This post is part of a spontaneous interview series I’m throwing together this weekend. The goal is to share personal accounts from people doing compulsory home quarantine in Taiwan during the coronavirus pandemic.

Where did you fly back from and how was the trip? I flew back from Houston, Texas on March 20. Direct flight. My family lives in Taiwan. I go to school in Austin. I’m majoring in Radio-Television-Film and my goal is to become a sports broadcaster. (The photo is from when I was interning at CBS Austin’s Sports Department.) The flight wasn’t too bad. The plane was pretty empty, and the seat next to me was empty so I had good amount of space. Everyone was wearing a mask. It was like a surgical mask museum, lots of different shapes, colors and varieties of face masks.

What was the tipping point that made you decide to fly back to Taipei? My school started our spring break early on March 13, when they closed down the school because our school president’s wife, who also works at the school, was tested positive. From that point on my family and I were considering me coming back to Taiwan. The final tipping point was when our school required all students living in the dorms to move out ASAP on March 17. I booked the flight for the next day. The next 36 hours was crazy. I packed up everything in my room, checked out from the dorm, drove everything I have to my friend’s garage, and then drove three hours to Houston for the flight.

Are you staying with family during home quarantine? Yes, I’m staying at my grandmom’s place. My mom and my sister are here too. I’m staying in the guest room. I wear a mask when I leave the room to use the toilet, grab food etc.

Alex is watching Suits on Netflix. Good show.

How are you keeping busy during home quarantine? It’s only my second full day in home quarantine today so I’m still figuring it out. But I started watching Suits on Netflix, fun show to watch. Our spring break doesn’t end for another week, so I imagine I’ll get a lot busier when school starts.

Isn’t it crazy that Meghan Markle is now married to Prince Harry? Yeah, I know right! I’m like, when is the queen gonna show up and punch the guy in the face?

Any other plans during your time back in Taiwan?
Main objective is to stay healthy, to be honest. Survive until school starts, then survive until summer break starts.

Do you think it will be hard to stay home for 14 days and not go out? It’s not gonna be easy, but is a lot better than living by myself in a dorm.

Thanks Daniel! You can follow Daniel on Twitter: @daniel_shih88

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