Many tasks to work on...
Preventive measures against Covid-19 have been continually developed in Korea and are observed worldwide. While for some the serious situation has been overcome, others are constantly wearing their mask. Teaching in Waldorf Schools has also been resumed and anthroposophical working groups are working again.
The South Korean government has tried hard to support and care for the vulnerable as well as those confirmed with Covid-19, providing mental help together with financial support. Now the whole society is putting in efforts to get back to the norm which we try eagerly to summon but which still seems quite far away.
In early May, the policy changed again from strong social distancing to physical distancing in daily life. Since then schools have been reopening step by step and society as a whole is more visible again. All Waldorf schools as well as most of the state schools in Korea are welcoming students back. However, hundreds of schools have unfortunately been forced to close just days after they reopened, due to a new spike in virus cases. In our school, in the meantime, several Anthroposophy study groups and other gatherings have begun again outside the school buildings.
Opportunity to breathe out
As time goes on, regardless of the dimming of our hope of getting rid of the mask sooner or later and unconfirmed information that virus cases would diminish in hot weather, wearing a mask can be really tough and even make breathing more difficult with approaching early hot and humid summer which arrives earlier every year.
For some people, this serious situation is already finished and they don't even care about the minimum preventive measures anymore, but for others it is still an acute situation, wearing masks all the time and keeping not only physical but also inner distances towards many persons. Some students hesitate to take off masks even when keeping distance outside. Some parents don't want to send their children to schools until it is ‘completely’ safe. The silent transmission, in particular, has brought a huge fear in our minds, to instigate ‘untact’, as much as possible, among people.
This pandemic situation, however, has given us a chance to look back on our lives, especially family lives which are, I would say, rather broken and dissolved nowadays. Ironically, Covid-19 has made us stop working, breathe out, and think what is more precious in life – a question no one would have dared to ask in performance-based society. We have ultimately come to realize that we’ve inhaled way too much in almost all areas of life and society to make the best achievements.
Warm interest in each other
We already worry about the recurrence of this disease when the weather gets cold. We are unsure about what other catastrophic situations we are going to meet shortly. The South Korean government is aggressively promoting its model of disease control (‘K-Quarantine’), each time working out new preventive measures and recommendations, which has sparked considerable international interest. More discussions are yet to happen as to the real causes of this pandemic and its social and environmental impact. The emphasis should also shift from the technological approach of tracing and of preventive programs towards understanding the cause and meaning of this pandemic in more depth.
We realize again that the whole world is connected: one whole organism. We come to know ultimately, with warm interest in each other, that we shall be receiving and we will be giving. I guess we have become smart enough to realize this simple principle and will hopefully remember it in the long term.