The queues of hungry by Pacho Coulchinsky

Covid 19 - Chapter 85 - or… What happened in my convulsed town on day 85 of this endless quarantine?

Autumn gave us a disgustingly sticky day, with terrible humidity and a temperature above 25º C, despite being only a week away from winter. I tried to console myself thinking that the cold, unforgiving South wind would come any moment to sweep dry the sidewalks that I walk every day. I hoped too that it would ease hearts in the process; troubled with so much pandemic and bad news.

At mid-morning, I came across a long line of people who meandered for several blocks and rounded the corners of my neighborhood. My curiosity led me to the head of that seemingly endless snake and I arrived at the door of a large store run by the Bolivian community, where bags of food were being delivered. The colourful snake measured about 800 meters!!!

A Bolivian community in this lost town in the interior of the interior of Argentina???

Argentina has been a country of promise, the destination of thousands of immigrants in its last 150 years of history. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, a great wave of Europeans and inhabitants of the Middle East landed in Buenos Aires and became dispersed within our territory. They escaped from hunger and wars. For example: my paternal grandparents, Jews, escaped from the Pogroms of Tsarist Russia; my maternal grandparents, from hunger and poverty in Lebanon; my wife's grandparents, from impoverished Italy after the First War, and so on. Thousands and thousands of stories. In recent decades, this wave of immigrants is mainly made up of our neighbours: Bolivians, Paraguayans, Peruvians ... now Venezuelans, and also thousands of people from the far East, especially China.

The Bolivians who came to Reconquista started selling clothes for the whole family at very affordable prices, in stores that belong to a countrywide network. This has made them very popular and their sales significant. For this and other reasons which I will not expand upon, Bolivian merchants are not viewed with sympathy by their local competition.

Immediately I could not resist the desire to record a historical event as a result of this crazy pandemic: Bolivian citizens who came to my country dreaming of a life that would lift them out of poverty, with safe work, with the guarantee of free education at all levels, especially the access to the excellent public university education of my country... GIVING FOOD??? Advertising manoeuvre… return of favours… limitless generosity? The questions skyrocket, but the important thing about all this is that a large number of people were receiving something very necessary and scarce at the moment: food.

It's also fair to ask: Did all the people who were waiting in that seemingly endless queue really need this food? Maybe yes ... maybe no. I do not know.

People within the business worked tirelessly to distribute said food, but suddenly municipal officials arrived, demanding that the protocols required in this Pandemic be followed. Impossible to make order of so many people’s anxiety !!! .... chinstraps, regulatory distance, cleaning of hands and feet ... a real madness.

What was the motive of the inspectors? Stop the delivery of food? I decided to mediate and explain to the inspectors that this decision would be a mistake: imagine the reaction of all these people who are waiting for their food bag! “Do you think they will go home like empty lambs after waiting hours in this terrible weather?”

The situation relaxed a little, the police arrived ... fortunately, the task was finished. I also retired because it was time to go back to my work. In the afternoon someone informed me that the decision was made to close the store of my Bolivian friends because the protocols had not been respected, something that was true.

I took the phone and communicated with friends at the Municipal House and reminded them of that quasi-millennial law: “The greater good must be above the lesser evil” ... without forgetting that the political cost of such a decision would be something terrible for the current government.

Around 7 PM the store opened its doors and it’s closure was already history. Bolivians: happy!!!... and many with a plate of food on their tables for at least the next few days.

My head laid upon the pillow in that anteroom of death that is sleep, I tried to make sense of my thoughts concerning this eventful afternoon…

Suddenly, the long awaited South wind bludgeoned us with all its power throughout the night. This nest of contradictory passions that is my people, like yours and that of the neighbour, was being purified.

Sheet and tablecloth

Its are rags of being human

if human they let it be.

Simple poor's gala

and not fancy bourgeois

that you can have a lot

but have no one with whom.

The son of the elements

weaves them more than once

and can with green leaf

adorn your nudity.

Wild one who sleeps miserly

and it kills hunger standing up.

Sheet and tablecloth.

They don't give them to you in jail

and no matter how much they give you

in exile they don't usually

relieve sleep or thirst

because they don't know the story

written on your skin.

One stained with wine

what a sign of joy is

and the other moistened

with dew to love

that no one is missing

in this cruel world.

María Elena Walsh (Argentine poet 1930-2011)

Pacho Coulchinsky

A Journal of The Plague: Two-Week Quarantine in South Korea by Michael Kennedy

May Quarantine #20.jpg — **A Journal of The Plague: Two-Week Quarantine in South Korea**

**by Michael Kennedy**

Introduction

Monday, April 27, 2020 – Arrival in Seoul from Los Angeles: 5 a.m.

The Mission

Leave Seoul on Friday, April 24 - and return immediately as a 90-day tourist, without enduring a government mandated two-week quarantine anywhere during the experience.

I have lived in Seoul for 10 years. For nearly half this period, I worked as a high school teacher at the Yongsan U.S. Army base. This provided me a special Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) visa.

Since my retirement in 2016, I have had the status of a 90-day tourist in South Korea. I’m here, and nowhere else because of my Korean girlfriend. She is also my age and retired. I cannot imagine experiencing the Third Act of my life without her.

Of course a residency card via marriage is the easy answer to my problem. Sookyung and I plan to make our arrangement legal. However, I seem to be married to someone else. These things happen.

Los Angeles offered the best option for entering a country along the Pacific Rim without any quarantine policy. This also helps explain why the U.S. has the highest death rate for the Chinese virus in the world … now at 56,000.

Guam offered a sensible option to returning to the United States – until the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier docked with a shipload of infected sailors in mid-April. All Korean airlines cancelled flights to Guam immediately.

On to Hell-A.

South Korea does have a two-week quarantine that applies to all arriving travelers – including nationals … with an exception for home duration if there is proof of a local residency.

All travelers entering South Korea – foreign or national, must submit to daily monitoring of both location and health conditions. This helps explain why South Korea has one of the lowest death rates for the Chinese virus in the world … now at 243.

Before I bought a round-trip ticket to Los Angeles on Korean Air, I asked the same question several times:

- “If I have a residential address in Seoul, can I fulfil the quarantine policy at that location?”

- And each time, the answer was: “Yes.”

The real answer is that I am …

“On lockdown, like penitentiary.”

- Doin’ Time/Summertime (Uptown Dub) (1997)

Sublime

Mission Impossible

For the next two weeks, I’m in quarantine in a dormitory room at Semyung University, with a view of a lake from my generic third-floor balcony. This is 125 miles southeast of Seoul, in the low-rolling Daemi Mountains of Jecheon.

Although I arrived here by 10:30 a.m. today after landing from Los Angeles at 5 a.m., the official two-week period begins tomorrow. I will get out of jail on Tuesday, May 12.

Sookyung did everything possible to intercede with Korean Immigration and gave assurances that we are a legitimate couple, and that I should be able to fulfill the mandatory quarantine from “home.”

