Do 1.4 million international students really come back?
"China Economic Weekly" reporter Ma Mingyue | Beijing-UK, Japan connection report
The latest statistics of the global new crown epidemic released by Johns Hopkins University in the United States on April 5 show that the cumulative number of confirmed cases worldwide has exceeded 1.2 million cases. More and more Chinese citizens overseas want to return home, which contains a large number of Chinese students. On April 2, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu revealed that the total number of overseas students in China is 1.6 million. Currently, 1.42 million are still abroad, distributed in different countries and regions.
It is understood that there are more than 100,000 Chinese students studying in the countries where the current epidemic prevention and control situation is more severe, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan.
Ma Zhaoxu said that after the efforts of the previous period, many overseas students have returned to their motherland. The country is also considering adopting a step-by-step and orderly approach to making arrangements for some overseas students who really have difficulties and are in urgent need of returning to the country.
The epidemic situation abroad is grim. It is difficult to get a ticket for returning home. The dilemma of returning and not returning, plus the improper performance of some returning international students, has caused some netizens to speak ill of the "students" group. In this regard, they also feel quite wronged.
After 30 hours of returning to China, waiting for graduation at home online class
On March 15, Xiaopeng, who was studying graduate school in London, received a school suspension notice, and the course was completely converted to an online course, and the exams were all cancelled.
"At this time, I realized the seriousness of the problem." Xiaopeng told the reporter of "China Economic Weekly", "I haven't been worried before that. I should go to class and go to the supermarket to buy things. No masks are worn. Because British people do n’t wear masks, you will encounter bad eyes and a little discrimination if you wear them. "
Since then, Xiaopeng purchased a direct flight from London to Guangzhou on April 4, but on March 19, Xiaopeng received a notice of flight cancellation. "After I told the family about the flight cancellation, they were very worried, and I became nervous from the beginning." Lucky Xiaopeng grabbed a piece of transfer from London to Russia on the afternoon of March 22nd. Flights to Guangzhou. The return flight ticket, which can usually be bought for several thousand yuan, was sold for 18,000 yuan under the epidemic.
But not all international students studying abroad can successfully grab a return ticket.
Xiao Gao, who studied in Glasgow, UK, stayed in the UK because he couldn't buy a ticket. "At that time, when the ticket was more than 10,000, I didn't buy it at once. Later, the ticket has been increasing in price, rising to 40,000 or even more, and it has been cancelled, it is difficult to buy. There are friends near me who bought three or four The ticket was later cancelled. Actually, think about it carefully. If you go back to China, the plane is also a confined space. If someone around you has been infected, would n’t it be more dangerous, so stay in place. ”
Xiaopeng, who returned to China, secretly rejoiced: "It seems to be a wise choice now! I still have many students who are 'trapped' in the UK."
Xiaopeng recalled that he departed from Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom, and went through security without any temperature check. 90% of the plane he took was Chinese. Basically, he had all the protective equipment. Some of the remaining foreigners had no protection. "I wore protective clothes, goggles, and masks, but the family of four sitting next to me, parents and two children, had no protection."
When we arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, the inspection began to be strict, and airport personnel also had strict protection. After arriving at the airport, the returning personnel will be assigned to the hotel according to the city they are going to, and will be sent to the hotel for isolation by a special car. Xiaopeng was assigned to the New Lake Hotel and began a 14-day quarantine.
It took a total of 30 hours for Xiaopeng to travel from the UK to the isolation hotel. Back at the first meal in the embrace of the motherland, Xiaopeng took a picture and sent it to the circle of friends to commemorate.
Because the duration of master's degree students in the UK is only one year, in order not to affect the graduation of international students, the school where Xiaopeng is located has issued an online course notice, and all subsequent exams are also conducted online. This means that if the epidemic continues, even if you are not studying in the UK, you can graduate by passing the online exam.
"If the epidemic continues, I don't plan to go back. The school will respect the wishes of the students, and at the same time send emails to update the epidemic situation and the measures to stay in the dormitory. But it is also regrettable that I went to study abroad and only stayed in the UK for six months. , Staying in the UK is also an online lesson, and I am very happy to be able to return home safely. "Xiaopeng said.
Medicines and household clothing are also scarce resources in the UK
The small high in Scotland has a lot of difficulties.
Schools in Scotland were closed in mid-March. The stores outside were basically closed except for supermarkets. Some large supermarkets only provide online shopping services to the elderly or those who are currently experiencing difficulties. Young people still have to go out and buy their own food.
