COVID

What a time to be in Japan. Finally, lagging behind many countries, vaccination rates still climbing at 75% first dose, and 68% two doses, things are starting to open up again. While nothing had been really closed down, restaurants still opened, people still out and about, we practiced a bit of psychological self restraint, not seeing friends with the fear of us contributing to the problem.

Last week, we finally met up and had our first lunch with two friends we hadn't seen for more than 18 months. It was difficult to know what the protocols were, everyone's safety levels were obviously out of sync and inconsistent with each other. While we did sit outside, our friends weren't keen on wearing masks while we chatted for two hours after eating.

Then the this week, we met up with other friends who were more cautious than we were. It made us look like uninformed barbarians who are in denial, yet we were them only weeks ago.