrictions, voluntary work, cohort, the traffic light system, Covid-19, coronavirus and all those lockdown songs on YouTube. Clearly, it’s not just the things we love that we have many names for. 24 June 2021 Right now I’m on the plane to Bodø for Granny’s funeral in a few days’ time. We had to leave home at 04:00 this morning for the flight from Gardermoen. It’s so strange to see the world from so high up again, and even though it was overcast on the ground, the sun is always shining up Sometimeshere.

I think about the people passing me when I’m walking through the streets in Skien, and I wonder what their stories are. Everyone disappears in different directions for different reasons. But when you’re sitting on a plane together, everyone has at least one shared goal. In this case it’s to get to Bodø. In some strange way, this is kind of a nice feeling.

48 gått. Det var veldig fint på skolen i dag, vi sluttet tidlig og fikk utdelt karakterkortet. Men det er rart å tenke på hvordan vi har levd med korona i over et år nå! Jeg har aldri gått på ungdomskolen uten korona, det er merkelig. Det er merkelig at vi de siste ukene har tatt hurtigtester (Covid-19 tester) to ganger i uka. Det er merkelig at jeg noen ganger i år ikke har fått lov til å være med bestevennen min, siden vi nå går i forskjellige klasser. Det er merkelig hvordan det har blitt med alle skiltene som sier «Hold minst en meter avstand», «Vi tar vare på hverandre, vi tar ikke på hverandre», «Påbudt med munnbind», «Beklager, voksne kan ikke følge barna inn» og «Det kan bare være 10 i denne butikken grunnet pandemien». Alle de nye utrykkene vi bruker i hverdagen som, isolasjon, hjemmeskole, karantene, å antibace telefonen, 5B restriksjoner, dugnaden, kohort, rødtgult-grønt nivå, Covid-19, korona og los koronas. Det tydeligvis ikke bare kjært barn som har mange navn. 24. juni 2021 Akkurat nå sitter jeg på flyet til Bodø fordi vi skal i farmors begravelse om noen dager. Vi måtte dra hjemmefra 04:00 i natt for å rekke flyet fra Gardemoen. Det er helt merkelig å se verden fra så høyt oppe igjen, og selv om det var litt gråvær nede på bakken, skinner alltid solen her oppe.

27 June 2021 Today I woke up in Svolvær on Lofoten. Am I the only person who thought Lofoten was a town?!? Anyway, after the plane landed on

49 er det å komme seg frem til Bodø. På en eller annen merkelig måte, er det litt fint å tenke på. 27. juni 2021 I dag våknet jeg opp i Svolvær i Lofoten. Er det bare jeg som har trodd at Lofoten er en by?!? Uansett, etter at flyet landet på lørdag, kjørte vi den ganske lange turen opp til Tysfjord. Det var koselig å bli kjent med familien, og jeg gråt masse i begravelsen. Det er helt utrolig hvor magisk Lofoten er. Rundt hver eneste sving er det ett nytt fjell som tar pusten fra deg. Det føles også som om korona liksom aldri kom opp hit, jeg vet det har vært smitte her. Men vi var absolutt de eneste som gikk med munnbind på kjøpesenteret. Det er første gang jeg har følt at det var dumt å gå med det. Likevel føles det trygt, jeg husker de første gangene jeg måtte ha det på. Jeg syntes det klødde, og det plaget øynene mine. Nå har det blitt en vane. 29. August 2021 Jeg kan ikke tro at jeg går i 9. klasse nå, det føles mer som om jeg går 8. klasse, del 2. Denne helgen har jeg hatt overnattingsbesøk av mange av venninnene mine. Det var superkoselig, og etter at de dro i dag, tok mamma, pappa og jeg en idyllisk båttur. Vi kjørte bare ut mot horisonten, med solnedgangen ved siden av oss. Vi så til og med niser, det har jeg ikke sett på mange år. Denne helgen føltes normal, og det føltes godt. Jeg vet ikke om alt vil bli normalt igjen i fremtiden, men jeg har i hvert fall håpet.

It’s unbelievable how magical Lofoten is. Around every bend of the road is another mountain that takes your breath away. And although it feels as though coronavirus has never reached Lofoten, I know there have been cases here. But we were absolutely the only people wearing face coverings in the shopping centre. It’s the first time I’ve felt stupid wearing one. But at the same time, it feels safe. I remember the first few times I had to wear one: I found it itchy, and it bothered my eyes. Now it’s become a habit. 29 August 2021 I can’t believe I’m in Year 9 now. It feels more like Year 8, part 2. This weekend I had lots of friends here for a sleepover. It was superfun! After they’d gone home today, Mum, Dad and I went on an idyllic boat trip. We headed out towards the horizon, with the sunset alongside us. We even saw porpoises, which I haven’t seen for years and years. This weekend felt normal, and it felt good. I don’t know if everything will be normal again in the future, but at least I have hope.

Saturday, we set off on the fairly long drive up to Tysfjord. It was nice to get to know the family, and I cried loads at the funeral.

It feels as though my whole room is shaking, but it’s just the stupid ringtone I chose yesterday. Yesterday, when I hoped today would be better, more exciting, brighter. I pick up my phone and start scrolling. Up pop all those people who are getting out, starting to exercise, eating healthily and managing to keep their spirits up. I’m not. Every day feels harder and harder. I sit in my room all the time; it might be two or three days since I breathed fresh air. I throw off the duvet and shuffle grumpily down to the kitchen. The same boring breakfast: a slice of bread with cheese and a glass of milk. I shuffle back to my room, open the PC and click into Teams. Black screens, nothing lights up except the stupid face of the teacher. He’s babbling about school and this and that we have to do. What does he know? What’s the use of school anyway? I close the PC and sink even further down into the chair I’ve spent far too long in these last few days. What’s the point? I close the curtains; another day like the one before and the one before that has gone, used up. My phone is like a window to the rest of the world, the only way of finding out what’s happening out there. I spend hour after hour on my phone. A new day, well not really new, it will be exactly the same as yesterday. There is nothing new, ung i en pandemi

50 Det føles som hele rommet mitt rister, det er bare den dumme ringetonen jeg valgte i går. I går med håpet om at i dag skulle bli bedre, mer spennende, lysere. Jeg tar tak i mobilen min og begynner å skrolle. Da popper opp alle de som kommer seg ut, begynner å trene, spiser sunt og klarer å holde motet oppe. Jeg klarer ikke det. Hver dag føles tyngre og tyngre ut. Jeg sitter på rommet mitt hele tiden, kanskje 2-3 dager siden jeg pustet frisk luft. Jeg kaster av meg dyna og subber gretten ned på kjøkkenet. Den samme kjedelige frokosten, en brødskive med ost og et glass melk ved siden av. Jeg subber tilbake til rommet mitt, åpner pc-en og klikker inn på Teams. Sorte skjermer, ingenting som lyser opp bortsett fra det teite tryne til læreren. Han babler om skole og ditt og datt vi skal gjøre, han skjønner ingenting. Hva er vitsen med skole uansett? Jeg lukker pc-en, og synker enda mer ned i stolen jeg har sittet alt for lenge i de siste dagene. Hva er meningen? Jeg lukker gardinene, enda en dag lik som den forrige og den som var før der igjen er borte og brukt opp. Mobilen er som et vindu til resten av verden, den eneste måten å finne ut hva som skjer der ute. Time etter time går til mobilen. Ny dag, ny og ny, den kommer til å bli akkurat som den som var i går. Det er ikke noe nytt, ikke noe spennende igjen Emilie Holtskog-Feremans

english/ Being young in a pandemic

Å være

51 FeremansHoltskog-Emilie FeremansHoltskogEmilie-

Lørdag morgen kan jeg sove lenge, men mamma vil plutselig ha oss med på tur. Som om det er noe poeng i, være i form når planeten går under og alle dør. Jeg blir med på turen, har ikke noe valg. Prøve å stable alle inn i bilen. Pappa som må dobbeltsjekke alt, mamma som irriterer seg over at det tar så lang tid, minste lillesøster som er sur fordi hun ikke for fortsette og se på tv, og mellomste lillesøster som bare blir med fordi hun ikke har noe bedre å gjøre. Endelig kommer vi oss av Jegsted.sertrærne

og buskene suse forbi, menneskene som tar en løpetur eller bare går stille for seg selv. Alle de livene som folk har, alle som ser verden på en annen side. De ser kanskje dette som en start, en start på noe bedre eller et eller noe annet som er bra. Noen av de smiler kanskje, men kanskje bak der, bak den masken. Kanskje de personene er på kanten av sitt eget liv, gjerde deres er borte og det trengs bare et skritt til. De ser ikke verden som meg, jeg er alene med min verden. Bokstavelig talt alene for de siste ukene, kanskje måneder, har jeg sittet alene på rommet mitt. Jeg blir sprø av samtalene med meg selv og alt det jeg må høre på fordi jeg ikke kan rømme, rømme fra meg selv. Så kjører vi videre, menneskene og deres verden forsvinner for godt vekk fra meg. nothing exciting left in the world. Everything is the same, flat, just nothing. Time for Teams again: “Good morning, students. Next Monday you’ll be back in school again,” he says, his eyes lighting up. Maybe it’ll be better, maybe it’ll be a change. The last days of this week go slowly: sleep, Teams and repeat. Saturday morning I can sleep in, but Mum suddenly wants us all to go out on a hike. As if there’s any point in being fit when the planet is dying and everyone with it. I go anyway, don’t have a choice. We try to pile everyone into the car. Dad has to double-check everything; Mum gets irritated about how long it’s taking; my youngest sister is grumpy that she can’t stay and watch TV; my middle sister is only coming because she has nothing better to do. At last we’re on our way. I see the trees and bushes rush past, the people out for a run or just alone with their thoughts. So many different ways people live, so many different ways of seeing the world. Perhaps they see this as a new start, the start of something better or something else positive. Perhaps some of them are smiling, but perhaps to themselves, behind the mask. Perhaps they are teetering at the edge of their own life, their barrier has gone, and all it takes is one more step… They don’t see the world as I do; I’m alone in my world. Literally alone for the last few weeks, maybe months, while I’ve been sitting in my room on my own. I’m going mad from the conversations with myself and everything I have to hear because I can’t escape, escape from myself. And so we drive on, and the people and their worlds disappear from me for ever.

52 i verden. Alt er likt og flatt, og ingenting. Så er det Teams igjen, «God morgen elever, mandag neste uke er det tilbake på skolen igjen», øynene lyser litt opp når han sier det. Kanskje det blir bedre, kanskje en forandring. De siste dagene av denne uka går sakte, sove, teams og på nytt igjen.

say with a little energy, trying not to sound like a desperate child. “Hi.” She says. “I don’t know whether you heard, but there is a new movie coming out this Saturday.” The words leave a trace of smile on my dry lips. She echoes my smile. “What movie?” I make something of a chuckle. “I don’t really know,” though I do, more than well enough. “A horror movie, it has gotten some good reviews.” A little distortion of truth right there. “Horror movie?” She arches both eyebrows. “Alright,” Her smile is one sided, more of a grin really. “When does it starts?”

“Six, we could meet in the city center.”

A Hollywood horror/thriller movie with a generic poster of the main character posing and looking to the side, all scared as if they have literally seen a ghost. Two tickets were in my bag, for two seats placed somewhat in the back, and there were two days separating me from those seats.