“Where is your residency card?” the Korean Immigration official asked me at Incheon Airport.

“I don’t have one,” I said. “I live in Seoul with my girlfriend – for the past six years. On a tourist visa.”

“No residency card?”

“That’s correct”

“Then that’s 30-days in the hole.”

“Chicago Green, talkin' 'bout Red Lebanese
A dirty room and a silver coke spoon
Give me my release, come on
Black Nepalese, it's got you weak in your knees
Seeds and dust that you got bust on
You know it's hard to believe.”

- Steve Marriott

Humble Pie - Smokin” (1972)

Day #1 – Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Since the plague came to town, I have not seriously used a camera since my visa-run to Fukuoka on February 7. I went into self-quarantine as a matter of common sense. Korea – which is to say South Korea, did not go into lockdown like most countries. However, for the first six-weeks of Fear and Loathing in Seoul, most people kept a low-profile.

My usual pockets for street photography in downtown Seoul have dried up.

For my visa-run to Los Angeles, I took my Ricoh GR II because it’s light and durable.

Out of sheer boredom, I’ve used the camera to document my present cell – since Room #306 feels like jail.

I just want my life back.

When I arrived at LAX – with 54,000 Americans already dead from the Chinese virus, there was no medical screening.

No questions asked by U.S. Immigration officials, not even:

- Do you have the Chinese virus?

- Do you favor a Lysol cocktail?

- Do you object to nude photos of First Lady Melania Trump?”

Most of the staff wore facemasks – but only about half the passengers. LAX looked like a ghost town. Most all shops were closed.

The same was true of Incheon Airport when I left Seoul on Friday. The difference is that before you could check-in at Korean Air, there was a temperature check, and some serious interview questions about health.

The difference tells the whole story.

The attempt to leave Korea, step into another country and return here for a 90-day visa has become ungodly expensive - but all you need is love.

Day #2 – Wednesday, April 29, 2020

I am a negative person.

I’ve been told this numerous times throughout my life. The comments always resulted from my attitude, which happened on the home front during high school, the college that expelled me, and two or three employers who abruptly showed me the door.

Today, when I emerged from quarantine in Room #306 long enough at noon to pick up the generic airplane food that is delivered to the door, there was a large envelope with my name in English. It contained a one-sheet record of my COVID 19 test from yesterday.

I am a negative person, and this time it’s good news for a change.

Yesterday two health workers, a young male and female entered the general area wearing some quasi-science fiction looking space garments to administer a COVID 19 test to me. They were pleasant and spoke some English – with a proficiency that easily exceeded my Korean.

The test consisted of jamming a thick tongue depressor into my mouth and taking a swab of the interior, followed by a long thin Q-tip inserted into one passage of my nose that felt like it reached my brain stem.

My English was very impolite when this happened.

Day #3 – Thursday, April 30, 2020

It is another fun day in Room #306 in the middle of fucking nowhere.

If Dostoevsky could manage four years of exile with hard labor at a katorga prison camp in Siberia, I can manage two weeks of chillax behavior here.

Yet I can’t begin to linger at the well of self-pity in light of Nelson Mandela and his 27-years of solitary confinement.

Day #5 – Saturday, May 2, 2020

While I must endure my sentence in Room #306 in order to reach home like an exaggerated version of Odysseus on his journey back to Penelope, I sometimes imagine myself as Thomas Merton (1915-1968), Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion.

Here I am in my austere surroundings with time suspended and only an electronic device or two for contact with the outside world. The airplane food is placed outside the front door, and the same old soothing female voice alerts all prisoners that it’s time to eat.

I can feel the imaginary ankle chains, like Paul Newman scuttling along in Cool Hand Luke.

Thomas Merton comes to mind now because the Benedictine Order (Ordo Sancti Benedicti) – while not exacting a vow of silence, there are such lengthy periods of contemplative silence throughout the day that the tradition is virtual policy.

Day #6 – Sunday, May 3, 2020

These are wretched times, and I’m waiting for Americans to rise up and overthrow the corrupt charlatan in the White House.

My country – regarded as the richest in the world now has 65,776 people dead from the Chinese virus. They are not so much dead from the Chinese virus as they are from the abject unfitness of a deranged narcissist like Trump. Yes, drink bleach; that will help.

I cannot understand why Americans have not taken a rope, tied his old white legs to the rear axle of a pick-up truck and dragged him through the streets of New York City. My God, 65,776 people dead in eight weeks. That’s more than the American deaths in the 20-year Vietnam War. Eight weeks v 20 years.

Day #8 – Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Today marks Day #8 of my captivity in Room #306. Seven down, and seven more to go.

The death toll in the U.S, - as of this morning, is 69,355 people. While Donald Trump and ladyboy Jared Kushner are trying to sell the American people a broken down car and calling it a new Executive model.

Meanwhile, Trump’s Wall Street racketeers benefit from his Crony Capitalism. As long soup kitchen lines form in New York City, experts predict the death rate in America will be 3,000-per day within three weeks.

Day #9 – Wednesday, May 6, 2020

I’ve been very busy this morning, and cleared my schedule to wash a polo shirt in the bathroom sink. It’s all down hill now.

Foolish me, I did not pack for a two-week quarantine, and I have not lived in a dorm room in 50-years.

This one is austere … barebones, almost Spartan. I’ve seen worse.

Yesterday I ruminated about some of the places I’ve lived during my exciting high-octane life.

For one-night stays, the absolute worst was a semi-derelict hotel in Poza Rico, located in the state of Veracruz in Mexico – near the site of El Tijin, a spectacular Mayan pyramid. I passed through the town in 2000. The hotel was straight out of Peckinpah’s Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). It’s the only place in the world I’ve stayed where the TV was chained to the wall.

Day #10 – Thursday, May 7, 2020

The idea of 74,807 dead Americans in two months – and a President who offers no empathy, no plans, no leadership – only ambivalence … it is beyond shocking. We can read about the atrocities committed by Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, and so many others – but that’s “others,” not us … never us … not America.

I’m struck today by Rick Wilson’s article in the The Daily Beast. Wilson is an interesting fellow. A long time Republican strategist, he has broken with his past and is dedicated to defeating Trump. Wilson is also behind The Lincoln Project, which just aired Mourning in America.

The man really behind The Lincoln Project is George Conway … the husband of Kellyanne Conway. There are a lot of just absolutely strange marriages, and Blowjob Bill and Hillary Clinton easily come to mind – but the Conways now set the bar.

Day #12 – Saturday, May 9, 2020

There were some documents (in English) with this morning’s gourmet airplane food about my release from Room #306.

I will bust out Tuesday morning – on a bus to Seoul that will take me to Seoul Station, the biggest in the city. I know the place well. This is where the Gray Panthers have gathered the past three years to protest against their corrupt President, alternately chanting: “Down with Moon Jae-in,” and “Moon Jae-in is a Communist.” The usual slings and arrows directed at the clown driving the bus of the ruling elite … everywhere in the world.

