我是一个住在闵行的英国人，以我从本地新闻上所见——我的中文阅读能力还可以——这里是上海此次奥密克戎疫情的“重灾区”。

我居住的地方前后已封闭管理了近三周，必须承认对于像我这种喜欢户外的人来说，日子是有点难熬。我怀念那些可以远足、骑车、跑步以及和朋友们去酒吧的自由。但是，我的适应能力还不错，我们英语里有句话叫“go with the flow”，跟着水流走，也就是顺其自然的意思。在这点上我一直做得不错。

不巧的是我太太和四个月的儿子这段时间在山西太原，那里是我太太的老家。所以我其实是一个人经历这段时期，我有种模模糊糊的感觉，自己经历的可能是一段历史性的时期。除了和家人进行无数次视频通话，我每天为自己设置不同的“体能挑战”项目。至今我已经在雨里绕小区进行过10公里跑；在楼栋上上下下跑了10次；现在我正挑战每天200个仰卧起坐和100个俯卧撑。这些小小的目标给我一种成就感，觉得这一天就不算白过。

当整个小区处于封闭时，却将大家紧密团结起来。我们都开始更关心一些他人，我最近与邻居们有了更多交流。虽然大家在一起住了四、五年，但他们刚发现我会说的中文远不止一句“你好”，很多人表达了自己的惊讶。作为一名“老外”，被邻居们接纳的感觉是很好的。

最近我们楼还建立了一个微信群，以便传达一些新消息，并通知核酸检测时间等。我们的楼组长是一名住在8楼的和蔼女士，每次当她从居委会收到通知时，总会第一时间发在群里和我们分享，这个模式运转得很顺利。

在经过了多次鼻拭子检测后，我的鼻子呼吸起来顺畅多了。而且“大白”们的手势也越来越温柔了，我第一次做鼻拭子测试的时候，不仅怀疑他们不是在探测我的鼻腔，而是想挖块脑组织做检测。开个玩笑。整个体系非常有序高效，让检测变得十分方便。居民志愿者和防疫人员都耐心而不知疲倦地工作着，我每次做核酸检测经过时都会对他们说一声“谢谢”和“辛苦了”，这是为了让他们知道我们都很感激他们的付出。

小区封闭前，我们收到过48小时封闭管理的通知，我也外出做了些采购，但并不多。到了第四天，一些食品存量告急，主要是蔬菜。而当我试图通过平时使用的那些平台进行线上采购时，发现非常难，我想应该是订单量激增导致他们的人手也不够了吧。

情急之下，我找了物业毛师傅。我在小区住了七年，从第一天起他就一直在这里。他可以修理一切，比如下水道堵了，电闸断了，空调漏水了……而且总是随叫随到。我们在这些年里找过他好几次。有一段时间，我们还请他太太做我们的阿姨，一星期为我们打扫两次并做饭。他是如此让人信赖，因此这次我也毫不犹豫找他帮忙。

“朋友，怎么样可以搞些菜来呢？”我愁眉苦脸地问他。毛师傅说他去想想办法，我不知道他是怎么搞定的，但很快，我面前就出现了一堆鸡胸脯、香蕉、卷心菜、胡萝卜、土豆。哦，还有菠菜！我听说现在在上海，像菠菜这样的绿叶菜被人们称为“奢侈品”，我是多么走运啊！

我环顾了一下家里的各类存货，感谢我太太平时就有囤货的好习惯，现在我还有可用一年的厕纸，以及大概可以喝上一辈子的山西醋。知道我的饺子有东西蘸着吃，让我可以高枕无忧了。

当我下次遇上毛师傅，表示等疫情结束自己一定要请他吃顿好的时，他朝我神秘地笑了笑。几个小时后，我发现自己已经穿上了全套防护服，开始和他一起在小区里分发抗原检测试剂盒了。别误会我的意思，我非常愿意帮忙。我早已把小区当成了自己的家园，每个人都应该守护自己的家，就这么简单不是吗？而且四个小时的时间里在三幢大楼里上上下下发放以及回收试剂盒，这足以满足我一天的运动量了。

我发现不少人的防护服上都用墨水笔写了字，有些人写的是自己名字，有些人给自己写两句打气的话。而我，一个几十年的纽卡斯尔队球迷，当然是把自己的信仰写在防护服上的。

当一些居民开门发现门口竟然是个老外在做志愿者，他们觉得既惊讶又好玩。有些人试了试我的中文程度，但大多数人只是对我表示了感谢。我们遇见了一些老人，他们完全不知道这个试剂应该怎么用，我们必须一步步教他们做。而且这些上了年纪的人和我说上海话，但我上海话真的不怎么样，连蒙带猜了几句之后，我只能求助自己的同伴了。不过不管怎么说，这次志愿者的工作是顺利完成了。

这些天浦西正在整体封控。这一次我们必须“足不出户”，这也就意味着我的那些10公里跑也不能继续了。但是不要紧，我总会给自己找到一些乐子的。

（第一张图来源CFP，其余图片为作者提供）

英语原文：

I'm an Englishman based in Minhang District,from what I read in the local news--my comprehension of Chinese is not bad--it's one of the hardest hit areas in Shanghai during this Omicron wave.