John, the English teacher placed his stuff on the white table, at the far-right corner of the room. “Take your seats, we have to start already.” His voice carried a weight that I could not explain. Perhaps the wisdom of all these years have not only made his back bent and his face wrinkled, perhaps it has also given weight to his every word.

Hooman Muradi

I watched her, the back of her head at least, going through the encounter one more time in my “Hey.”head.I

The teacher walked into the class, breaking apart my thoughts. I think I had gone through that encounter more than enough times now. I didn’t think it will go exactly like that, but if I stuck to the script, smiled, and acted friendly, she would say yes. An unwanted faint smile appeared.

Now, I am no fan of horror movies, I don’t know why anyone would spend money just to get some adrenaline in their blood, but she liked them, so I bought two tickets to the movie.

I had gone through the encounter in my head two dozen times since the morning, and it was only the beginning of the second period. Fear was crawling up my spine and it gave me a chill, for moments I even felt as if insects were moving across my body. However, every time my hand searched for the insects, I found nothing but my clothe.

54 english/ That was the day, it was the day I was going to ask her. For the past one year and a half, I had gathered bits of information about her. She liked sports, football mainly, and somehow, she enjoyed horror movies. A new horror movie was going to come out on Saturday that week.

the could haves

“Everyone, listen to me, the government has decided, there will be a lockdown from right now, pack all of your books and go straight home.” Tina spoke, having had stepped on a table to see us all and in return for all of us to see her.

The anxiety was building up in me again, the fear of messing it all up. What if she says no? What if she is busy? What if she is already going to the cinema with someone else? That old fear again, the one that raised my heartbeat, the one that froze my brain while melting my skin. Dry lips and dry mouth were with me once more. The last subject of the day came and went by just as fast as the rest.

“Hey.” I said, more tremble in my voice than I had wanted it to be. “Hi.” She smiled her one-sided smile, letting the muscles of her cheek form wrinkles.

The words were long gone from me, I turned, and I saw a joy on her face. “We’re going on lockdown! No more school!” I wanted to believe that she said it to me, but it was obvious she had started a conversation with one of her friends. Her bursting lips forming each word with such care, her brunette hair, waving with her each gentle shake of the head. Blue eyes and freckled face about her.

The bell rang and we all packed our stuff to leave the room, the two students that had to clean up the class this week began doing their work while the rest of us were busy stuffing books and papers into our bags. I swallowed, and I began walking towards her. By the literal definition of the phrase, it was ‘now or never’.

I stumbled backwards, not truly understanding what to do next. None of the dozens of times I had played this in my head, had I ever considered the corona lockdown. It was like those things that everyone longs for, so much that it feels like reaching for the stars. It losses its possibility and joins the realm of dreams. And when someone does bring down the star so your hands may reach it, it happens so quickly that you are almost convinced it never Everyonehappened.wanted the lockdown to happen, I wanted the lockdown to happen. But now that it is happening, I cannot do anything but to watch from a far as she speaks with her friends. The heaviness returned, everything felt so heavy, my body for my feet, my shoulders for my body, my neck for my shoulders. Even pushing air out of my lungs proved to be a struggle. That day would join the many lost days of what ifs and what if nots. Everyone began to pack all their heavy books into their already heavy bags. They began making deals on helping each other carry the books, brainstorming on how to carry so many books on the bicycles, they began borrowing plastic bags for their books. All the while I watched.

56 The break and the math class after that, was also spent in doing nothing but thinking about taking an action, whilst fearing of taking an action without thinking. I felt as if there was something between the world and I that kept me in me and the world outside. As if my eyes were the bars, I watch the world through. A bite on my sandwich proved to be more bitter than I wanted it to. I had to ask her.

Some people believe in “love in first sight”, I don’t. There is no Love in first sight, those who say otherwise are just horny. Though there is love from a far, love from watching someone for one and a half year. Watching them as they make mistakes, cheer victories, laugh and swear, win and lose. All the while I stood far away.

“Well, um, well there is a new movie-” I began my trembling words, but I get cut off by the clapping of our main teacher’s palms. Tina was her name, smooth blonde hair about her. She was our PE teacher and our music teacher.

Digital school at nine until eleven, a break and then online classes again from twelve to two. Every day I had to see her face staring back, the ultimate sign of my failure. I couldn’t ask her. I should have diverted the conversation somehow, I should have told her about the movie, or at least contacted her afterwards to open up the conversation somehow. In the first day of online school, the teachers gave us the opportunity to speak about how we felt, I could have taken it and told everyone that I was going to go to a cinema to watch this horror movie when corona happened, then perhaps I could have contacted her about it and opened up a conversation. I felt so tired. Even so, sleeping was a battle I had to fight every night. And waking up a war, every morning. Each day was pretty much the same, so the outlines that separated them from one another only remained on the pixels of my phone.

The time I spent in packing my books into my bag, getting on my bicycle and riding home, doing the chores, eating and then going to bed went by me with such swiftness, that even if I had superpowers I would not have been able to slow it down. One blink and then I lay on my bed. Staring at the ceiling. Another blink and Friday, along with the weekend was behind me and I sat on my chair, in front of my pc monitor, and I watched as the students all began joining the call on an app called “Teams”. I hadn’t known about it before that morning that we all got a message saying, “Follow this link and join the team call at 9:00 AM.”

The heaviness in my chest was too much, I couldn’t really think, I simply sat there and thought about how it all happened. How that moment came and passed so quickly, how I didn’t have any chances to try this at another angle. It simply escaped through my fingers. The students began joining, she also joined the call. Saw her name on the bottom of the rectangle that displayed her face. The meeting came and passed, they talked about how the school was going to be, going forward. How Norway was now red, and the lockdown was going to be for at least one month. I knew that I should have been happy. I, out of everyone else, was always the most eager for holidays. The urge to come home every day was a physical one, my eyes were always on the weekends as they came at a slow pace. And now that I had gotten the early summer holiday, I couldn’t do anything but to stare at the monitor, feeling Dayshollow.came to pass at such a sluggish pace, the worse part about it was that I couldn’t go hang out with my friends. Both my parents and their parents were worried about corona. Soon enough I realized that a lockdown was not the same as a holiday.

57 They all began to leave one by one, when I got back to my senses, half of the class was already gone. I placed my hands into my pockets and felt the smoothness of paper, smoothness of the two tickets. In a time of lockdown, the cinemas will surely be closed. The movie will never be watched. Those seats will never be occupied.

Days no longer were being passed at a blink of an eye; they were lingering before my eyes.

Another week came by and went, and it was all of it all over again. Waking up, taking a shower, eating, school, eating, more school, more eating, watching movies or playing all over the day when I had the time and then, lying in bed, waiting for the sleep to dare approach my mind. My mind with all of its thoughts.

I sat behind my chair and waited the teachers’ daily introduction, there were three of them, and after the introduction we were supposed to be divided into groups of four. The only male teacher with his surprisingly high-pitched voice began reading out the groups. I was in the second group he read, and right after he said my name, his lips formed her name. An odd name it was, always was but for some reason, it felt so odd when he said it right then and there.

58 I sat through the rest of the groups and then we were transferred to our own team call. The four of us, she, and me. My heart began pounding against my chest at a rapid pace, I was not prepared for this. I had not planned it out, I had not thought through the ways to go about this. I did not know what to do.

“Well, I thought it was a good movie,” I said quietly, my mind running through things to say. “There aren’t many good horror movies nowadays, and I love horror movies.” Usually lies taste bitter, this one tasted sweeter than chocolate.

“Well, I could be the horror movie guy and you the horror movie girl, together we are the horror movie duo.” I spoke silly, but somehow that made her chuckle.

“Oh, you like horror movies as well?” She spoke and it felt nice that all of her attention was on me and my words. I grinned. “Yes, that is like my thing, the horror movie guy. You like horror movies as “Yeah,well?” and it is my thing, I am the horror movie girl.”

“Guys, guys! Enough chit chat, we have to send in the assignments in five minutes, so send me everything you have written so far.” The other girl in our group, Julie with round glasses and blonde hair spoke and it stole away my grin as quick as it had arrived.

“There is ‘literally’ no way that you have watched all the shows on Netflix.” Julie spoke, she said the word ‘literally’ with a sort of harshness.

“Yes, it was,” I said quickly, trying to mask the tremble. “It is like everywhere they went it was grass. If they went left or right or front or back wherever!”

“What are you two talking about?” The other girl in our group spoke out. Julie was her name. My eyes lingered back to her, and I saw her face through the monitor, she switched from a browser or something to the teams call to see us. Her attention truly here now. “It’s an alright movie about a group of people in some tall grass-”

“That wasn’t scary.” She said with her soft voice, the distracted one. The one that you hear it from her, but she is not truly there.

The project was about gathering information and answering some questions about different parts of the brain that if truth can be told, I did not bother to remember them after the Momentsexams. were passing and my hands, my body and my mind stood frozen. There were imaginary bites from imaginary insects all over my body. My hand was going to scratch them all. I felt the passage of time return to its normal flow, no longer I felt like seconds were being stretched. It returned back to the time when school was a thing. An hour passed and I did not even realize it. In one hand my body was no use, its cogs had betrayed me. In the other hand I didn’t want this to join the many could haves in my past. I pushed against all things I thought I knew, and I spoke. “Hey, one thing, have you guys watched this horror movie on Netflix, it is called ‘The tall grass’ or ‘In the tall grass’,” It was a decent rated movie, as high as any horror movie can get. “I watched it yesterday and it was pretty scary.”

“Ama watch it today, please don’t spoil it for me, I literally have no shows left to watch. I think I have watched every movie and every show there is on Netflix.” The square shouldered boy spoke, raising his head up from the papers in front of him.

59 The conversation was over whether I liked it or not. The heaviness was beginning to return. Time was also slowing down, though not fast enough. Five minutes passed and we turned in our Theassignment.restof the day passed, and I lingered to open the direct message to her and send her some text. Perhaps a joke about horror movies or something to that end. I didn’t actually know what I was going to say, but I did know that I should have said something. Anything. Words escaped me and I found none of them around. The day passed before my eyes as I walked around the house and checked Teams over and over again. Each time a little bit closer to opening her direct message and sending a message, then closing the app and trying to do something else. I lingered like that, for the entire day and dusk came. A day over, another day lost to the pile of days behind me. Another one joined the endless past. I should have opened Teams and just sent her a message, my body though, it cowered before the idea for my mind had not ran through all the possibilities yet. Tomorrow came, and just as fast, it went. The day after that and the day after that. A week past and then a month. The possibility now lost to me. The schools opened again, the physical one and it ended the boring hell I was in. Short school days though, from nine to half past twelve. The passage time once again became unknown to me. Our class was divided into two groups, two cohorts. She was not in my cohort, and sadly I did not have the courage it took to go to her class and rip open a conversation from the fragments of thoughts. The school was orange. The second danger level out of the three. Green being the safest and normal life, orange somewhat beware. And red, stay in your house all day. Two months remained from the school year and to no one’s surprise, they came by and went.

Dragging me with them, even though I did not want to, I wanted to return to that Team call, where I had made her laugh. The summer holiday followed the ever so rushing pace of time. People couldn’t go on vacations into different countries now, however, they could go to their little cabins on the far corners of the land.

The summer would have ended in a few days, and I had not changed a bit, the routine of my summer break was the exact same as corona lockdown just without the “school”. And soon enough, the first day of tenth grade came. The pandemic was far from gone, everywhere and everyone still stood on their tip toes, fearing the corona to come back. Norway was finally green, but everyone knew that it was not going to be for long, so everyone pretended like it was still orange.