The drop-off at Seoul Station puts me six subway stops from home – about 12-minutes, altogether.

I can kvetch about the austerity of my circumstances, but this ain’t no Hezbollah Hotel in Beirut during the 1980s. This marks Day #12, and I’ve been left entirely alone.

Two health workers administered a COVID-19 test to me on the first day, which was negative.

A week later another health worker stopped by and violated my ear with a medical instrument for a body temperature check.

So far, that’s it.

I don’t see where this measures whether I might be infected 12 days after entering Korea from another country – specifically the U.S. where 78,615 Americans have died.

Day #13 – Sunday, May 10, 2020

Little Richard is dead. Long live the King.

Little Richard’s death at 87 is a vivid reminder of all that I miss about America, a land that is enriched by its diversity. What makes Rock & Roll one of the finest expressions of art is the multi-cultural tapestry of traditions and heritages and genres that bind Americans together, and has given a lasting gift to the world.

Richard Penniman (1932-2020), an androgynous black man who came of age in Macon, Georgia – during the Jim Crow era, was an inspiration to generations of people.

Was Little Richard gay? Yes, yet who cares?

Was Little Richard bi-sexual? Yes, yet who cares?

Did Little Richard show the courage to be true to himself, and express himself through music that was uplifting and inspiring? He did this all – for a truly American genre, and proved how much richer we are for our diversity.

How did Thomas Merton endure his time at the Benedictine Abbey, and his virtual vow of silence? He was obviously not Irish.

How did Nelson Mandela make it for 27-years in solitary confinement without losing all hope … and his mind? This was a man of intractable toughness.

The death of Little Richard evokes nostalgia for an America that no longer exists.

When James Joyce (1882-1941) left Ireland for good in 1912 to live as an expatriate in Trieste, Paris and later Zurich, he carried with him a map of Dublin that he posted on the wall near his writing desk. The Dublin of his imagination existed for Joyce the rest of his life.

I carry with me a map of St. Louis for the same reasons. What I miss about that city on the Mississippi River belongs to the past – yet as William Faulkner (1897-1962) said: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

Long live Little Richard. Long live American Rock&Roll.

Right now I could use a cheeseburger and fries with a strawberry shake from Shake Shack.

Day #14 – Monday, May 11, 2020

My 30-days in the hole end at midnight. It’s only 14-days, yet it feels twice as long.

Here is what I’ve missed during incarceration:

- Sookyung;

- my faithful canine, Rorie the Wonder Dog;

- freedom;

- uncensored internet;

- my book collection;

- genuine Korean food, not this airplane food rubbish;

- the city of Seoul, especially walks around Namdaemun Market with a camera.

Since I began this effort to acquire another 90-day tourist visa, I have written 50-pages of letters to friends.

I am homeward bound.

Michael Kennedy

Last Dance by Aviram Bar-Akiva

The first time I met the Holy Lindy Land group was at an open air party in the streets of Tel-Aviv. It was a warm and humid summer night and they held a dance jam in Dizingoff square during the summer solstice parties of 2016. It was during of my early photowalks, the first year I started shooting street photographs. The Holy Lindy Land dance group take themselves seriously and their focus is Swing.

Swing is a group dance developed from Jazz music in the 1920s. The Lindy hop is the most popular style of Swing originated in Harlem, New-York, in the 1930s. Their fluid dance moves and stylish outfits immediately caught my eye and a nostalgic feeling of a different era overtook me.

So it was more than a pleasant surprised when I got a call from Ron, one of the group managers, with a tip about coming to their dance jam one Friday night. “It is a special night for us” he told me, “we are saying our farewells”.

They gathered for dance jams regularly on Friday nights, but this time it was different. They grouped together to say their farewells, last Holy Lindy Glam-Jam of 2016, last Jam in their favorite dancehall of “Bikurei Haitim”. It was built somewhere in 1960s in a central spot in Tel-Aviv, and still held its charm.

The authorities had given them notice, and according to the city planners the old dancehall must be taken down. The following year they were going to build an elementary school on the same site. On Sunday the bulldozers were going to take the building down.

However, on this, their last Friday there, they put such thoughts aside and danced the night away.

Aviram Bar-Akiva

Beduins in Israel by Neta Dekel

The Beduins in Israel is one of the minorities that believe in the Islam Religion. They are around 3.5% of the Israeli population and are based mainly in the south of the country, in the Negev.

The Beduins origin is in the Arab peninsula and from the second century, they migrated north and up to the land of the future to be a part of Israel.

In the modern times, the Beduins have a lot of problems. On the one hand, they want to preserve the lifestyle of ancestors, but on the other, they are forced to adopt to the modern times of fixed houses, industrialisation, equal rights for women and much more.

The Beduins, unlike the other Muslims in Israel, are serving in the army, and try to blend into society, but for many years, the government failed to treat the Beduins as equals. Thus, most of the Beduins population are still living in tents and other types of temporary housing.

Rahat is the biggest city of Beduins in Israel and it is the first and only attempt of the government to move the Beduins from the temporary housing to fixed-place city.

The result of the collision of cultures is a very problematic society, full with anger and frustration that results in crime and violence.

I was visiting the City of Rahat and the surroundings a few years ago. I tried to bring back the sights and scents of the local market and the modern Beduins way of living.

Corona Department at Hadassah Medical Center

Jerusalem

Deep silence, these are the first words that come to my mind immediately after entering the Corona Department at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. As if everything is in parts: patients and therapists, religious and seculars, women and men, Jews and Arabs, respired and non-respired..... But after a few minutes of being there everything blends into a new dynamic dance with new and precise rules.

Therapists are dressed in protective clothing according to international rules, all similar, the same clothes and colours. Only their eyes are seen through which they try to express, it's hard to understand if there is a smile, if there is a wordless message. But it is not enough. Recently, an idea began to be implemented - each therapist's photo will be attached to himself or herself, perhaps this will allow a sense of closeness. They are constantly in a hovering movement, do not give up contact with the patient, come close without fear, talk to them, ask professional but also personal questions and everything quietly resonates.

The patients, most of them from Jerusalem, some standing and waiting, some lying down, others using oxygen, many praying, wishing and hoping for health, and more health and more health... Everyone is surprised, as if they do not understand what they are doing there, wonder when this "dream" will end, when will the miracle cure, or the long-awaited vaccine, arrive.

All together, close to each other, communication is minimal. Despite the human presence in every corner of the department, the loneliness envelops everyone, each one has closed himself off. Then I meet a couple of patients who both got Coronavirus. They are not alone, they are together. Smiling, laughing, talking about the wonderful care, the children and especially the conversations through the zoom with the grandchildren, conversations with no contact or ability to hug and kiss. They are optimistic, she can already go out of the hospital to a hotel, he is still symptomatic and so she stays with him, in love, for better or worse, always together.

In another room, I meet a religious man whose attention is given to a Rabbi, a famous religious litigator. The Rabbi lies supported with oxygen, he has a sweet and warm look, in him neither anger nor frustration, speaking quietly, in Yiddish.

