On her first day back home from New York City where she originated, Miyawaki Sakura barely managed to take a shower and changed her clothes, finished half a cup noodle, and conked out. 

She left all luggage at the doorway unopened and slept for almost 24 hours.

That is probably a good start of her 14-days coronavirus self-quarantine – if sleeping is a healing process. The one-week visit to her hometown to report on its Asian community under the pandemic has physically and emotionally drained the photojournalist. However, the real torture of the trip was the 14 hours flight back to Korea. Being trapped in the narrow economy seats with 200 other passengers who were flocking home from abroad, Sakura literally sealed herself up in a disposable raincoat with a mask and goggles. She didn't eat nor drink nor go to the washroom. She rubs her hands with hand sanitizer whenever she touched anything. During the whole journey, she was soaked in sweat and felt very uncomfortable. Yes, call her a coward, but why should she want to get sick after witnessing how malicious this virus can be? Not to mention protecting oneself is a civic duty in the time of the pandemic.

Her bed was the only faith that helped her survive the hellish trip. Thus, Day 1 passed easily by sleeping away.

Day 2 was an extremely busy day. Sakura needed to do all the unpacking and cleaning, texting her mom and her boss, etc., in addition, to explain to the authority why she failed to report her situation on Day 1.

Sakura's mom who is living in New York gave her lots of food for the quarantine, but she has to disinfect them first, so she decided to order food delivery instead. While waiting, she did the laundry and cleaned up the apartment. It took 2 hours before the delivery arrived. Sakura quickly wore her mask and rushed to the door when the doorbell rang, but the bag of food was placed on the floor at her doorway and the delivery man fled already.

It was unpleasant.

Nevertheless, she ate and went back to her routine. She retouched her photos and did the write-ups. When she finished everything and sent them to her boss, it was already 5 a.m. She wouldn't do anything before any feedback.

She felt tired, but not sleepy.

Jetlag...

But why bother? She still has 12 days to go before she needs to face the world again. Isn't it the best time to indulge herself with Netflix and video games she likes? She has this otaku dream of not going out of her room for a year when she was young.

She picked up her Switch and started playing the newly downloaded game "Animal Crossing". She immersed in the game and forgot about time. She ate the popcorn snacks she bought from New York and went to the bathroom only when she felt the urge and slept when she was exhausted. She didn't care which timezone she was living in and skipped meals and even shower for two whole days.

When Sakura wakes up at 6:30 on Day 5, she is not sure if it is 6:30 in the morning or 6:30 in the