Quickly enough, she turned and a boy from another class was with her, their arms clasped together. Even with the whole class between us, I saw the look in her eyes. The look that

I walked into the halls of my school, feeling the weight of two years on my shoulders. I had grown since the first time I stepped here. Two years stood between that boy and me. I walked into my classroom, all the names were written on little yellow notes and slammed into our tables. I found my name easily enough. As always, I was one of the last ones to enter the class and as always, I had gotten a seat at the back. She entered and a smile hijacked my lips. I began to stand up from my chair, perhaps I could have started a conversation with her about how the summer was.

But here is something no one truly admits to. Nobody really wants to be alone, no matter how much they pretend they do. They go to their little cabins to stay away from people, they go on vacations so they see strangers who can’t understand their language. But in the end, when you offer them true loneliness, they all cower away. In the corona pandemic, people were not offered, but forced into true loneliness, and they lost their fricking minds.

60 she gave him. The smile began to fade, a frown, a near to weeping frown replaced it and gravity took me back to my seat. I had lost her before I even had the chance to get to her. I remembered that day, the day I had made her laugh. It seemed ages ago, it was ages ago. They spoke something with one another and then he released her, and she began to take her seat. I wished I had sent her a message in those days, or I had continued the conversation the day our teacher announced the corona lockdown. I wished I had taken the many chances in the past two years. I should have taken those chances, now it is far too late. Only if the corona lockdown was announced one day later, all this could have been different, only if I had a little bit more courage all this could have been different. I think I hung far too much in the could haves and would haves, in the should haves, in the what ifs that I didn’t understand I should have thought less about the could and more about the can. I can, right now let it go. I can, go to talk to her, be her friend. But I know that I can’t do that. Perhaps one day I would let the past be the past, but right now. I don’t want the Shepresent.moved towards me and unconsciously, I looked to the empty seat beside me. Then I saw it, a name written in black colour on a yellow piece of note – “Lilly” – Her name. My eyes lingered to my desk, wanting to make sure that was my desk. When I saw the name “Nikolai”, a grin began to find its way up my lips.

Rigmor Thing Enevoldsen

When lockdown was over, I didnt really know how to approachpeople, because itwas hard to talk about what had happened.

thisted

DENMARK English/ In Denmark we had our first lockdown Wednesday March 11, 2020. From one day to the next the country was completely shut down: Homes turned in to home offices, supermarkets introduced distance parameters and face masks, all social, cultural and sports events were cancelled – and distance teaching was the new reality for all students. A reality that would last longer than most of uspredicted.probably This new everyday life for Danish students lasted a month before the students gradually were allowed back in schools. Distance parameters, group divisions and a heightened focus on hygiene was now put in place. The re-opening only lasted until early fall of 2020 when infection rates again went up and schools were advised to cancel social events and large gathering. In The North Denmark Region where Thisted is situated lockdown followed in November due to an outbreak of covid-19 infection in mink – and the national lockdown followed in December lasting through January 2021. Hereafter the schools were shut down based on infection numbers and according to regional restrictions. In Thisted we had periods of high infection rates leading to students being sent home. After this point the shut downs of school happened based on infection rates – and in Thisted Municipality we had periods of high infection rates and many school were periodically shut down. With the restrictions ending in Denmark February 1, 2022 two extraordinary years had come to an end –not least for all Danish students – and particularly the older students who had been sent home the most. The school years 2020 and 2021 will undoubtedly become part of history and hopefully one day become incredible stories to pass on to future generations of astounded grand- and great grandchildren.

Den første coronanedlukning ramte Danmark onsdag den 11. marts. Fra den ene dag til den anden lukkede hele landet ned. Hjem blev omdannet til hjemmearbejdspladser; i supermarkeder skulle vi holde afstand og bruge mundbind; alle sociale, kulturelle og sportslige arrangementer blev aflyst - og for vores skoleelever blev begrebet ”fjernundervisning” nu hverdag. En hverdag, der skulle vise sig at vare længere, end de fleste nok havde forudset. Den nye hverdag for danske skolebørn varede i første omgang lidt over en måned, inden eleverne gradvist fik lov til at vende tilbage til skolerne. Det var nu med afstandskrav, gruppeopdeling og øget fokus på hygiejne. Genåbningen fik kun lov at vare indtil det tidlige efterår 2020, hvor smittetallene igen steg, og skolerne blandt andet blev anbefalet at aflyse sociale arrangementer og sammenkomster. I Region Nordjylland, hvor Thisted ligger, blev der lukket helt ned igen allerede i november på grund af smitteudbrud blandt mink, mens resten af landet fulgte i december og frem til januar 2021. Herefter måtte skolerne lukke individuelt baseret på smittetal og regionale restriktioner. I Thisted havde vi også perioder med høje smittetal, der førte til yderligere hjemsendelse af skoleelever. Da restriktionerne endegyldigt ophørte i Danmark den 1. februar 2022, blev det enden på to ekstraordinære år for os alle, men ikke mindst for danske skolebørn – og særligt de ældste, der var mest hjemsendt. Skoleårene 2020 og 2021 vil uden tvivl gå over i historien og formodentlig blive til utrolige fortællinger, der en dag kan formidles til måbende generationer af børne- og oldebørn.

thisted

Erindring fra en hverdag i frit fald

english/ Recollections from an ordinary life falling apart Thursday March 11, 2020, a number of my friends started writing in a group -chat:Turn on the tv, guys! one of them wrote while another responded: - Insane, man. I don’t think we’ll be going to school anytime soon. What many struggled to believe would now become everyday life. Daily press conferences, new restrictions, contact tracing and homeschooling for all Danish students. This would now become the norm for our everyday lives. I found it rather difficult to begin with. It was completely different from anything most of us had ever experienced. We did not know what the next day would bring. Both regarding the restrictions but also school wise. It was difficult for us to coordinate after school activities. When we finally returned to school after the first months of lockdown the atmosphere had changed. Nobody listened to music or sat indoors during recess. Neither did I, who previously had spent most of my free time writing articles at a small desk at the end of the corridor. Our

66 Torsdag den 11. marts 2020 begyndte flere af mine venner at skrive inde på en -gruppechat:Tændforfjernsynet, drenge, skrev den ene, mens den anden svarede: - Sygt, mand. Jeg tror ikke, vi kommer i skole lang tid. Og hvad mange på daværende tidspunkt frygtede skulle nu til at blive hverdag. Daglige pressemøder, nye restriktioner, aktiv smitteopsporing og hjemmeskoling af alle danske skoleelever. Dette skulle blive normen for den nye hverdag. Selv syntes jeg, at det var hårdt i starten. Det var jo noget helt andet, end de fleste af os havde oplevet førhen. Vi vidste ikke, hvad den næste dag ville bringe. Både af restriktioner, men også skolemæssigt. Vi havde derfor svært ved at koordinere aktiviteter for fritiden. Da vi efter godt et par måneder igen kom i skole, var stemningen en anden. Der var ingen, der hørte musik, eller sad inden døre i frikvartererne. Ej heller gjorde jeg, som førhen havde brugt det meste af min fritid på at skrive artikler ved et lille bord for enden ad gangen. Vi blev Alen Durakovic

Under lockdown har jeg taget skriveriet til mig. Dette har været i form af, at jeg kort forinden den første coronalockdown begyndte at skrive artikler for det lokale mediehus. I begyndelsen af sommerferien 2020 brugte jeg således det meste af min fritid på redaktionen. Dette har været en passion, som jeg ikke førhen vidste, jeg havde, men som har vist sig at være et godt supplement til hverdagen. attentions had now been brought to spending together and everything relating to this. Soon we were off for the summer, but we continued to stay close despite the restrictions. After summer and until New Year’s 2020 we were back in lockdown most of the time. However, now we knew how to divide schoolwork amongst us, giving us more time for the thing that matter Imost.experienced some bumps along the way in terms of personal defeats and loneliness, but after all I can conclude that this experience has definitely hardened me and partially forced me to consider new ways of how to plan my everyday life. During lockdown I have taken to writing. Shortly before the first Corona-lockdown I began writing articles for a local publication. In the beginning of the summer break 2020 I spent most of my spare time in the editorial office. This has become a passion that I didn’t know I had, but that has proven to be a great supplement to my everyday life.

DurakovicAlen DurakovicAlen

67 altså opmærksomme på samværet og alt det, som det drev med sig. Lidt efter kom sommerferien, men også her forblev vi nære på trods af restriktionerne. Fra sommerferien til nytåret 2020 måtte vi igen gå i lockdown det meste af tiden. Dog vidste vi nu, at vi snildt kunne fordele skolearbejdet mellem os, for dermed at have mere tid til dét, der betød noget for os. Selv oplevede jeg bump på vejen i forhold til personlige nederlag og ensomhed, men efter alt dette kan jeg nu konkludere, at det i den grad har hærdet mig og til dels tvunget mig til at tænke nye veje for, hvordan hverdagen også kan hænge sammen.

I remember being sad. The same boring job, the same people and the same everyday life made my early twenties boring. An age that would otherwise be full of experiences and challenges, was now sad. As sad as the office of a municipal worker. I blamed corona for destroying my social life. I remember that I decided to do a year at a folk high school. Something had to happen. I had looked forward to meeting new people. And I left corona to do as it pleased. As long as it didn’t fuck with my folk high school year. To my surprise corona didn’t do much. I had a whole year almost without any lockdown. How lucky. I showed up at the school

I remember ups and downs. I remember the world shutting down. We had to work or go to school at home. We were no longer allowed to meet physically with friends and family. And we all had to walk around with this symbolic face mask. I didn’t worry too much about the restrictions. I followed them and did what was expected of me. I got tested twice a week and received my corona vaccinations. When the country re-opened, I was of course happy. Now I was able to meet with more friends without feeling bad and perhaps even meet new ones. But I never knew how long it would be. So I made the best of it, knowing there might soon be another lockdown.

Da landet åbnede lidt op, blev jeg da glad. Nu kunne jeg ses med lidt flere af mine venner med god samvittighed - og måske endda møde nogle nye. Men jeg vidste aldrig, hvor lang tid det varede. Jeg udnyttede tiden så godt jeg kunne, indtil landet nok ville lukke ned igen.

Jeg fulgte dem og gjorde, hvad der blev sagt. Jeg gik til test to gange om ugen, og fik mine corona-vaccinationer.

69 Jeg kan huske ups and downs. Jeg kan huske, at verden lukkede ned. Vi skulle arbejde eller gå i skole derhjemme. Vi måtte ikke længere ses fysisk med venner og familie. Og vi skulle alle sammen gå rundt med et symbolsk mundbind. Jeg bekymrede mig ikke så meget om restriktionerne.

Jeg kan huske, at corona gjorde det gråt at være ung. Det mest spændende man kunne lave var Zoom fester. Det var et forsøg og et håb på, at man kunne have noget, der mindede om tiden før corona. Men de var meget uforløsende. Man kunne se hinanden og snakke. Men den nære kontakt gik man glip af. Det hyggelige ved at kunne kigge hinanden i øjnene, når man snakkede, og vide at man havde hinandens opmærksom, blev erstattet med en blå skinnende skærm, hvor man ikke vidste om personen igennem skærmen kiggede på Trendsales eller hørte, hvad du sagde. Jeg kan huske, at jeg var trist. Det samme kedelige job, de samme mennesker og den samme hverdag gjorde mine tidlige 20’ere kedelige. Den alder, som normalt skal være fuld af oplevelser og udfordringer, var nu trist. Lige så kedelig som en kommunalarbejders kontor. Jeg gav corona skylden for at ødelægge mit sociale liv.