In the corner of the room sits a young, religious man who puts on Tefillin with piety and deep concentration. To him we are not there, no one is there, only he and his God, his God whom he trusts to heal him and all the people of Israel. Then the Intensive Care Unit. Another story. Everyone is euthanized, respired. Here no one will remember what he was going through at this time. In spite of the medical equipment they are connected to, they have a deep, peaceful sleep. The brothers and sisters look after them like parents to their children.

These were unique, sad-filled photography days, full of human beauty of therapists and patients so different but so similar in their character.

Bruno Lavi

A glimpse to corona frontier inside an Israeli hospital

00-JDSC08102 (Custom).jpg — **A glimpse to corona frontier inside an Israeli hospital**

**by Raviv Meyouhas**

It’s Corona time.

The illusive virus that attacks worldwide makes us change our mind set and behavior. We all watch the news and try to adapt to a new reality that is forced on us for the past few weeks.

But it’s not only us as individuals that have to adapt. It is the entire state that needs to change rapidly, and especially the health system which stands to fight at the front of this battle.

It is a huge challenge for the health system and especially the hospitals to make the necessary changes, and make them fast, in front of a new disease that spreads quickly and kills thousands indiscriminately.

A hospital is a big and complex organization that employs thousands, and has to make many major adjustments in a matter of few days or weeks: split the ER to corona patients and non-corona patients; build new and special corona departments; write and apply new working procedures; change staff’s shifts; use special equipment and much more.

This unique challenge is very intriguing for me as an industrial engineer and a photography enthusiast, and I decided to do a documentary photography project at Rambam Healthcare Campus in Haifa Israel, not far from where I live.

Rambam is the largest hospital in the north of Israel, and I knew it is making a huge effort to prepare for hundreds of COVID-19 patients. I received the management approval for the project, made the proper arrangements and went to shoot at the heart of the hospital for two days, including inside the corona department.

Day 1 – Getting familiar with the changes

My first exciting day started at the ER.

To my surprise it was almost empty. In usual days the ER is packed with people and action, but these days most people are afraid to come to the hospital and prefer to stay at home, which is a risky decision. There were only 10-15 patients at the two regular wings. The other two wings of the ER were dedicated for suspected COVID-19 patients, and most of the beds were empty.

It’s easy to notice the difference between the wings. At the regular wings the staff and the patients wear masks, but at the corona wings the staff wears special protective clothing, and nobody gets in or out unless authorized.

I stood for a while at the ER near the security desk, trying not to obstruct the staff’s work, when someone told me a new corona patient is arriving. I rushed outside to see the ambulance team wearing white astronaut-like clothing take him out of the vehicle and bring him inside the ER, straight to the COVID-19 wing. Everything was done quickly and quietly with great care and caution. The patient was taken inside the closed wing where I couldn’t follow him anymore.

I noticed the staff at the COVID-19 wings suffers from heat inside their heavy protective clothing. From time to time they tried to relieve some of the tension, joke a little, move around in the long corridor, and chill themselves with a glass of cool water.

My wife which is a doctor in the hospital came to take me to my next stop - the brand new COVID-19 section. There are two new departments in this section, one of them is active with patients, and the other one is ready in case more patients will come. We visited the second department so I can walk freely and see how it’s built and organized. It was completely established in four days (!), including all the essential medical equipment, special communication systems and safety measures. Very impressive.

We continued to the control room of the active COVID-19 department. A staff of three watches over the patients 24/7 using big screens. They talk with the patients using communication systems, assist and guide them when needed. All the communication is done in a calm and kind way that gives confidence.

I took a few shots, we thanked the staff and went on to our next stop - the underground parking. Floor minus 3 is a huge parking lot designed to operate as an emergency hospital. Cars don’t park there at this time, and hospital teams work around the clock to turn the parking lot into a hospital with a potential capacity of 2000 beds. The infrastructure is ready, but a lot of equipment hasn’t arrived yet and there’s a lot of work to be done. This area will be used only if there will be hundreds of patients or more.

We finished the first day tour at the hospital management, where the nurses were having a meeting about the plans for the next stage. It was encouraging to see the great teamwork.

Day 2 – The heart of the fight

This day was dedicated to the COVID-19 department and labs.

My wife took me to the corona department and gave me different colored clothing and a detailed brief of what I can do and what I can’t. At the dressing room a nurse guided me step by step how to wear the special protective clothing. The procedure took a few minutes and I felt fine and quite comfortable. My breathing was OK, I could see clearly through the transparent face shield, and I knew I’ll be OK as long as I follow the instructions. It wasn’t bad for a short visit, but I’m quite sure it’s not the nicest feeling to do that on regular basis...

We went inside the department – a senior nurse, my wife and me. There were only few patients at the department, and one of them, I’ll call him “Mr. D”, was willing to tell us his story and to be photographed. Great !

Mr. D. told us in a quiet voice he was sick for some time, his condition got worse and he was connected to a respirator for 5 days. Now he can finally breathe by his own !

It was clear to see his enormous gratitude to the staff. Only now he begins to understand how critical his condition was. We all got emotional and I took a photo of the Mr. D. surrounded by the staff.

While walking in the department’s corridors I discovered that preparations were made for all kinds of cases like a birth, dialysis and other things. Challenging and impressive.

The patients that are in good condition need some distraction and activities, so the department includes a small but equipped training room (donation of Decathlon), reading books that people donated, and even a smoking area at the open terrace.

We left the department, undressed one by one with the guidance of the nurse, and took a deep breath. And then another one.

But this was not the end. We went next to the laboratories where COVID-19 tests are done. The laboratory workers work very hard, quietly and efficiently. I got as close as I could and took a few shots.

This was the end point of my tour, which turned out to be an exclusive, almost adventurous experience. I admire the hospital staff for their professional work, consistency and dedication.

THEY ARE THERE FOR US.

They took the load on their backs, and they adapted to the new condition and requirements admirably.

This is true not only to Rambam hospital, but also to other hospitals and health teams all over Israel and around the world.

I hope we won’t need their care. Stay at home, and STAY SAFE !

Special thanks to Rambam hospital management, and especially Mr. David Ratner, the spokesperson of the hospital, and my dear wife – Yael, that accompanied and guided me in this unique tour.

Las Vegas

6th to 8th day and the days after, when I went back home

Hi!

Here's a short report from my 6th to 8th day in Las Vegas and the days after, when I went back home. Wednesday, March 11th to Sunday, March 15th.

* Wednesday: Breakfast and then got out on the streets. I had noticed, while riding the bus between Downtown and The Strip on previous days, that there's quite a long stretch of city between these areas which is not as busy as I thought it would be. Many abandoned lots, with or without abandoned buildings on them. The Arts District is in this part of town too. Which is nice, but with a feel of a formerly abandoned industrial park about it. The day before I had the idea to explore this part of town. I realized not many people would be there, but at the end of the trip, I felt I needed to do something different. To fit the vast empty spaces, I put on my Zeiss Batis 25 mm lens instead of the 35 mm I had used during most of this trip. The photos in this blog were all shot during a 6 hour walk between the Plaza Hotel and the Stratosphere and back again.

