Korea COVID Travel Blog
So my name is Ian and I work in events, TV and theatre in the UK.
Well I used to work in theatre but the year is 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic has gripped the world. London’s West End and all regional touring theatre in the UK closed their doors in March this year and as I write this in August, only outdoor theatres such as Regents Park have been allowed to recommence. The situation is the same in the other theatre powerhouse of the US and Broadway, with all theatres dark. However… in South Korea they have managed the virus very well and have developed a way of working which has allowed theatres to remain open, the world tour of Phantom of the Opera is still open in Seoul (sadly the London West End production has recently closed after running for over 30 years).
I first came to Korea in 2013 to do a production of Ghost the Musical and had an absolutely amazing experience so when I was asked about a year ago if I would like to repeat the job, I was thrilled. As the pandemic hit, I hadn’t held out much hope of the job remaining, but due to the Korean’s excellent COVID response the job was still going ahead! However, as foreigners from the UK, we would need to quarantine for 14 days prior to starting work.
So here I am… Stuck in a room in an apartment for 14 days with a fridge, TV, rice cooker and 100mb internet connection! So to pass the time I have loaded up a Raspberry Pi I was carrying with WordPress and thought I’d do a blog (remember those?).
So this is actually run on a server in my room with me in quarantine! I felt it was apt that not even my blog can go outside 🙂