I remember corona making it rather dull to be young. The most exciting thing you could do was Zoom parties. It was an attempt and a hope of doing stuff like in pre-corona times. But it felt pretty unfulfilled. You could look each other in the eyes and talk. But you wouldn’t get the close contact. The nice thing about looking someone in the eyes and knowing you had their full attention was replaced by a shining, blue screen, where you weren’t sure if the person on the other side was looking at Trendsales or actually listening to your words.

I was no longer the new student, fresh out of high school and with no money. Who spent his time partying and travelling without any plans.

I had been isolated for a year and learned how to live a normal life with a normal job and being alone. I learned to appreciate my family more and the sparse time with my friends when we were able to meet.

I remember one late night in Copenhagen - after the country had re-opened - and one of my friends told me I had matured during the two years we were apart. I don’t know if I’ve entirely grown up, but I have changed.

70 Jeg kan huske, at jeg besluttede mig for at tage et år på højskole. Der skulle ske noget nyt. Jeg havde glædet mig til at se nye mennesker. Så måtte corona gøre som den ville. Så længe den ikke fuckede med mit højskoleophold. Til min egen overraskelse gjorde corona ikke det store. Jeg havde et helt år på højskole næsten uden at blive lukket ned. Sikke et held. Jeg troppede op på højskolen med julelys i øjnene og ekstremt meget håb. Jeg havde glædet mig hele sommeren. Corona slappede endelig lidt af, og vi havde lov til at være unge igen. Jeg havde bare ændret mig. Før corona vidste jeg, hvordan man snakkede med andre mennesker. Jeg følte, at jeg hurtigt connectede med fremmede. Jeg kom hurtigt forbi den akavede smalltalk og kom frem til det, der var sjovt. Jeg var ikke bange for at være til grin eller dum. Jeg var ikke genert eller bange for at være mig selv. Men nu følte jeg mig bare akavet. Jeg var blevet for selvbevidst omkring alt, hvad jeg gjorde; hvilket tøj jeg havde på og hvordan jeg så ud. Højskolen var ikke lige så sjov, som jeg havde forventet. Jeg kan huske, jeg blev bitter. Jeg var bange for, at jeg ikke var mig selv længere. Det, jeg altid havde været god til, kunne jeg ikke længere finde ud af. Jeg følte mig ekstremt ensom, selvom der var så mange andre unge. Vi festede og drak, vi hyggede og så film, men den nære kontakt, den kontakt, jeg havde savnet, kunne jeg ikke finde. Jeg gav corona skylden igen. Hvis jeg bare havde mulighed for at holde min sociale skills i live, ville jeg ikke være den her taber. Som hyper socialt menneske, hvis man kan kalde det det, var jeg ikke forberedt på, hvad corona havde gjort ved mig. Det lyder så seriøst, men eftersom with stars in my eyes and full of expectations. I had looked forward to this all summer. Corona had finally calmed down, and we were free to be young again. But I had changed. Before corona I knew how to talk to others. I felt that I could quickly connect with strangers. I could quickly move passed the awkward small talk and arrive at something more fun. I wasn’t afraid of being silly or stupid. I wasn’t shy or afraid of being myself. But now I just felt awkward. I had become far too selfaware of what I did, how I dressed and looked. The school was not as much fun as expected.

I remember feeling bitter. I was afraid that I was no longer myself. What I had always been good at, I no longer knew how to do. I felt extremely lonely despite being surrounded by young people. We partied and drank, we chilled and watched movies but the close contact I had missed was nowhere to be found.

I blamed corona again. If I had only had the chance to keep my social skills alive, I wouldn’t be this looser. As a – so to speak - hyper social person, I wasn’t prepared for the impacts of corona. It sounds serious - but now, after a while where I had also aged, I had changed.

71 der var gået langt tid, og jeg var blevet en smule ældre, havde jeg ændret mig. Jeg var ikke længere den nye student, som lige var kommet fra gymnasiet uden penge. Som brugte sin tid på fester og rejser og ikke havde de store planer. Nu havde jeg været mig selv et helt år og lært at leve med et helt normalt arbejde og være alene. Jeg lærte at sætte mere pris på min tid med familien og den sparsomme tid, jeg havde med mine venner, når vi kunne mødes. Jeg kan huske en af de sene nattetimer i København, hvor landet var åbnet lidt op – og en af mine venner fortalte mig, at jeg var blevet helt voksen, efter vi ikke havde set hinanden i to år. Jeg ved ikke, om jeg er blevet helt voksen, men jeg har ændret mig.

73 kan huske, hvor meget jeg prøvede at smile, men det var svært. Det endte tit med, at jeg i løbet af en online-skoledag lukkede mig inde på mit værelse. Det var sjældent, jeg følte “behov” for ret mange ting udenfor. I starten af corona gik jeg på en anden skole end nu. Da jeg kom tilbage efter første nedlukning, skulle jeg starte i 6. klasse. Det var et spring, jeg både følte mig klar til og så alligevel ikke helt. Det var som om, at et eller andet manglede. Men jeg havde ingen ide om, hvad det var. Jeg vidste bare, at det ikke var noget, jeg kunne gøre noget ved. Hele Nordjylland blev lukket ned på grund af nogle mink, der var var blevet smittet med corona i en mere smitsom form. Skolen åbnede op igen, og denne gang var der ikke ret mange måneder til, at jeg skulle skifte skole. Det betød, at vi i hele min gamle klasse skulle sige farvel til hinanden. Det var et af det sværeste, jeg har skullet sige. Det var surrealistisk at skulle lægge alt det, der var sket i de syv år bag sig. Der føltes som ingen Sommerferientid.

During an online school day, I would often lock myself up in my room. I rarely felt the need for many things Ioutside.wasattending another school when corona broke out. When I came back after the first lockdown, I was supposed to start 6th grade. It was a leap that I both felt ready for and then again… It was as if something was missing. But I had no clue what exactly. I just knew it was something I couldn’t help. The entire Region of North Jutland was shut down due to some infected mink. Then school eventually opened, and this time it was close to the date of me changing to a new school. This meant that I had to say goodbye to my old class. It was the hardest goodbye I had ever had to say. It was surreal to put everything that happened during those seven years behind me. It all felt like a blink of an eye. Summer break went, and I wasn’t so nervous about my new school because I knew I still had my old class. But just before we were supposed to start, none of the classes were allowed to get together. So, I was locked in my own little bubble again. I didn’t really talk to anyone, and I still don’t, six months later. Everything started changing. And so did my anxiety. I wasn’t supposed to get the vaccine but that changed, now that I was at a school with 519 students instead of the 100 kids I came from. I started staying inside the classroom. Now, it was because I wanted to avoid getting infected because there was so much corona all over school. I wasn’t only scared of getting it myself but of passing it on. The thought of giving it to my grandmother filled me with anxiety and a sense of guilt. The yearly school dance was close, but I wasn’t really looking forward to it because of corona – and there were actually a number of people who got it at the dance. Nobody from my class though. But after the dance, I ended

gik, og jeg var ikke så nervøs for min nye skole, fordi jeg vidste, jeg stadig havde min gamle klasse. Men da vi skulle starte, måtte ingen klasser se hinanden, så jeg låste mig inde i min egen lille boble igen. Jeg snakkede ikke rigtigt med nogen, og det gør jeg heller ikke rigtigt nu, et halvt år senere. Alt begyndte at ændre sig. Men det gjorde min angst også. Jeg startede corona ud med ikke at have angst for noget. Det var heller ikke meningen, at jeg skulle vaccineres - men jeg kom fra en skole med under 100 børn til en skole med 519 elever, så det ændrede en del. Jeg begyndte kun at være inde i min

Corona ødelagde mange ting, men den havde også gode sider - fx lærte jeg at blive mere selvstændig i skolen og mærke, hvad jeg havde brug for og hvad jeg ikke havde brug for. Jeg havde altid været meget bagud i engelsk, men under den første nedlukning lærte jeg at tale næsten flydende engelsk. Så det med at prøve selv at have kontrol var ikke helt skidt - hvis man kan finde ud af at lave noget, for det var altså også nogle gange svært. Jeg havde ikke samme muligheder for at få hjælp, så jeg sagde til mig selv: ”Nogle dage er bedre end andre, og det er

up having a sore throat and a cold.

I was tested a number of times but luckily, I hadn’t caught it – but I didn’t feel like going to school. And I told my grandmother. My grandmother has always been my best friend, and she said I shouldn’t worry – so she talked to my parents. But I had been really sick for a week and had almost all of the symptoms of corona. The same day I was scheduled to get the vaccine, but before I could get it a doctor had to examine my lungs because you’re not allowed to get the vaccine if you have symptoms. But I was allright. Corona ruined a lot, but it also had it’s good sides; I learned how to be more independent and how to determine what I need and what I don’t need.

I was always behind in English but during the first lockdown I learned how to speak English almost fluently. Trying to be more in control was not a bad thing for me. If you can manage to do things on your ownwhich can be quite hard sometimes.

I didn’t have the same options of getting help so I told myself: “some days are better than others, and that is okay”. Because it was okay if you couldn’t manage something without having any help at hand. It wasn’t your own fault. However, I am fortunate enough to have mom who’s a teacher, so it was easy if I needed help. But she also had her own students she had to teach. So, our days wouldn’t often be me being off when she had a class etc. When I was off, I didn’t really feel like talking to anyone – I just wanted to be alone. At my old school we had some amazing teachers who understood us and always wanted to help. When we returned after the first lockdown in 6th grade our Danish, English and math teachers set aside time to get us back together socially like the class we were before corona – and I really appreciated that. Otherwise, I don’t think I would’ve been the student or for that matter person I

Min mormor har altid været min bedste ven, og hun sagde, at jeg ikke skulle være bange, så hun talte med mine forældre. Men jeg havde været voldsomt syg i en uge og havde næsten alle symptomer på corona. Den sammen dag fik jeg en tid til at blive vaccineret, men inden jeg måtte blive vaccineret, var der en akutlæge, der skulle undersøge mine lunger, da man egentligt ikke må blive vaccineret, hvis man har symptomer. Men det gik alligevel.

74 klasse. Denne gang var det, fordi jeg ikke ville smittes, da der var så meget corona over det hele på skolen. Jeg var ikke kun bange for selv at blive smittet, men også for at smitte andre. Det var mest tanken om at smitte min mormor, der gav mig angst og dårlig samvittighed. Den årlige skolefest nærmede sig, men jeg glædede mig ikke rigtigt, fordi der var så meget corona, og der var faktisk flere, der blev smittet til festen. Ingen fra min egen klasse. Men efter festen endte jeg med at få ondt i halsen og blive snottet. Jeg blev testet flere gange, og heldigvis var jeg ikke smittet, men jeg havde ikke lyst til at komme i skole igen. Det sagde jeg til min mormor.