* Thursday: Gym and tanning at the pool. The news that Trump had stopped all Europeans from entering the US came. My airline said flights would be cancelled, but not how many or which. Decided to wait out the information instead of buying a ticket to the UK, which was exempted from Trump's ban. I had planned to go streeting in The Strip again, but all energy for shooting left me when this news came. Packed my bags in the early evening.

* Friday: Woke early and checked the Scandinavian Airlines facebook and web pages immediately. The information was there. My flight from LA on the Sunday was cancelled. My original plan, to go by bus back to LA on this day and have another day of shooting there before going home would not work.

* I started looking at alternatives. I wanted to get home sooner rather than later, since the situation in the world was changing so rapidly, with new countries closing their borders almost every hour. I managed to get a new ticket back home through San Francisco, Copenhagen and Stockholm before landing in my home town Umeå. Taking the bus to SF from Vegas would be 14 and a half hours, so I decided to find a flight instead. Got one with United at 3.52 pm. Booked a hotel near San Francisco airport and unbooked the one in LA.

* While waiting at the gate, I checked some news again and saw that Denmark had closed its borders. Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and I was worried that transfers wouldn't work either.

* After finding the SF hotel, I had a nice walk along the Bay waterfront and an even nicer dinner of ribs at the Elephant Bar, right across the parking lot from the hotel.

* Saturday: Woke early and checked the news. The Danish police had issued a message saying that all transfers at Copenhagen airport would be OK.

* Did a pretty good session at the hotel gym and took a nice, long shower. Breakfast was included in this place. I enjoyed it at a slow pace, since my flight wasn't until 6:30 pm.

* Sunday: Spent in planes and airports, got home at about 7 pm.

Take care, everybody!

Niklas

The other Amsterdam by Frans Kemper

Amsterdam is like many other European cities intensively visited by tourists.

The social media are full of mostly the same (and lovely) images of the many attractions this city has to offer.

Usually with some tulips or stroopwafels. A pity the famous sign “I AMSTERDAM” disappeared in front of the Rijksmuseum, as this was also a beloved place for images and selfies.

There are some fundamental differences though…(Excuse the light hearted way I penned this)

First of all, Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. The others are not…. :-)

Amsterdam is compact, all you want to see and visit is in walkable distance. Try that in Paris or London… (We do this on purpose as to keep the rest of the city to ourselves)

Amsterdam has more bikes than citizens and even more exciting are those locals who ride the bikes. They scream, yell, curse and don’t hold back if you are getting in there way… (If you know what I @#$%& mean…)

Amsterdam has the most canals of them all. (Yes you Venetians, start counting…)

Amsterdam has more culture per capita than any other city in the world. (No comments…)

Amsterdam has the oldest woman in the oldest profession. And they are twins! You can book a tour with them through their “working” neighbourhood. (The BEST attraction in town. The stories they tell you…)

Amsterdam is the first city where you can book your overnight stay in a 3D printed house from recycled material…(Bring your own plastic waste as the bathroom is still to be printed)

Amsterdam has the highest number of nationalities out of any city in the world: ± 178…(Never got to count them…)

Amsterdam lies below sea level, a whopping 6.7 meters at its lowest point. (And that’s why…)

Amsterdam has the tallest people in the world… (We all try to keep our head above water…)

BUT, and this explains my love for my own city: Amsterdam has the Amsterdammers…

⁃ We are professional criers and complainers

⁃ We have a very big heart

⁃ We are emotional

⁃ We have a dark sense of humour

⁃ We bike…always…no matter what and with anything, doing anything…

⁃ We love our city… There is one particular song about Amsterdam that brings every local to tears, myself included

Now with this out of the way, and leaving you with a loud and clear picture of my beloved city, here are some anti-tourist images of this magical place and its citizens….ENJOY!

Frans Kemper

PS1: If you are curious about that song, follow this link to see and hear it playing on the carillon of the famous Westertoren. Played on my request by carillonneur Boudewijn Zwart,

PS2: If you have any questions…. Please read it again…😎

4th and 5th day in Las Vegas by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here's a very very short report from my 4th and 5th day in Las Vegas, Monday-Tuesday, March 9th-10th.

* Monday: Gym, breakfast and tanning at the pool.

* Took the bus to the south end of The Strip and did a 5 hour photowalk in the opposite direction from last time.

* Tuesday was shopping day again, no photos. Done shopping now... ;-)

Take care, everybody!

Niklas

2nd and 3rd day in Las Vegas by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here's a short report from my 2nd and 3rd day in, Saturday-Sunday, March 6th-7th.

* On the Saturday I went to the gym in the morning. They have a larger gym here and I was able to a better, more diverse, session.

* Had breakfast and enjoyed the sun at the pool for a few hours.

* Took the bus to The Strip and did a 6 hour photowalk there. It was 9pm before I was back at the hotel, pretty damn tired!

* Sunday was shopping day, no photos.

Take care, everybody!

Niklas

11th day in Los Angeles, and first day in Las Vegas by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here's a short report from my 11th day in Los Angeles, Thursday, March 5th. And my first day in Las Vegas, Friday, March 6th.

* On the Thursday I went to the gym in the morning.

* Did a photowalk to Grand Central Market and had lunch there.

* Had a nice long session at the pool.

* Did some packing in the early evening.

* Went to The Regent and saw The Wood Brothers. What an awesome band! They are so tight, such great musicians and I just love their songs. This is the third time I've seen them, all in North America and this time I got to see them all the way up front in a small theatre.

* Got up early on the Friday and took the bus to the Greyhound station.

* It was a comfortable 5 hour bus trip to Las Vegas. Interesting to see the Mojave desert, beautiful scenery.

* Got there at 13.15 and checked in at The Plaza, which is located right at the bus station.

* Went for a photo walk in the area around the hotel. The famous Fremont Street Experience starts right at my door. Sensory overload craziness...

* Was busy fixing small practical things and looking Las Vegas-stuff up on the internet during the evening.

* Had Chinese food for dinner.

Take care, everybody!

Niklas

10th day in Los Angeles by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here's a short report from my 10th day in Los Angeles, Wednesday, March 4th.

* Read the guidebook while eating my pizza breakfast to get an idea of what to do on this day.

* Came up with the Getty Museum. Google said it would be almost 2 hours to get there with public transportation and they were correct. But it was fun to ride the subway and buses and do the trek.

* The Getty was really an amazing place. Gorgeous architecture up on a hill bathing in beautiful light and an amazing view! And a top class art museum of course. And free! :-)

* Started with the Michelangelo exhibition. They showed the drawings he did in preparation for his great paintings and sculptures. He burned most of these drawings but about 600 out of an estimated 28 000 remain.

