Life in the Time of Corona: Samanike Hengst

7 April 2020
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2018–20 US teaching assistant Samanike Hengst talks about the stress of traveling during the current crisis and how she is adapting to life back in the US.

 

The story she tells is her personal experience.

Moving back to the USA was not the plan until early July after traveling for a bit and having friends and family come to visit me, and it is highly disappointing things didn’t go as planned. I was supposed to have people visit me during mid-March and for the upcoming Easter holidays, trips which were all canceled. If I could have made it work, I would have, but there were several factors that led me to make the decision to leave Austria and return to the United States.

I knew that our health insurance would not last as long as I’d anticipated, and with the abrupt canceling of our program (before they recently announced that we can still get paid for May), I was worried about having the finances to stay in Austria. Combined with not wanting to be almost completely isolated in my apartment in Carinthia and worries about how long this could go on for (some are now saying potentially several months), I thought the best decision for my mental health and my particular financial situation was to return to the USA and to be with my family while trying to search for my next job. 

Traveling home was very chaotic. I had two suitcases, a large backpacking pack, a small backpack, and an extra mesh bag and was wearing several winter jackets/coats and a blanket, which made transferring trains and walking between terminals a pain. The total weight of my luggage came to 159 lb. (72 kg), and my whole body was sore for a week after that. This was partly due to the fact that I had been living in Austria for 1.5 years (I had planned on giving my dad some things to bring back in his bags when he came to visit in June and donating other things). I had to leave a bunch of stuff behind, which was sad and disappointing. I got lucky with the airport, given that other teaching assistants were also flying out the next day, so we shared hotel rooms. The next day there were mix-ups at the airport, with staff and flight apps being unclear as to whether my flight to Dublin (where I would transfer to fly to Chicago) was taking off or not. I almost panic-booked a new direct flight leaving an hour earlier. Thankfully, my flight took off, and the other TAs helped me so much, but it was all quite stressful. Re-entering the US was strange: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was doing temperature checks, and there were confusing mixed messages as to whether we should keep certain forms or return them to workers before leaving. But otherwise, the situation in Chicago was fairly painless compared to Vienna. I think anyone traveling right now is probably pretty happy once it’s over. 

There were mix-ups at the airport, with staff and flight apps being unclear as to whether my flight ... was taking off or not. I almost panic-booked a new direct flight leaving an hour earlier. Thankfully, my flight took off.

In order to recenter my life, I have looked to my personal online public health classes I’m continuing with, and I’ve worked with my colleagues in Austria to try and set up ways to work with the students remotely while I’m over here (Skype sessions, abstract reviewing, prepping lessons using videos and sending them on, etc). My quarantine ended on 1 April, which will also help in normalizing life a little more again. Trying to keep from going stir-crazy has been difficult, but honestly, still being able to be around my parents and sister in the same house (albeit talking from different sides of it) has been a serious comfort to me. 

Lots of Skype and Facetime, WhatsApp, and Messenger phone calls have allowed me to maintain social distance while still keeping social. A friend of mine has Jackbox, so playing games together in groups over Discord has been a lot of fun and a welcome distraction. I’m watching movies with friends and finding that I’m reconnecting with lots of people whom I have not had the chance to connect with in a while, which has been really lovely. I’ve also gone on walks with family and friends where we’ve kept +6 ft. (+2 m) spaces between us, and it has been good to get outdoors more again while being home. Fresh air helps so much. 

While this whole situation sucks, I know there are people right now who have it far worse and are losing family members and loved ones to this. I have a friend who recently had to give birth at a hospital in NYC, which was terribly stressful. I know people who are immunocompromised, people with lung issues, elderly family and friends, who are so scared to leave their homes. There are people with disabilities in my community in serious need of healthy home care workers to take care of them—and are struggling to find them. The hard part is, you want to be there for as many people in your community as you can, through whatever means, while still being cognizant of those you live with and keeping them safe (my parents are older, and I don’t want to put them at any more unnecessary risk than I already have by flying home). In the end, I think that it is important we all be there for each other as best we are able during an unprecedented time like this. 

In the end, I think that it is important we all be there for each other as best we are able during an unprecedented time like this. 

One thing that has helped me get through this is knowing that I’m still voting absentee in my state (Wisconsin!) this week and trying to get or keep people in office who will help underserved communities during this time and stand up for those who need support and resources the most right now. We need to focus on the things we can do to help, even if they are small, and do our part by staying distant physically but still supporting others emotionally.

 

Please contact us if you would like to share how COVID-19 has affected your time as a Fulbright Austria program participant.