75 okay.”. For det var okay, hvis man ikke lige kunne gøre noget uden hjælp. Det var ikke ens egen skyld. Jeg er godt nok så heldig, at min mor er uddannet lærer, så det var nemt, hvis jeg havde brug for hjælp. Men hun havde jo også elever, hun skulle undervise. Så vores dage var tit, at når jeg havde pause, så havde hun time osv. Når jeg havde fri, så var det heller ikke lige sådan, at jeg faktisk gad at snakke med nogen, der ville jeg bare gerne være alene. På min gamle skole havde vi nogle fantastiske lærer, som forstod os og altid ville hjælpe os. Da vi kom tilbage efter anden nedlukning i 6. klasse, satte vores daværende dansk, engelsk, matematik og pædagog masser af tid af til at få os samlet som den klasse, vi var før corona - og det sætter jeg så meget pris på. Ellers tror jeg ikke, jeg havde været den elev eller for den sags skyld person i dag. Tak til alle, der prøvede at hjælpe os under corona. Det gjorde en stor forskel. am today. Thank you to everyone who try to help us during corona. It made an immense difference.

Lærke Buk Stenfeldt Laerke Buk Stenfeldt

76 Lærke Buk Stenfeldt og Ajla Didelija

DidelijaAjla DidelijaAjla

Lærke Corona for mig har været meget fint, for jeg snakkede stadig med mine venner under corona, og vi var stadig sammen i englisH/ Ajla Corona, corona, corona. When corona came to Denmark it was a complete change of some people’s everyday life. If we go back to the beginning of corona, which was in 6th grade. It was a very special experience and I think it was very important for me to be able to talk to my friends and family about what was going on. Because generally you were very confused. When we started in our new classes, we hadn’t had any team building or seen each other. (At our school the classes are split up after 6th grade and people from other schools join us). This made the corona experience quite special for Inme.7th grade we had a lot of lockdowns but me and my friends stayed in touch. So, it wasn’t a huge problem to get used to life during lockdown. What helped me, I think, was that I always had people to talk to, laugh with and have fun. I don’t think I can say that there was ever a point where I felt really alone. Then we started 8th grade and our sense of unity has grown even stronger, I think, and better than previously because we have been forced to just live together and take it one day at a time. We are a pretty mellow class where everybody gets along because our sense of community hasn’t been enforced on us but something we’ve built together.

77 Ajla Corona, corona, corona. Da corona ramte Danmark var det for nogen en hel omvæltning af deres hverdag. Hvis man går helt tilbage til, hvor corona startede, hvilket var i 6 klasse. Det var en meget særlig oplevelse, og jeg tror, det var meget vigtigt for mig, at jeg kunne snakke med mine venner og familie om, hvad det var der skete. Fordi man generelt bare var meget forvirret. Da vi så skulle starte i nye klasser, havde vi hverken fået teambuilding eller set hinanden (på vores skole bliver man splittet op efter 6. klasse, og folk fra andre skoler kommer til). Så det var med til at gøre corona-oplevelsen speciel. I 7. klasse var der mange lockdowns, men mig og mine veninder var egentligt hele tiden i kontakt. Så det var ikke det store problem at vænne sig til livet i lockdown. Jeg tror, det der hjalp mig var, at jeg altid havde nogen at snakke, grine og have det sjovt med. Jeg tror ikke, der var et eneste tidspunkt, hvor jeg følte mig alene. Jeg føler mig meget heldig, da jeg er sikker på, der er mange, der ikke har haft det sådan. Så kommer vi til 8 klasse og vores sammenhold i klassen, tror jeg, er blevet endnu stærkere og bedre end forrige klasser, da vi er blevet nødt til bare at leve og kende hinanden dag fra dag. Derfor tror jeg, vi er en meget rolig klasse, hvor alle kan med hinanden. Da vores fællesskab ikke er blevet påtvunget, men skabt.

Lærke Corona was okay for me because I still talked to my friends during corona – and we spent time together during the week and the weekends, but not as much as before corona. We would some-times be together during our online classes just like regular school. If we weren’t together, we would just have our own “meet meeting” where we would talk while doing our homework – and we would

78 hverdagen og weekenden, men ikke lige så meget, som inden der kom Corona. Vi kunne godt finde på at være sammen, imens vi havde online undervisning ligesom ‘helt normal skole’. Hvis vi ikke var sammen, lavede vi bare vores eget meet-møde, hvor vi kunne snakke sammen, imens vi lavede lektier og vi snakkede os efter vi havde fri. Så jeg havde det rigtig godt under corona. Ajla & Lærke For at give et reelt billede på, hvordan vi levede under corona, skal vi nok spole tilbage til 4. juni 2007, dagen vi mødtes. Dagen, Ajla og Lærkes venskab startede. Vi mødtes, da Ajla var to uger gammel. Lærke kan derfor godt lide at bruge håneretten. Vi gik ikke i børnehave sammen, og da det var tid til at starte i skole, endte vi heller ikke i samme klasse. Men vores venskab falmede dog aldrig. Vi havde masser af fritidsaktiviteter sammen som SFO og volley. Så da vi endelig kom i klasse sammen i tredje, var vi ikke til at skille. En ting, der altid har bundet os sammen, har været sporten. Så det er ikke kun os, der er tætte, det er vores familier også. Da corona kom, var vi ret forvirrede. Og dette er fortællingen om vores corona. Vi har som mange andre oplevet corona ”sammen hver for sig”. Da vi har været bedste veninder, siden vi var to uger gamle har Corona-perioden været den længste tid, vi ikke har set hinanden i virkeligheden. Det var dog på ingen måder hårdt for vores venskab, synes vi. Vi var i kontakt hver dag, hvis ikke hvert minut. Vi har heldigvis heller ikke haft mentale problemer, da vi egentlig har haft det meget overskueligt med corona. Vi har dog mærket det på

chat when classes were over. So, I was all right during Corona. Together To paint a fair picture of our lives during corona we probably have to go back to June 4th, 2007. The day we met. The day Ajla and Lærke’s friendship started. We met when Ajla was two weeks old. Which Lærke often points out. We didn’t attend kindergarten together - and when it was time for us to start school we didn’t end up in the same class. Nevertheless, our friendship never faded. We shared many after school activities such as SFO and volleyball. When we were finally put in the same class in 3rd grade, we were inseparable. One thing that has always glued us together, is sport. So it’s not just us, but our families, that are close. We were confused when corona hit. And this is the story of our corona. Like many others we expe-rienced corona “apart but together”. Because we’ve been friends since we were two weeks old, the corona years have been the longest we have gone without being together physically. We don’t think it harmed our friendship. We stayed in touch every day if not every minute. Luckily, we didn’t suffer mentally, and we have actually felt corona was manageable for us. We have felt the impact of corona outside of school and of course in terms of being with others. The thing we missed the most was our sports. After corona initially calmed down and we started 7th grade, Ajla also began handball practice. The season had many interruptions due to Covid-19. In 8th grade Lærke also started handball – so now we’re both in volley, soccer and handball. And we’ve definitely felt how quiet our everyday life was without sport. However, quietness is not for us. We’ve really missed our sports and the physical time together because it is such an important part of our

Efter corona havde dæmpet sig lidt første gang, og vi startede i syvende, begyndte Ajla også til håndbold. Sæsonen havde dog mange afbrydelser pga. covid-19. I ottende klasse startede Lærke også til håndbold - så vi går begge til volley, fodbold og håndbold. Og vi har helt klart kunnet mærke, hvor rolig vores hverdag var uden sport. Den rolige hverdag var dog ikke noget for os. Vi savnede vores sport og fysiske samvær helt vildt, da det er sådan en vigtig del af vores liv.

I en af lockdown-perioderne, var der VM i håndbold, hvor vi begge var faste seere. Vi heppede og var sammen på afstand. Også til EM i fodbold var vi hundrede procent klar til at heppe. Corona har nok mest af alt vist os, hvor vigtig det fysiske sammenspil er for vores glæde og hverdag, både når vi snakker om venskab, skole og fritid. Vi har lært meget om os selv, og om hvordan man kan finde løsninger på mange udfordringer, når det virkelig gælder. lives. During one of the lock-downs the handball World Championship was going on and we were both glued to the screen. We cheered and spent time “apart but together”. During the European Championship in soccer, we were 100 percent ready to cheer. Corona has probably mainly showed us how important physical teamwork is for our happiness and everyday life both in terms of friendship, school and spare time. We have learned much about ourselves and how to find new solutions for different challeng-es when it comes to it.

79 vores aktiviteter udenfor skolen og selvfølgelig også det med at være sammen med andre venner. Det største savn for os har helt klart været sporten.

Jasmine Kuikka At first I thought it wouldbe nice to have two holiday,weeksbut the “holiday“ just grew longer and longer.

uddevalla

SWEDEN English/ The coronavirus settled like a wet blanket over Uddevalla. The pandemic washed over us in waves of shut-downs mixed with hopes that it would soon be over, until the next wave arrived with even harsher restrictions. Nothing was as it had been, instead new ways of working and meeting had to be invented. We quickly learned to use digital meetings in both work and our free time. Still, in some workplaces this created a stronger sense of “us”, as new procedures were devised to transmission.reduce There was a period when libraries were closed to visitors. You had to borrow books by picking them up and dropping them off at the back of the building. Recreation centres set up a digital recreation centre. Leisure activities shut down, restrictions in shops and restaurants, and elsewhere, made life different. Everyone was affected in some way by the pandemic. Daily news updates about the coronavirus became compulsoryviewing. Pupils as well as teachers in schools missed the in-person contact. That was evident already after a few weeks. Distance learning can’t substitute for in-person teaching, only complement it. Still, some pupils with long daily commutes to school were even able to do better thanks to distance learning. Once the pupils were back at school it was hard to stick to the restrictions, and sure enough the virus came back, evenmomentum.gaining The pandemic is over. Ordinary life has changed, and will never be the same as it was. For good and for bad.

Coronaviruset la sig som en blöt filt över Uddevalla. Pandemin sköljde över oss i vågor med nedstängningar som blandades med förhoppningar om att det snart skulle vara slut, innan nästa våg kom med hårdare restriktioner. Inget var som det hade varit utan nya sätt att arbeta och mötas på fick uppfinnas. Vi fick snabbt lära oss att använda digitala möten både i arbetet och på fritiden. Samtidigt har det på några arbetsplatser skapat en starkare ”vi -känsla” när man skapat nya rutiner för att minska smittan. I en period stängde biblioteken för besök. Man fick låna böcker genom att hämta och lämna böckerna på baksidan av huset. Fritidsgårdarna skapade en digital fritidsgård. Fritidsaktiviteter stängdes, restriktioner i affärer och på restauranger med mera gjorde att livet blev annorlunda. Alla berördes på något sätt av pandemin. Dagliga nyhetsuppdateringar om Corona blev ett måste att följa. Både elever och lärare i skolorna har saknat kontakter med varandra. Det upptäcktes redan efter några veckor. Den vanliga undervisningen går inte att ersätta med distansundervisning utan den kan bara vara ett komplement. En del elever med långa resor till skolan kunde till och med prestera bättre i och med distansundervisningen. När eleverna kom tillbaka till skolan var det svårt att följa restriktioner och smittan kom tillbaka som ett brev på posten och tog ny fart. Pandemin är över. Det vanliga livet har förändrats, det kommer aldrig att bli som det har varit. På gott och ont.