* Went on to see some European painting from the 16th to 19th centuries and then saw the very nice photography section. I had planned to take a walk around the gardens, but the warm weather was gone and I made my way to the exit.

* Stopped at Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive to get some shots while there was still some low sunlight. It was too cold though, so it was a short session.

* Clicked away in the subway and while walking the few blocks back at the hotel.

Take care, everybody!

Niklas

9th day in Los Angeles by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here's a short report from my 9th day in Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 3rd.

* Slept util 8 and went down to the basement gym and did a good session.

* Breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts again, it's simply pretty good actually and a lot cheaper than the more fancy places.

* Went to LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It turned out to be 90% closed for renovations. But it's so huge that the 10% open was an OK museum visit.

* LACMA's neighbour is The La Brea Tar Pits. I became a tourist 100% and had a look at the pits and the museum for a while. It's a place where thousands of animals and trees became stuck in the oily tar and fossilised. Mainly during the last ice age. So lots of extinct large animals and so on, Interesting!

* Went back towards Downtown, but jumped off the bus in Koreatown. A bit underwhelming...

* Felt I had too little in the way of street photographs today and took a walk downtown also.

* Got a huge pizza at Wholesome Food for dinner. I only ate half. I will have pizza for breakfast tomorrow! :-)

Take care, everybody!

Niklas

8th day in Los Angeles by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here's a short report from my 8th day in Los Angeles, Monday, March 2nd.

* Like on Sunday, I slept a little late and went down to Dunkin' Donuts across the street for breakfast at around 9:30. A breakfast sandwich and a large black tea with honey. No donuts! :-)

* I decided to take a day off shooting and took a bus to a Laundromat I found through Google.

* All my clothes clean and dry I went back to Freehand Hotel just in time for the sun to swing around the skyscraper and send its rays onto my lounge chair by the pool.

* Four hours of relaxing later I felt that I shouldn't let that fine evening light go to waste and I took a short photo walk after all.

* After a while, I realized I was at the Grand Central Market.....and hungry! Did some shooting there first and then got tacos at the same place where I had the burrito for breakfast some days ago. Yummy!

* Walking back through streets now dark, my walk clocked in at just under 2 hours, including the break for dinner.

Take care, everybody!

Niklas

7th day in Los Angeles by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here's a short report from my 7th day in Los Angeles, Sunday, March 1st.

* Slept a little late and chatted with a German guy for a while, so some of the morning kind of slipped away.

* Went to the gym before breakfast. I normally like to have breakfast and digest it a bit before working out, but that is a bit time consuming, so today I just did it right away.

* Just had a cereal bar and some water for a quick breakfast and took the subway to Hollywood.

* Stumbled on a farmer's market which gave some photo ops I wasn't expecting there.

* Had a salmon bagel with a plate of veggies for an early lunch.

* For some reason, my back was giving me more trouble again, so walking around Hollywood wasn't as much fun as I had hoped. The weather was windy and cool, bordering on cold for the first time on this trip.

* I took frequent breaks and did a 4 hour walk in total before getting back and resting my back. Had a nice chat with a guy from Seattle.

* Dinner was a burger and sweet potato fries at Cassell's right across the street. The best burger so far on this trip!

Take care, everybody!

Niklas

5th and 6th days in Los Angeles by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here's a short report from my 5th and 6th days in Los Angeles, Friday & Saturday, February 28-29th.

* On Friday I did the gym routine before heading out to Santa Monica. It's a bit of a trek, it took about an hour by train.

* I walked the famous pier and then along the beach south to Venice Beach. This was the hottest day so far, 29C, which took its toll. The walk took almost 2 hours one way.

* Santa Monica was pretty subdued, but Venice is pure craziness!

* I wanted to take a bus back to Santa Monica, but couldn't find the stop. Instead, I found the hip Abbot Kinney Boulevard, and some inspiration came back (maybe rehydrating helped too)

* Finally found a bus a got back to Santa Monica for a late lunch at an old favourite, The Cheesecake Factory.

* Did a short tour of downtown SM and then got a nap while riding the train back to downtown LA.

* In the evening I went to see Whiskey Myers, a great experience. The audience really knew his songs, there was a lot of singalongs and a lot of rockin' and rollin'.

* The Saturday was a little cooler and I did a 3 hour walk downtown, almost magnetically drawn to the market areas around Los Angeles Ave.

* Relaxed by the pool a couple of hours and got a nice IPA and a bowl of chilli for dinner.

4th day in Los Angeles by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here are a few lines and 16 photos from my 4th day in Los Angeles, Thursday, February 27th.

* After breakfast, I got out on the streets and walked back towards the fashion district, where there is also a flower market.

* Had a quick look inside. I don't know what I had expected, but his place felt extremely sterile. Comparing it to the flower market in Bangkok is unfair I guess, but still... I sure couldn't be bothered paying the two dollar entry fee.

* Did the fashion extra properly instead.

* After that, I thought I'd check out the Greyhound station. I'm going to Vegas with by bus and I thought it might be good to check it out. The city quickly grew more and more dilapidated as I went east towards the station. The sidewalks became tent villages in many places. So many homeless people everywhere in this city...

* Coming back towards my hotel I stumbled upon The Last Bookstore and had a look at some photobooks. Too expensive or too large to buy anything this time... But it was tempting!

* Had a pepperoni pizza for lunch and then I realized I was sooo tired. Especially my leg muscles. I'm not used to walking so much in my everyday life, today was about 5 hours. I realize I have to pace myself a bit, this is a 3 week trip after all. I took a nap at the hotel and did the photo backup/editing thing. A quick dinner at the salad place next door.

Be well, everybody!

Niklas

Third day in Los Angeles by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here's a short report of my third day in Los Angeles, Wednesday, February 26th.

* I woke early, at 5:45. Went down to gym in the hotel basement at about 6:30.

* After a shower and a banana, I got out on the streets at 8 am.

* Walked north on Broadway. There are a lot of dilapidated movie theaters there, I guess it's all streaming services nowadays...

* Had a burrito for breakfast in the Grand Central Market. It was very tasty and very large and I felt full the whole day afterwards, Just had some tea and a small sandwich for lunch and another one for dinner.

* Moved north and east to Little Tokyo and then further north to Union Station. I have a love for shooting street at train stations, so the theme of Progressive Street's first exhibition suited me well! If we do another one, I have some new material! :D

* Checked out El Pueblo after the station. It's where the Spanish king Carlos III established what became Los Angeles in the late 1700's.

* Continues northwest to LA's Chinatown. A relatively lively market scene, both food and clothes.

* Did a full turn back towards the hotel and did a quick visit to the huge Cathedral of our lady of the angels. It was Ash Wednesday and the place was packed with people worshiping with ash crosses on their foreheads.

* Took the subway a couple of stops to save my aching body, it had been 5 hours of walking.

* Spent about 3 hours at the hotel's rooftop pool sunbathing, reading a book and kept myself cool by jumping in the water. They had a nice playlist going and I was reminded of some great old songs. Peter Tosh's Downpressor Man comes to mind.