The number of days my residential area has been locked down add up to almost three weeks now, I have to admit, spending several weeks indoors is very difficult for an outdoor guy like me.I miss the freedoms like hiking, cycling, running and going to the pub with friends. But I'm quite adaptable,we have an old English saying,"You just have to go with the flow. "Go where the flow takes you,in other words,let it be.I'm good at it.

Unfortunately, my wife and 4-month old son are still in Shan Xi, Taiyuan where my wife is originally from,so I’m going through this lockdown alone. I have this vague feeling that I'm currently experiencing a historic event. I made numerous video calls with my family,besides that, I have been doing different physical challenges everyday. For example, a 10km run in the rain round and round the block;a “hike” up and down the staircase of my building ten times.I’m aiming for 200 sit-ups and 100 push-ups a day. Having these little goals gives me a sense of achievement, I don't waste my days and nights.

When whole residential areas are locked down it somehow brings the community closer together. We all start to look out for one another a little bit more and I’ve had a lot more communication with neighbors since we’ve been through these lockdowns. Having lived in the same building for 4 or 5 years, some neighbors were surprised when they realised I could say more than just ‘Ni Hao’. As a foreigner its always nice to feel welcomed by your neighbors.

Recently our building has set up a WeChat group to keep us all informed of any updates, testing times, etc. One nice lady from the 8th floor is our building leader and she receives updates from management and shares to us. It works really well.

My nose breathes much clearer these days after the countless nasal Covid tests I’ve done. From the early days where they stuck the cotton buds so far up your nose it felt like they were taking a sample of brain tissue,just kidding. Nowadays they are much more gentle and have a really efficient system in place that makes it very convenient. Residential volunteers and pandemic prevention staff are always working tirelessly and patiently, I always give them a xiexie and xinkule when I’m passing through the testing area just to let them know we appreciate their work.

Prior to our first residential lockdown we were warned of a 48-hour lockdown so I did prepare some food supplies, but not a lot. By the fourth day I was running low on a few things, mostly vegetables. It’s been very difficult to order online through the usual channels, I assume the supermarkets and delivery companies are also short-staffed and demand has shot up.

I’ve lived in the same compound for 7 years and he’s been here the whole time. He’s the handy man who can fix anything and he’ll come at short notice to help things like blocked drains, electrical problems, water leaking in through the air conditioner, etc. We have called for his help several times over the years. There was also a period where we hired his wife as an Ayi to cook and clean twice a week. He is such a reliable guy that I couldn't help but turn to him for help this time.

"Mate, how can I get some food supplies?" I asked him with a sullen face.Mr Mao said he'd try to figure it out.I had no idea how he made it,but soon enough, he was able to get me some chicken breasts, bananas, cabbage, carrots, potatoes.Oh,and spinach.I was told green vegetables have become the new luxury nowadays,how lucky I am!

I looked around the apartment,thanks to my wife’s shopping habits, we have a year’s worth of toilet paper and probably a lifetime’s supply of Shanxi vinegar, so I can rest easy knowing my dumplings will always have something to dip in.

Next time when I saw Mr Mao, I promised to take him out for dinner once this should be all over,he gave me a mysterious smile. Several hours later,I found myself already in a full protection suit,distributing the self test kits with him.Don't get me wrong,I was more than willing to help out.After living here for 7 years,I've already considered this compound as my home,everyone should cherish and protect one's own home,it's as simple as that,isn't it?Besides,running up and down 3 buildings distributing and collecting the kits should cover my daily amount of exercise.

I noticed quite a few volunteers like me wrote their names or inspirational slogans on their protection suit with marking pens.As a life long "geordie"，what else can I write down except my belief?

Some residents were both surprised and amused to find a foreigner standing outside their doors.Some among them decided to challenge my Chinese level,but most were just thankful to me for helping out.Some old people didn’t know what to do so we had to take them through the self-test step by step. But unfortunately,my grasp of Shanghainese isn't enough to understand them,after a few guess and struggles,I had to turn to my partner for help.Anyway,this voluntary task was successfully completed.

Puxi area is in lockdown these days,this time we have to constrain ourselves strictly not to step out of one's apartment door.That means my 10km routine has to halt for some time,but that doesn't matter,I'll always find something to do and have fun.