85 Onsdag 18 Mars 2020 “Detta är andra dagen av något som antagligen kommer bli ett långt uppehåll från skolans lokaler och jag har redan tröttnat. Jag kan inte beskriva hur glad jag kommer vara när allt det här över och vi alla kan återgå till normala rutiner. Den här veckan och nästa kan nog alla stå ut, men längre fram än så tror jag att isolationen kommer tära på många. I Sverige är det inte ens utegångsförbud som i andra länder. Grundskolor har öppet och många går fortfarande till jobbet som vanligt. Biografer ska dock börja stängas så småningom, men den i stan har fortsatt öppet. Skolan börjar förresten imorgon. Det är över distans, så jag ska sitta i mitt rum och ha lektion. Måste säga att hela konceptet känns väldigt konstigt och riktigt hur det ska gå till vet jag inte. Vi ska få mer information om det i morgon. Det känns ovisst, väldigt ovisst, men det går inte att göra så mycket. Just nu kan vi bara Idag/.../vänta.harjag bara räknat matte och gått på en liten promenad. Det är tråkigt att gå själv och svårt att veta vad man ska hitta på här hemma. Jag har klarat mig bra med att lyssna på musik och skriva, men jag får växla mellan att sitta vid skrivbordet eller i sängen. Då och då går jag en runda i huset bara för att få lite omväxling och inte bara se mitt rums fyra väggar. Jag har också en kortlek som jag har lagt patiens med och igår lagade jag ett par byxor för hand med nål och tråd. Lustigt att det ska krävas en pandemi för att man ska göra något sånt.”

”This is the second day of what will probably become a long break from being in school, and I’m already sick of it. I can’t describe how happy I’ll be when all of this is over and we can all go back to our normal routines. This week and next I think everyone will put up with, but beyond that I think the isolation will begin to wear on many people. In Sweden we don’t even have a curfew like they do in other countries. Compulsory schools are open, and many people are still going in to work like they normally would. Cinemas are going to start closing soon, though – but the one in town is still open. School starts tomorrow, by the way. It’s distance learning, so I’m supposed to sit in my room for lessons. I have to say the whole concept feels very strange, and I’m not quite sure how it’s supposed to work. They’re going to tell us more about it tomorrow. It feels uncertain, very uncertain, but there’s not much we can do. At the moment we can only wait.

Wednesday 18 March 2020

Today/.../ I’ve only done maths and taken a short walk. It’s no fun walking by yourself, and difficult to find stuff to do at home. I’ve managed all right listening to music and writing, but I have to switch between sitting at my desk and in bed. Every now and then I do a tour of the house just for a bit of variety, instead of just staring at the four walls of my room. I also have a deck of cards I’ve played solitaire with, and yesterday I mended a pair of trousers by hand, with a needle and thread. Funny that it takes a pandemic to make you do something like that.”

Thursday 19 March 2020

”It’s good having lessons – even if they’re online. Time passes at a whole different pace when you have

It’s hard to believe that there’s a pandemic going on in the world when everything looks so unchanged from the outside. You might think something would look different when there’s a virus in the air, but it doesn’t. The weather was fine both yesterday and today, and now as I sit here looking out over the garden it feels totally unreal that something coming from as far away as China can make its way all the way here, to Sweden, to Uddevalla, and have consequences here as well. It’s quiet outside, and looks just like it usually does. At the same time medical care services are at breaking point in Lombardy in Italy, and schools closed today in the UK after several hundred cases had been reported in a single day. It all feels very abstract and far away.

86 Torsdag 19 Mars 2020 “Det är bra att ha lektioner - även om de är online. Tiden går på ett helt annat sätt när man har något att ägna sig åt, även om det nu är att stirra in i en skärm. Det är svårt att tro att en pandemi pågår i världen när allt ser så oförändrat ut på utsidan. Man skulle kunna tycka att något skulle sett annorlunda ut när ett virus finns i luften, men nej. Det har varit fint väder både igår och idag och nu när jag sitter och ser ut över trädgården känns det helt overkligt att något som kommer så långt bort som från Kina, kan ta sig ända hit, till Sverige, till Uddevalla, och få konsekvenser även här. Det är stillsamt ute, det ser ut precis som vanligt. Samtidigt är sjukvården på bristningsgränsen i Lombardiet i Italien och skolorna stängdes idag i Storbritannien efter att flera hundra fall rapporterats på en dag. Det känns väldigt abstrakt och långt borta. Overkligt. Tisdag 24 Mars 2020 “Den här dagen har varit bra, men lång. Jag slutade sent och hade extramatte efter svenskan, där jag för övrigt skriver en uppsats i tillsammans med Jakob. Vi har hamnat efter med det arbetet i och med omställningen av att skolan gick över på distans. Minst sagt hade vi annat att tänka på och vänja oss vid, så vi har inte varit speciellt produktiva den senaste veckan. För att bli klara kommer vi behöva skriva som galningar, men det löser sig allt. Det som är bra med grupparbeten är att man har någon att prata med under tiden man skriver. Det är inte alltid självklart när man arbetar med en uppgift själv. Det blir lätt ganska ensamt. Jag vet att många tycker det är jobbigt att vara hemma, men something to do, even if at the moment that is staring at a screen.

Unreal.” Tuesday 24 March 2020 ”Today was a good day, but a long one. I finished late and had extra maths after my Swedish lesson – where I’m writing an essay together with Jakob, by the way. We’re behind on our work with that because of the change when school shifted to distance learning. We had other things to think about and get used to, to say the least, so we haven’t been particularly productive in the past week. We’ll have to write like crazy to get it ready on time, but I’m sure we’ll manage. The good thing about group work is that you have someone to talk to while you’re writing. That’s not always going to be the case when you’re working on an assignment yourself. Which tends to make that pretty lonely. I know a lot of people find it a pain to be at home, but for me it’s OK. This first week has been difficult though – it takes time to get everything organised and get used to it. Hopefully it’ll soon feel better.

I spoke to Linda earlier and she was fine – she’s working from home. We’re going to speak again later this week. We had plans to go to Öland over the Easter holidays, but of course that’s not on now. I doubt whether we’ll be going anywhere at all. School’s going to be closed this week and open next. Or that’s the plan, anyway. It’ll probably get postponed. Some people think distance learning will continue until the end of the spring term, but it’s impossible to know. It depends on how things develop. Today I planted tomatoes just to have something to do, and I’m trying not to think of corona or the tomato plants too much. You just have to take it one day at a time.”

Lördag 11 April 2020 - Påskafton Det är nu en månad sedan covid-19 förklarades vara en pandemi. Mycket har hänt sen dess. Företag går under, folk blir arbetslösa, länder inför utegångsförbud och gränser stängs. Oavsett – det blir påsk ändå och vi ska försöka fira bäst vi kan. Mamma har varit ledig idag och vi har spenderat dagen genom att pynta och göra i ordning. Förut lagade hon Janssons frestelse som vi åkte och lämnade hos mormor. Vi stod och pratade genom glaset på balkongen, men kunde inte stå där särskilt länge eftersom det regnade för första gången på flera veckor. Påskvädret slår aldrig fel, vare sig man är i en pandemi eller inte. Ledsamt är det såklart också att mormor är så ensam, men vi försöker göra det bästa av situationen. Roligt att få se henne idag iallafall, det var ett tag sen. Det är lätt att försöka tänka

87 för min del går det bra. Den här första veckan har varit jobbig dock, det tar tid att få ordning på allt och vänja sig. Förhoppningsvis känns det snart bättre. Jag pratade förresten med Linda förut och hon mådde bra, hon arbetar hemifrån. Vi ska höras av senare i veckan. Det var planer på att vi skulle åka till Öland över påsklovet, men det blir ju inte av nu. Jag tvivlar på att vi åker någonstans alls. Skolan ska vara stängd den här veckan och öppen nästa. Så är det tänkt i alla fall. Det kommer antagligen skjutas upp. Några tror att distansen kommer hålla på vårterminen ut, men det är omöjligt att veta. Det beror på hur saker utvecklar sig. Idag har jag planterat tomatplantor för att ha något att göra och jag försöker att inte tänka på coronan eller tomatplantorna allt för mycket. Man får ta det en dag i taget.”

“It’s now a month since covid-19 was declared a pandemic. A lot has happened since then. Companies going out of business, people becoming unemployed, countries introducing curfews and borders being closed. All the same – it’s still Easter and we’re going to try to celebrate it as best we can. Mum’s been off today, and we’ve spent the day decorating the house and preparing things. Earlier she made a Jansson’s Temptation that we took to grandma’s house. We stood and chatted through the glass on the balcony, but we couldn’t stay there very long since it was raining for the first time in weeks. Easter weather never fails, whether you’re in a pandemic or not. It’s also sad of course that grandma is so alone, but we’re trying to make the best of the situation. It was fun to get to see her, anyway – it’s been a while. It’s easy to try to think things away, but at festive times in particular – when we usually get together the whole family – it feels very empty. Then you can’t avoid feeling that things are not the way they usually are.”

Saturday 11 April 2020 – Holy Saturday

Lördag 30 Maj 2020 “Det är mors-dag imorgon. Vi ska åka ner till mormor och sitta i parken med tillräckligt avstånd mellan oss. Jag bakade morotskaka häromdagen, som vi ska bjuda mormor på. När jag gjorde den tog sockret slut. Det räckte precis till de fyra deciliter jag behövde och jag hade dessutom i en aning för mycket bakpulver, men den blev god ändå. Jag tror att det är distansen som har fått mig att gilla bakning. Nu när jag har mer fritid tycker jag att det är väldigt roligt att baka. Det får tiden att gå också, vilket alltid är positivt.

88 bort saker, men speciellt vid högtider när man vanligtvis samlas i familjen känns det väldigt tomt. Då går det inte att undgå att känna att saker inte är som de brukar.”

”I didn’t pass the maths test I did the other week. You needed 14 points to pass, and I got 13. That news wasn’t exactly cheering. Maths is hard enough as it is, and it doesn’t get any easier when you’re trying to study in your own room at home. It was especially annoying that it was so close, but I’m actually optimistic anyway. There’ll be other opportunities. You just have to have the points on your side. The pandemic has been going on for almost two months now, by the way. Attending lessons from home has become routine. It’s not something I think about, and the weeks pass. I just need to get through May, then it’s the summer holidays. It’s going to be such a relief not to have to study. It feels as if this term has been twice as long as the last one.”

Saturday 30 May 2020 ”Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. We’re going to go down to grandma’s and sit in the park, socially distanced. I made a carrot cake the other day, which we’re going to take for Grandma. The sugar ran out when I made it. There was just enough for the four decilitres I needed, and I also added a bit too much baking powder, but it turned out nice anyway. I think it’s the distance learning that’s made me like baking. Now that I have more free time I think it’s great fun to bake. It helps make the time pass as well, which is always a good thing. Otherwise social life has opened up yet another bit. Things that were cancelled back in March/April look like they’re going to be possible to do in the near future, although a lot of things have also been postponed until next year. People have also had to rethink how to go about arranging things. Football matches and similar

Fredag 8 Maj 2020 “Jag fick inte godkänt på matteprovet jag gjorde härom veckan. Man behövde ha 14 poäng för att få godkänt, jag fick 13. Det beskedet var inte det roligaste. Matte är svårt nog som det är och blir inte precis lättare när man försöker plugga hemma i sitt rum. Speciellt surt var det att det var så nära, men jag känner mig faktiskt ändå optimistisk. Det kommer fler chanser. Det gäller bara att ha poängen på sin sida. Pandemin har för övrigt snart pågått i två månader. Att ha lektioner hemifrån har blivit en rutin nu. Det är inget jag tänker på, veckorna rullar på. Jag ska bara ta mig igenom maj. Sedan är det sommarlov. Ska bli otroligt skönt att slippa pluggandet. Det känns som den här terminen har varit dubbelt så lång som den förra.”