* I felt I had some energy to enjoy the beautiful evening light and took a 2 hour photo walk in the more low end part of the fashion district. It was very colourful and that low sunlight sure helped. Thanks, Mark Guider, for the tip! :-)

First two days in Los Angeles by Niklas Lindskog

Hi!

Here's a short report of my first two days in Los Angeles, Monday-Tuesday, February 24-25.

* After many hours traveling, 25 if you count the overnight stay in Stockholm airport, I arrived at LAX and took the light train to Downtown LA and my hotel.

* I was very jetlagged and didn't feel like shooting, so I just had a look around the neighbourhood and took care of some small practical problems.

* Burger for dinner, so I can now truly feel that I'm in America again!

* The next morning I got a proper American breakfast with eggs and pancakes and more.

* I walked a couple of hours on a quest to replace my broken electricity adaptor, which brought me to some interesting neighbourhoods.

* At 11 I went to The Broad, a modern art museum where I had a reservation. Very inspiring art in a building with great looking architecture! It was also fun to shoot street in such a beautiful place!

* Made my way back to the hotel for an afternoon of editing, backing up and chatting with a couple of guys. (I'm in a dorm with 7 more people)

Take care, everybody!

Fear and Loathing in the Orient by Michael Kennedy

Seoul - February 01 #120.jpg — **The coronavirus:**

Fear and Loathing in the Orient
**by Michael Kennedy**

Every hour Seoul TV stations update the coronavirus body count in South Korea, China - and Japan.

South Korea is at the crossroads, flanked by China and Japan.

Geography is destiny - and since Korea is a peninsula of China, the coronavirus epidemic has South Koreans on edge with constant media coverage that vacillates between reassuring public service information, and reports that inspire fear and loathing.

There is North Korea on the political map, yet in reality the country does not exist. It is merely a gangster state operated by the third-generation of the Kim Family, a pretend Communist dynasty that survives off slave labor, human trafficking, the drug trade, illegal arms sales and cyber espionage to include bank robbery.

For perspective:

- from Seoul to Shanghai is 868 km - or 539 miles,

- from Seoul to Beijing is 958 km - or 595 miles,

- from Seoul to Tokyo is 1,153 km, or 716.

Whether going to China or Japan. flights from Seoul clock in at around 2.5 hours, and a round-trip ticket on a cut-rate airline is around $250.

Every weekend for the past several years, an army of largely female Chinese tourists has invaded downtown Seoul - brandishing credit cards and carrying small travel suitcases for the shopaholic experience. The economic impact on Seoul has been immense.

This all came to a sudden halt nearly two weeks ago.

By then it had become alarmingly obvious that several people in Wuhan, a Chinese port city of 11m people in the central Hubei province were infected with an unknown virus, traced to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.

Now identified as the coronavirus, it is believed to have resulted from people working at the market in late December.

On December 31, the Chinese government notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of an unknown virus in Wuhan, and the Huanan Market was shut down the next day.

The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market also does a brisk business in selling live animals for food consumption, and it is generally viewed that the coronavirus was passed to humans by eating live bats, birds and mice.

The Korean YouTube channel features multiple clips of people at the Huanan Market eating small bats and enjoying snacks of baby mice dipped in sauce.

None of these YouTube clips feature professional wildman Ozzy Osbourne ripping off a bat’s head with his mouth at the Huanan Market, but there are plenty of Chinese savoring this cuisine.

Allegedly, eating live small animals is a long-standing tradition in Central China - and perhaps other areas of the country.

As of this writing, the confirmed death toll of the coronavirus has surpassed 1,017 people in mainland China. The number of infected people in China is now at 42,708. - with 393 in 24 other countries.

As of Tuesday, February 11: 43,101 people were infected worldwide.

With 99% of cases in China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines - with Manila considered the most densely populated city in the world, and the countries immediately south of China - primarily Singapore.

Right now blame for the health crisis is irrelevant compared to a quick and thorough solution.

* * *

I’m a retired American living in Seoul because it is safer here than the United States, the food is great, and Korean women are some of the most beautiful in the world. What’s not to like?

I walk these streets.

On most Saturday afternoons you may usually find me at my office - which is Namdaemun Market in downtown Seoul. Near the Old South Gate to the city, Namdaemun Market first opened in 1964, and is the largest traditional market in Korea with over 10,000 retailers, vendors, and wholesalers.

The market is ideal for street photography.

By Saturday, February 1, the coronavirus had begun to dominate Seoul media coverage - without reaching a panic level. Yet as soon as I stepped onto the subway for the 20-minute ride to Namdaemun, it was obvious that the impact of the health crisis was sinking in because there were so few passengers. On Saturdays, the downtown subway here in Seoul is similar to the Shinjuku evening rush hour on the JR subway in Tokyo … wall-to-wall people.

When I arrived at Namdaemun Market it was clear the impact of the coronavirus discouraged a lot of people from being in public, and especially mingling in crowds. There were people in the market area, but the numbers were nearly cut by half.

Seoul has a classic four-season climate, but the weather on February 1 was sunny and inviting with temperatures around 7C, or 45F … a good time to be outdoors after a decidedly cold January. And yet many people were keeping a low profile.

The photographs I took that day were no different than any other day - and yet there was no denying the significance of face masks.

In the Orient, which is to say China, Japan and Korea - people with respiratory ailments commonly wear a face mask to help minimize infecting others when coughing and sneezing.

For a perspective on population:

Seoul has 10m (metro area: 25.6m)

Beijing has 20m (metro area: 24m)

Tokyo has 14m (metro area: 38m)

In such large metro areas, especially with people in enclosed areas like subways, public bathrooms, elevators, cinemas, restaurants and some stores - wearing a face mask when experiencing respiratory problems is simply a common decency.

However, a face mask offers zero protection if someone without one sneezes in your vicinity. Yet panic breeds panic, and people in Seoul have nearly eliminated the face mask supply. It has not helped that the Chinese who have still entered Korea in the past two weeks have walked into downtown stores with their suitcases and cleaned out the inventory - to take back home for their protection, or to sell on the black market.

Film of the Chinese in Seoul jamming their suitcases with health related-items to take home is played on local TV almost like the mandatory Two-Minutes of Hate in Orwell’s 1984.

As geography is destiny … a phrase attributed to Napoleon before his Grande Armée of 650,000 left Poland on June 24, 1812 to invade Russia … the Koreans are wary of both the Chinese and the Japanese.

Keep in mind the bad history involving China, Japan and Korea during the last century.

China and Korea refuse to forget the suffering they experienced at the hands of the Japanese Empire from 1905-1945. Now the Japanese and Koreans must find common ground to maintain an uneasy alliance against the rise of China as a potential superpower.

Since China is the Mother Culture of the Orient, the language, architecture and religion of both Korea and Japan are derived from China. It is likely that a great many Koreans - and no doubt Japanese, have some Chinese DNA.