"Except for grocery shopping, we hardly go out." Xiao Gao said that he would go out to buy food and daily necessities about every two weeks. He usually studies with his roommate at home how to cook. "Cooking is actually very decompressing and can pass the time. Otherwise, it ’s really easy to see depression every day as the number of confirmed cases rises. ”
According to Xiaogao, in local supermarkets, the purchase of toilet paper and pumping paper is restricted. One box for each pumping paper and one mention for each toilet paper. "I didn't really understand why foreigners hoard toilet paper at first, but when I saw that the toilet paper shelves were empty, I bought some back with them, but I didn't buy too much. I didn't think it was necessary. It was enough. "
In addition to toilet paper, milk, eggs, and flour are more likely to be out of stock in supermarkets. In addition, some household clothing is often out of stock on the Internet.
"I have a postdoctoral senior. Recently, kidney stones have relapsed. I can only get some pain medicine back to the emergency department. It has no effect. The return ticket he bought has been canceled." Xiao Gao said.
In order to do well in epidemic prevention, Xiao Gao also wanted to stock up on the necessary medicines, but currently in the UK, medicines are not easy to buy. "The British NHS (National Health Service System) recommends that people hoard some medicines, which contain medicines for fever and cough. I bought these and pharyngeal sugar. Because the British government advocates 'boiled through', if you have fever symptoms, You can take some medicine to relieve the symptoms, make your throat more comfortable, and then take painkillers and antipyretics to lower your body temperature. "
Xiao Gao said that he originally wanted to buy some Chinese patent medicines such as Lotus Qingwen Capsules, but they could not be bought in the UK. "Some people sell it in the circle of friends. A box of 105 yuan is too expensive. I later bought some paracetamol (non-resistant Yan Jie fever analgesics), but this medicine is also limited to purchase. "
If you are abroad, you can also distribute food in the circle of friends
"My main social life right now is to make a circle of friends." This is a circle of friends released by Xiao Xu studying in Tokyo, Japan, and then she routinely exposed the lunch she made that day-fish-flavored pork, which is already a small one. On the 25th consecutive day, Xu dried his lunch in the circle of friends.
In her circle of friends, Huang Braised Chicken Rice, Pineapple Crunch Meat, Eggplant Braised Noodles, Egg Burrito and so on, the daily lunch is not different. "When I was busy in school, I didn't have time to tinker with these, and I didn't have time to take pictures and take pictures. Now cooking, taking pictures, and posting a circle of friends have become a must-have social activity for my home for more than a month." Xiao Xu .
Fearing that his studies will be affected, plus some practical reasons, although Xiao Xu studying in Japan had the idea of returning to China, he soon gave up. "Now is Japan's college season. From various circumstances, it is not convenient to go back. And it takes 14 days to return to the country, and there are risks on the way, so I stay in Japan." Xiao Xu told the reporter of China Economic Weekly Say.
"The situation in Japan is actually more 'bulk'. The current situation is that schools are closed and large-scale activities are temporarily suspended. However, except for students who are not in class, the gathering of Japanese people still gathers, and almost all are very normal in life. "Xiao Xu said that most of himself and his friends are still relatively careful.
Faced with criticism, the international student community is eager to get understanding
Due to the inappropriate behavior of some international students in the process of returning to China, the group of international students has been criticized by some netizens, and many international students hope to get the understanding and support of domestic compatriots.
Xiao Gao said: "It is true that some people go home like" Uncle ", but it does not mean that all international students, many people are still very qualified and very grateful. Now there are some netizens in China who hate to study foreign students and say that they are" poisonous " We are very uncomfortable to see such remarks. Let ’s do ourselves well and prevent epidemic seriously. After all, it should not be infected without going out. Is there not a Chinese community in Italy where no one is infected? The Chinese are in the epidemic prevention It's done very well in this respect. "
"Seeing the criticism of the international student community on the Internet is quite angry and aggrieved. It's really exhausting to use a case to represent the whole group. There are also many people who choose not to go back to cause trouble for everyone." Xiao Xu said.
At the same time, some international students were very moved after receiving the care of their motherland. Recently, a Chinese international student exposed the health pack issued by the Chinese embassy in Italy, which contained Lianhua Qingwen capsules and masks. In particular, he was particularly touched by a detail: there was a piece of paper in it that read, "Xiao Youxu, the rice is like hometown", and the two poems were hand-written by brush. Ink penetrating the paper, the words carefully!
Editor-in-Chief | Zhou Qi