Friday 8 May 2020

89 Samhället har för övrigt öppnats upp ännu lite till. Saker som blev inställda där i mars/april verkar kunna hållas inom en snar framtid, fastän mycket också har skjutits upp till nästa år. Man har också fått tänka om när det gäller hur man ska utföra saker. Fotbollsmatcher och liknande sporter, ska till exempel spelas utan publik i sommar. Det måste vara ovant för alla spelare att läktarna står tomma. De är ju vana med publikvrål, hejaklacksramsor och konfetti, men jag ska inte klaga. Det är bara bra att man hittar lösningar så att det går att genomföra, även om det inte blir riktigt som vanligt. Lördag 6 juni 2020 “Jag har spenderat hela den här dagen åt att få klart de allra sista i skolan. Det är skolavslutning redan i övermorgon och det ska bli så skönt att inte behöva sitta framför datorn längre. Det är dock riktigt synd att vi i klassen inte får ses innan sommaren eftersom avslutningen är online, som allt annat. Vi ska fika lite och fira en stund för att sen säga hejdå. Det blir inga kramar eller utdelade blommar den här gången, men det får fungera. Det känns otroligt tråkigt såklart, men vid det här laget är vi vana. Det är så det får bli i år. Åtminstone ses vi i alla fall igen till hösten, vare sig det kommer fortsätta på distans eller inte det återstår att se. Oavsett ska jag först njuta av ett välförtjänt sommarlov. Jag kan också meddela att jag fick tillbaka resultatet på slutprovet i matte som jag gjorde i torsdags. Jag fick godkänt! Det var inte jättestor marginal, men det gör detsamma, det känns helt fantastiskt! Även om den här terminen inte blev riktigt som någon hade tänkt sig, löste det sig rätt okej med skolan. Mitt i allt annat är det alltid något.” sports, for example, are going to be played without spectators this summer. It must feel weird for all the players when the stands are empty. They’re used to shouting crowds, supporters’ chants and confetti, but I’m not complaining. It’s good if they find solutions so that these things are possible to do, even if it won’t be quite the same as usual.” Saturday 6 June 2020 ”I’ve spent this entire day finishing off the last stuff for school. The end of term is already the day after tomorrow, and it’s going to be so nice not to have to sit in front of the computer anymore. But it’s really a shame that the class won’t be able to get together before the summer since the break-up is online, like everything else. We’re going to have some coffee and cakes and celebrate a while, and then say goodbye. There’ll be no hugs or flower gifts this time, but it’ll have to do. Of course if feels really sad, but at this point we’re used to it. That’s how it’ll have to be this year. At least we’ll all see each other again in the autumn, whether lessons are going to continue to be online or not – that remains to be seen. Regardless of that, first I’m going to enjoy a well-deserved summer holiday. I can also announce that I got the results of my final maths test, which I did last Thursday. I passed! Not by a very large margin, but that doesn’t matter – it feels absolutely fantastic! Even if this term didn’t turn out quite like anyone had imagined, things worked out OK with school. That’s always something, what with everything else that’s going on.”

JasmineKuikka

90 Jasmine Kuikka

JasmineKuikka

91 Att gå de två sista åren på gymnasiet hemifrån var inget någon hade planerat. Det var inget någon ens kunde föreställa sig. Allt förändrades så fort. Jag minns det som om det var igår. När jag började på gymnasiet visste jag att den estetiska linjen var rätt för mig. Allt kändes så bra - jag hade hopp för min framtid. Föreställningar, musikaler, uppvisningar och en massa publikmöten var vad som väntade mig. Jag var så exalterad. Det var en dag i mars 2020 då allt tog en dramatisk vändning, “peripeti” som vi kallar det inom teaterns värld. Jag var förberedd på det, men jag var inte förberedd på hur negativt det skulle påverka mig. Min extramamma hade precis kommit hem från Polen där hon pluggade. Hon hade tagit ett flyg hem dagen innan gränsen stängde. Jag hade stannat hemma från skolan eftersom hon hade vistats på flygplatser under helgen. 16 mars stängde Uddevalla Gymnasieskola. Två ynka veckor innan premiären för musikalen “HAIR” som vi hade övat på i flera månader. Jag var förkrossad. Knappt en vecka innan hade en konsert jag skulle gå på blivit framskjuten, tre dagar innan den skulle bli av. Att skolan stängde och att musikalen inte blev av gjorde inte mitt humör bättre. Någon vecka efter blev en resa och ännu en till konsert inställd för mig. Jag hade inget hopp. Det var som att någon hade dragit ur all min livslust långsamt och plågsamt. Jag hade inget att se fram emot, inte ens att få träffa mina vänner. Det värsta var att jag inte kunde göra något åt situationen. Inget drastiskt iallafall. Det kändes som att ingen förstod, ingen visste hur jag

Attending your last two years of upper secondary school from home was not something anyone had planned for. It wasn’t even something anyone could imagine. Everything changed so quickly. I remember it as if it had been yesterday. When I started upper secondary school I knew the aesthetic programme was right for me. Everything felt so good – I had hopes for my future. Performances, musicals, shows and lots of encounters with audiences were what awaited me. I was so Itexcited.wason a day in March 2020 that everything took a dramatic turn –“peripeteia”, as we call it in the world of theatre. I was prepared for it, but I wasn’t prepared for the negative effect it would have on me. My stepmother had just returned from Poland, where she was studying. She had got a flight out on the day before the border closed. I had stayed home from school because she had spent the weekend at airports. On 16 March they closed Uddevalla Gymnasieskola. Two miserable weeks before the opening of the musical “HAIR”, which we had been rehearsing for several months. I was devastated. Less than a week earlier, a concert I was going to see had been postponed, three days before it was scheduled. The school closing and the musical being cancelled didn’t exactly improve my mood. A week or so later, a planned trip and then another concert I was going to were Icancelled.hadnohope left. It was as if someone had dragged all the zest for life out of me, slowly and painfully. I had nothing to look forward to, not even getting to see my friends. The worst part of it was that I couldn’t do anything about the situation. Nothing drastic, anyway. It felt as if no-one understood, no-one knew how I felt. At first I thought it would be nice to have two weeks’ holiday,

Att ha teaterlektioner via datorn var speciellt. Det var lite roligt att se alla försöka agera hemifrån men till slut blev det deprimerande. Jag minns hur ingen såg glad ut efter ett tag. Så var det på alla lektioner. Många låg kvar i sängen på lektionerna. Jag måste erkänna att det gjorde jag också. Man hade ingen motivation att gå två meter till skrivbordet. Jag åt ingen frukost längre utan åt i stället vid lunch. Jag tror inte ens jag borstade tänderna vissa morgnar. Ibland kunde jag gå flera dagar utan att duscha - men vem skulle se mig? Ingen. Vart skulle jag gå? Ingenstans. Jag minns när skolan öppnade igen på höstterminen. Jag började trean. Jag var så glad att träffa mina vänner igen. Jag var så tacksam för skolan, för min utbildning, för mina lärare. De tre månaderna innan skolan stängde ännu en gång var fantastiska. Vi höll på att jobba med en pjäs. När skolan stängde tog lärarna in oss i små grupper en eller två dagar i veckan så vi fick öva. Vi hade på oss munskydd och gjorde allt för att but the “holiday” just grew longer and longer. I sat at home, day in and day out and stared at my friends and teachers via a computer screen. I felt so lonely. I didn’t feel like doing my schoolwork anymore. My grades were lowered, and I rarely felt motivated. Many adults in my circle say that the change from working in the workplace to working at home was mostly positive and nothing difficult. But to go through such a drastic change with many downsides – when you’re 17 and already going through many of life’s trials – is difficult.

Having theatre lessons via the computer was a special experience. It was kind of fun to see everyone try to act from home, but in the end it became depressing. I remember how no-one was looking happy after a while. It was the same with all the lessons. Many people stayed in bed during lessons. I have to admit I did too. You didn’t have the motivation to walk the two metres to your desk. I stopped eating breakfast and instead ate at lunchtime. I don’t think I even brushed my teeth on some mornings. Sometimes I could go several days without taking a shower – who was going to see me? No-one. Where was I going? Nowhere. I remember when school opened again in the autumn term. I was starting my final year. I was so happy to see my friends again. I was so grateful for school, for my education, for my teachers. The three months before school closed again were fantastic. We were working on a play. When the school closed, the teachers put us into small groups and let us come in once or twice a week so we could rehearse. We wore masks and did all we could to maintain social distancing. When the spring term began and school was still closed, I felt angry. I felt angry with all the people who went skiing in the mountains, with everyone who partied

92 kände. Först tänkte jag att det skulle vara skönt med två veckors lov men “lovet” blev bara längre och längre. Jag satt hemma dag in och dag ut och stirrade på mina vänner och lärare genom en datorskärm. Jag kände mig så ensam. Jag hade ingen lust att göra mina skolarbeten längre. Mina betyg sänktes och jag hade sällan motivation. Många vuxna i min omgivning säger att förändringen från att jobba på plats och att jobba hemma var mestadels positiv och inget svårt. Men att gå igenom en sådan drastisk vändning med många nackdelar när man är 17 år och redan går igenom många av livets prövningar är svårt.

93 hålla avstånd. När vårterminen började och skolan fortfarande var stängd, kände jag mig arg Jag kände ilska mot alla som åkte till fjällen, mot alla som festade och mot alla som inte tog pandemin på allvar. Jag var så arg. Jag var arg för all vårdpersonals skull, jag var arg för alla som hade förlorat någon för coronans skull, jag var arg för allas skull, som hade haft coronas. Men främst var jag arg för min egen skull, för att jag inte fick gå i skolan, för att jag inte fick träffa mina vänner, för att jag straffades genom att hållas hemma för pandemin som andra hade orsakat och fortfarande orsakade. I april fick vi äntligen göra vår föreställning. Efter månader av munskydd, online-lektioner och avstånd fick vi äntligen igenom den! Jag var överlycklig. Jag minns när publiken gick in och hur det pirrade i magen på mig där jag stod bakom scenen Jag kunde faktiskt känna lite hopp igen. Till och med min student blev bra trots restriktionerna, men ångesten försvann aldrig. Den ångesten jag kände då och fortfarande kan känna är outhärdlig. Jag minns veckan innan, studenten eller föreställningen när någon i mitt hushåll sa att de kände något symptom, det var som att jag inte kunde andas. Jag var så rädd, så otroligt rädd att känna den hopplösheten jag kände i mars 2020. Jag var så rädd att bli besviken. Idag är jag fortfarande lika rädd att känna så som jag kände då, men om några dagar ska jag få min andra dos Pfizer. För jag vill inte känna som jag gjorde då. Jag vill inte bli sjuk, jag vill inte att min familj ska bli sjuk. Jag vill rädda mitt och andras liv, därför är jag vaccinerad. and with everyone who didn’t take the pandemic seriously. I was so angry. I was angry on behalf of all the health care staff, I was angry on behalf of everyone who had lost someone because of corona, I was angry on behalf of everyone who had had corona. But most of all I was angry on my own behalf, because I couldn’t go to school, because I couldn’t see my friends, because I was being punished by being kept at home due to the pandemic that other people had caused and were still causing. In April we were finally allowed to stage our performance. After months of masks, online lessons and social distancing we finally put it on! I was overjoyed. I remember how, as the audience came in, I had butterflies in my stomach standing backstage. I was actually feeling a bit of hope again. Even my graduation turned out well despite the restrictions, but the anxiety never went away. The anxiety I felt then and can feel still is unbearable. I remember the week before graduation or the performance, when someone in my household said they felt some symptom – it was as if I couldn’t breathe. I was so scared, so incredibly scared of feeling that hopelessness I felt in March 2020. I was so afraid of being disappointed. Today I am still just as scared of feeling as I did back then, but in a couple of days I’m getting my second dose of Pfizer. Because I don’t want to feel like I did back then. I don’t want to become ill, I don’t want my family to become ill. I want to save my life and other people’s lives, that’s why I’m vaccinated.