The only other region in the world that has a comparable history to the Orient may be the British Isles, with the up-and-down relationship of the English with the Irish, the Scots - and even the Welsh.

I have lived in the Orient for nearly 15-years, and can distinguish the physical differences between the Koreans and the Japanese … and the Japanese and the Chinese, but I cannot always tell the difference between the Koreans and the Chinese.

My longtime Korean girlfriend cannot always distinguish the Chinese on the subways or in the downtown Seoul department stores. If she can’t make the call, then I should get a free pass.

Amidst the Chinese and Japanese tourists that routinely flock to downtown Seoul, one should not be surprised if there are a few spies in the crowd. The world of espionage so vividly described by British writer John le Carré may seem passé, but field agents still serve a purpose - and Seoul is at the crossroads.

* * *

On February 5 - three days after I was at Namdaemun Market, Korean health officials shut it down to fumigate the area against the coronavirus. Men in strange, pseudo-space suits covered every area of the market, spraying some cocktail of pesticide or something more exotic, or maybe just plain home brew from the supervisor’s bathtub - like Depression era bootleg alcohol in America. Some times symbolism is more important than substance.

On February 6, a Chinese woman was hospitalized in Seoul, diagnosed with coronavirus. Through interpreters she was able to account for her path of travel through the city. This included the Lotte Department Store in trendy Myeongdeong - not far from Namdaemun Market. The store shut down the next day so health officials could have several days to fumigate the 15-storey building.

The official name of South Korea is: The Republic of South Korea - yet the country is also known as The Republic of Samsung, because the company - diversified well beyond electronics, is extremely powerful.

To better understand South Korea, it’s helpful to know the concept of “chaebol,” which refers to a large family owned business - or conglomerate. In South Korea, there are five such chaebols: Samsung, Hyundai, SK, LG and Lotte. These five conglomerates are comprised of just 33 people in total, and they have a major voice in government business policies and Korean society.

Now instead of the serfs reporting to the castle to walk the wheel all day for the Lord of the Manor, wage-slaves leave their generic high-rise apartments in Seoul to ride the subway to corporate headquarters, and chase the empty bait like their ancestors in past centuries. Who said feudalism was dead?

For the Lotte Department Store - the flagship store specifically, to shut down over the coronavirus is a big damn deal. The loss of revenue is significant, and speaks obvious volumes to the broader impact of this health crisis, which not only affects deeply personal loss, the staggering cost of medical care and what this means to insurance companies, the interruption in the supply chain that starts on the factory floors of China, to whether political leaders can withstand the unexpected winds of change - especially Xi Jinping, the President for Life in China, a hard-core Mao totalitarian.

* * *

On Friday, February 7, I flew to Fukuoka for a one-day round trip. Fukuoka, a city of 2.5m, is located on the northern shore of the Japanese island Kyushu - south of the main island of Honshu. The flight from Seoul is less than 90-minutes, and the usual cost on a no-frills Korean airline is about $200.

However, since the coronavirus is already playing havoc with our lives, people in the Orient have curtailed air travel in the past few weeks. The airlines are struggling with huge revenue loss, and have slashed prices just to attract customers. A round-trip ticket from Seoul-to-Fukuoka is now around $115.

Despite the up-and-down relationship between Korea and Japan - which is like any extended family, the two cultures have a fascination with each … and so there are daily flights between Seoul and Fukuoka, starting at 6 a.m.

Once I landed at the Fukuoka airport at noon, I had a few hours at my disposal, so I made my way to the nearest subway station and rode five stops to Tenjin Station for 260 yen (about $2.37, or 2,813 won, or 2.17 Euro).

Tenjin Station ain’t no Shinjuku nor Shibuya, and offers no buzz like Harajuku - all in Tokyo … but it will do.

Being on the subway in Fukuoka was no different than the scene in Seoul: nearly half the passengers wore face masks - and with hats and sunglasses in many cases … where was I? Among Japanese or Koreans? It was difficult to tell No matter. It’s all good.

Once I lived in Japan for four years, in Yokosuka - near Yokohama, so I’m accustomed to seeing people wearing face masks on the Japanese subways and on the streets … just like in Seoul, yet not this many at one time. The virus. The plague. The fear and loathing.

“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.”

What would Hunter S. Thompson say about this state of affairs?

- At least 24 Americans are among the 135 people infected with coronavirus aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama.

- Korea has issued warnings to its citizens not to travel to Japan, China, Taiwan,

Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

- China’s economic miracle is quickly turning into scheissse, while government officials implore other countries to “come back … don’t leave us,” with an almost plaintive “Love you long time” attitude, like a sidewalk princess on Cowboy Soi in Bangkok.

- A delusional thug with Stage Four syphilis is in control of the American White House.

Ah, but I digress as usual.

After I finished my walk-around in Fukuoka and it was time to take the free shuttle back to the airport, I sat across from a married couple and their daughter. Although they all wore face masks, I had them pegged for Koreans, and so I felt safe.

I greeted them in my limited Korean.

The woman was quite polite, but let me know in near-perfect English that they were from Hong Kong.

OMG. The Chinese are everywhere, I thought.

I was also wearing my End of Days face mask, like so many people - and for a nano-second I thought of the best way to respond:

a) “For God’s sake, don’t sneeze on me.”

b) “What is your favorite sauce for baby mice?”

c) “Would you like some fries with your bat?”

Instead, I said “hello” politely and offered a weak smile. As I left the shuttle, I hurriedly made the sign of the cross to ward off evil, even though I’m a recovering Catholic.

I returned home to Seoul safely, and have not left my apartment complex since Friday, February 7. Allegedly, it takes a week for the symptoms of the coronavirus to appear.

I taught American high school for 15-years, and I fear nothing.

Camera Information

With the exception of subway photographs, all images were produced with a Fuji X100F, set for a Pro Negative High film simulation, at 1/500 and an f-stop generally around f9-f10 - using an ISO as high as 6400.

Subway photographs in Fukuoka were achieved with a Ricoh GR II - set to P mode at ISO 1600.

Coronavirus Timeline With Updates

The WHO on Monday, February 10 proposed an official name for the illness caused by new coronavirus: COVID-19. The acronym stands for coronavirus disease 2019, as the illness was first detected toward the end of last year.

The director general of the WHO noted that the new name makes no reference to any of the people, places or animals associated with the coronavirus. The goal was to avoid stigma.

On December 31, the Chinese government notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of an unknown virus in Wuhan, and the Huanan Market was shut down the next day.

On January 5, Chinese officials ruled out the possibility that this was a recurrence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus - an illness that originated in China and killed more than 770 people worldwide in 2002-2003.

On January 7, the Chinese officials announced they had identified a new virus, according to the WHO. The novel virus was named 2019-nCoV and was identified as belonging to the coronavirus family, which includes SARS and the common cold.

Coronaviruses are common and spread through being in proximity to an infected person and inhaling droplets generated when they cough or sneeze, or touching a surface where these droplets land and then touching one's face or nose.”