First, a quick update before getting to the humorous.

At the time of writing this (April 20, 2022), just about every neighborhood in Shanghai is still in lockdown. People are still made to take antigen self-tests as well as go outside to take the public PCR tests (yes, two tests in one day). The daily case count keeps showing many neighborhoods with positive cases. Each time this happens, the intended release date gets pushed back further. So far, the release date for our compound (as they call them here) has been pushed from April 24th to April 28th, and currently, May 2nd. Group buying is still happening, although further restrictions have been placed and more government care packages have been sent out. My compound has been lucky to get rather substantive packages, but some people have received only a few items that are not suitable for a family. People also continue to get sent off to quarantine sites, the conditions of which make people much more afraid than Omicron itself.

Now, onto the humorous.

I’m not sure how this person managed to nab this item, but I’m sure others were in awe and envious as it arrived.

For group buying, some groups choose different people as the point of contact for deliveries and notify others when and where to come get their items. This started off OK, but recently there seems to be more attention being paid to areas where compounds share a gate where items are passed between.

When it comes to the government care packages, people have received varying items.

This is led many to resort to good old-fashioned bartering and trading.

Constantly being cooped up and never knowing if recent government announcements are actually correct has led to a feeling of unpredictability. As new cases continue to be reported, the initial announcement of the three-tired system of “freedom” and inconsistent enforcement of policies has felt like a real-life game of Snakes and Ladders.

Everyone’s daily schedule is pretty much the same throughout the city

And more recently…

Since the Easter holiday also occurred during lockdown, people were quick to make enjoyable memes.

Of course, every student in Shanghai has been doing online learning. Most of the time, the kids are at least focused enough to understand what the assignment is asking them to do. However, there are occasions when there is clearly a lack of understanding or focus.

This student’s answers made me ask if she was OK and wanted to talk. She said she didn’t want to talk about it, but thanked me for asking. I also notified my Chinese co-teacher to reach out to her.

Then there are the classic mistranslations. Like many translation apps, WeChat also does a literal translation, and clearly, this often doesn’t work out.

And, my personal favorite…

Some of the mistranslations were later clarified as such: “kill quickly” means to disinfect. The “lesbian” term was actually referencing a delivery company (not lesbian delivery drivers). The translation “fixing dog” apparently refers to a newer “cuter” term for a dog. Some of the other poop references, well, I can’t comment either way about that.

*Adult content/NSFW* warning label for the next image. Not because the people in it are doing anything explicit; however, it’s what’s in the background that is.

It seems as though some small shops are now being commandeered as makeshift markets for produce. The choice of using this particular shop for this was…interesting, to say the least. It’s utterly fascinating moments like these that mystify foreigners living here. I swear, I don’t know if this would or could happen anywhere else but in China. When I saw this photo, I thought that in just one scene, it encapsulated so many aspects, thoughts, and feelings about this whole situation. Enjoy…

Finally, with the constant need for ingenuity and thinking outside the box, some Chinese residents came up with an idea to get items delivered despite the restrictions.

So, as stated earlier, this has been the humorous part of this experience. In the next part, however, there are plenty of stress-inducing incidents that are far from humorous. Stay tuned.