94 Hej, jag heter Malin. I nästan ett år har jag bott i Sverige som utlandsstudent. Mitt år utomlands blev speciellt.

Malin Ehlers

english/ Being a foreign student during the Corona pandemic Hi, my name is Malin. I’ve been living in Sweden as a foreign student for almost a year. My year abroad was Ispecial.wenttogether with my father to our summer cottage in Sweden. We took the ferry and were surprised that no one kept their distance or wore face masks. They didn’t do it in the grocery store either. It felt strange to us because you have to do that everywhere in Germany. Sweden at the time was a high-risk country and going with my father, who is in a high-risk group, didn’t feel safe, but we had booked and planned everything. Cancelling felt stupid. My family wasn’t sure if they could make it, and I didn’t like the idea that I couldn’t say goodbye to them, but it went well. We then travelled to my host family. They said they would keep their distance, but they didn’t really. Last spring, in Germany, only the graduating class were allowed to go to school, so I was surprised that I could go to school here. It felt like Corona didn’t exist here. Several weeks later, I had to start distance learning. It felt good and bad at the same time. I wanted to make friends, but I also thought it was fair to stay at home. Learning Photoshop at home and in another language is not

iUtlandsstudentcoronatid

I våras, i Tyskland, var det bara examenklassen som kunde gå till skolan och därför var jag överraskad att jag fick gå till skolan här. Det kändes som att det inte fanns corona här.. Flera veckor senare fick jag börja med hemundervisning. Det kändes bra och dåligt samtidigt. Jag ville hitta vänner, men jag tyckte också att det var rimligt att stanna hemma. Att lära sig Photoshop hemifrån och på ett annat språk är inte lätt. Jag gick flera dagar på Agnebergsskolan (bageri) och andra på

Tillsammans med min pappa kom jag till vår sommarstuga i Sverige. Vi tog färjan och blev förvånade att ingen höll avstånd eller hade på sig munskydd. Det var desamma i mataffären. Det kändes konstigt för oss för det måste man överallt i Tyskland. Vid den tiden var Sverige ett riskland och att åka med min pappa som är i riskgrupp kändes inte tryggt, men vi hade bokat och allt var planerat. Att avbryta kändes dumt. Det var osäkert om resten av familjen kunde komma och jag tyckte inte om att inte kunna säga hejdå, men det gick bra. Sedan åkte vi till min värdfamilj. De sa att de skulle hålla avstånd, men de gjorde de inte riktigt.

95 Sinclair (media). I media var vi mycket hemma, i bageri inte. I båda skola höll inget avstånd, ingen hade munskydd. De första månaderna var tråkiga för jag inte kunde språket. På min födelsedag hade jag inga kompisar hemma. Jag kände att ansvar att göra så och jag hade inga. Jag tittade mycket tv, promenerade och spelade piano. Hemma i Tyskland var jag nästan aldrig ensam. Jag funderade på om jag skulle åka hem, men det var inte ett val, att kasta bort allt som vi hade planerat. Eftersom jag hade tandställning innan jag kom till Sverige behövde jag en tandläkare som fortsatte behandlingen. Där fick man munskydd och en person easy. I went several days of the week to Agneberg (bakery) and some days to Sinclair (media). In media class we spent a lot of time at home, but not so much in bakery class. In both schools, no one kept their distance, and no one wore a face mask. The first few months were boring because I didn’t know the language. I spent my birthday with no friends at home. I felt that I had a responsibility to have them here, but I had none. I watched a lot of TV, walked and played the piano. Back home in Germany I was almost never alone. I thought about going home, but throwing away everything we had planned wasn’t an option. I had braces before I came to Sweden, so I needed a dentist that could continue the treatment. They gave me a face mask and a person always asked me if I had any symptoms before I was allowed in.

Malin EhlersMalin Ehlers

Before Christmas we had a remote bakery class which was a course on decoration. We had to pick up the marzipan at school and the teacher showed us how to do. After that, we sent her a photo.

Sometimes being at school didn’t feel like fun. The other students didn’t keep their distance as I would have liked, but I didn’t want to be an outsider either. I was happy that I got to know people, but we didn’t meet up outside of school. It didn’t feel right and they didn’t ask either, because we hadn’t got to know each other that well.

96 frågade mig alltid om jag hade symtom, innan jag fick gå in. Ibland kändes det inte kul att vara i skolan. De andra höll inte avstånd vilket jag ville, men jag ville inte heller vara utanför. Jag var glad att jag lärde känna människor, men utanför skolan träffades vi inte. Det kändes inte riktig och de frågade inte heller, för vi hade inte lärt känna varandra så väl. Innan jul hade vi också distans i bageriet och då hade vi en dekorationskurs. Vi fick hämta marsipanen på skolan och läraren visade hur vi skulle göra. Efter det skickade vi ett foto till henne. Min värdfar letade reda på en bordtennisklubb och en kör åt mig, men kören blev inställd. Jag blev förvånad över att bordtennisen inte blev inställd, men man har ju mellan sig och den andre, men hemma i Tyskland var det inställt. Egentligen är jag tacksam att kören blev inställd för jag fick fria sånglektioner och utan de lektionerna skulle jag aldrig blivit modig att vågat sjunga solo. Till advent spelade vi in två musikstycken där jag sjöng solo. Det lades upp på kyrkans hemsida. Jag hade också mitt första uppträdande i kyrkan. Det hade inte gått i Tyskland. Där hade alla kyrkor stängt.

For Advent we recorded two pieces of music where I sang solo. They were posted on the church website. I also had my first performance in church. It wouldn’t have worked in Germany. All the churches were closed there. Some of my family came to visit and it was fun, because then I had something to do. I usually didn’t want anyone to visit, but this year with the Corona it felt good.

En del av min familj hälsade på och det var kul, för att då hade jag något att göra. Vanligtvis ville jag inte att någon skulle hälsade på, men under det här Coronaåret kändes det bra. Min värdfamilj bjöd alltid hem människor. Det kändes inte tryggt, men ändå kul för att det är kul att lära känna människor. De tycker också om att gå på opera. Det gör jag med, men det kunde vi inte göra.

My host family always invited people home. It didn’t feel safe, but it was fun because it’s nice to get to know new people. They also liked going to the opera. So did I, but we couldn’t do Whenthat.you live in another family, you have to find your place, and I had a hard time with that. You can usually go out and meet friends.

My host father found a table tennis club and a choir group for me, but the choir was cancelled. I was surprised that the table tennis wasn’t cancelled, I suppose there is a distance between you and the other person, but at home in Germany it was cancelled. I’m actually grateful that the choir was cancelled because I got free singing lessons, and without those lessons I would never have been brave enough to sing solo.

Vi semestrade på Gotland. På färjan höll medmänniskorna (eller medpassagerarna) inte avstånd och hade inte munskydd på sig varken på färjan eller bussen. Efter vi kom tillbaka från semestern träffade jag två kompisar, men vi höll inte heller avstånd till varandra. Man firar inte

It was funny to hear Swedes thinking that they had too many rules, because I thought they were living almost normal lives compared to Germany in the early days of the Corona. I tried to see my family. It was always uncertain whether they could go to the summer cottage because it seemed like the rules in Germany changed every other day, but during Easter I was in Småland. My mother told me that in the retirement home where she works, many people had died of Corona. It felt strange, because at the retirement home where my host mother works, no tenant had had Corona and the rules are different here. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that Germany has 8 times more people living in a smaller area. In both places you have to wear face masks, and my host mother also uses a Aftervisor.Christmas I had learned the language and found friends in the bakery. School was much more fun after that. When the school semester was over I did a number of different things: sometimes I went to the school, sometimes home, I played the piano, table tennis, sang, swam, watched TV, exercised, walked and took up riding horses. It was sad when school was over. I had to say goodbye to a lot of people and now I had way too much time on my hands. We spent our holiday on Gotland. On the ferry there, our fellow passengers didn’t keep their distance and they didn’t wear face masks either on the ferry or on the bus. After we got back from our holiday I met two friends, but we didn’t keep our distance from each other either. They don’t celebrate Midsummer in Germany so it was something I was keen to do, but everything was cancelled and I got disappointed.

After that I went to Stockholm and was able to do almost everything as normal. I went to a museum without

97 När du bor i en annan familj måste du hitta din plats och jag hade svårt med det. I vanliga fall kan du gå ut och träffa kompisar. Det var roligt att höra att de i Sverige tyckte det fanns för många reglerna, för att jag tyckte svenskarna levde nästan normalt om man jämförde med Tyskland i den första tiden av Corona. Jag försökte träffa min familj. Det var alltid osäkert om de kunde åka till sommarstugan, eftersom det kändes som reglerna i Tyskland ändrades varannan dag, men under påsken var jag i Småland. Min mamma berättade att på det äldreboendet där hon jobbar, dog många av corona. Det kändes konstigt, för på äldreboendet där min värdmor jobbar hade ingen hyresgäst haft corona och här är reglerna annorlunda. Kanske har det att göra med att i Tyskland bor 8 gånga fler människor på lite mindre plats. På båda ställena måste man jobba med munskydd min värdmor också med visir. Efter jul kunde jag språket och då hittade jag vänner i bageriet och det blev roligare att vara i skolan. När skolan slutade gjorde jag olika saker. gick ibland i skolan, måste hem, spela piano, bordtennis, sjunga, simma, tv, träna, promenad och började att rida. Det var ledsamt när skolan slutade. Jag fick säja hejdå till många och nu hade jag alldeles för mycket tid.

98 midsommar i Tyskland så det var något som jag var sugen på, men allt var inställt och jag var besviken. Efter det åkte jag till Stockholm och kunde göra nästan allt som normalt. Jag gick på museum utan att vara testad, jag tog metron utan att har munskydd. Massa folk satt nära varandra. I Tyskland måste man vara vaccinerad eller ha ett negativt test och har ändå. Snart ska jag göra en cykeltur. Vi tänkte åka till Norge också, men de har nog stängt fortfarande. Det är spännande hur olika länder hanterar. Det här året har varit ett äventyr. Jag har lärt mig ett nytt språk, att rida, lite kultur. Jag har vuxit, nu sjunger jag solo. Jag har lärt känna människor, men på grund av corona gick inte allt. Det blir spännande att se hur det fortsätter. Hur det kommer bli när jag kommer hem och hur mitt liv i Tyskland blir. being tested, I took the metro without wearing a face mask. Lots of people were sitting close together. In Germany, you have to be vaccinated or have a negative test and still wear a face mask. Soon I’m going for a bike ride. We were going to go to Norway too, but they are probably still closed. It’s interesting to see how different countries manage the pandemic. This year has been an adventure. I’ve learned a new language, how to ride horses, and taken part of some culture. I’ve grown, now I sing solo. I’ve gotten to know people, but the Corona situation made some things difficult. It will be interesting to see how things will develop, what it will be like when I get home and what my life in Germany will be like.