The Unofficial K-Drama COVID Survival Guide
If you catch COVID, don't worry! There are lots of people just like you, people whose daily life got suddenly put on hold due to the sudden onset of symptoms that bring an interminable cycle of waking, coughing, and dozing at varying levels of consciousness for days on end, during which they become a social pariah even to their closest friends. So you are not alone!
And if, by some improbable stroke of luck, you have never caught COVID, perhaps you're curious about what it's like.
This guide will walk you through it, every step of the way—from physical symptoms to psychological impact to the best forms of care. Read on to find out.
DIET
You may start waking up with the sense that a much larger person has reached into your neck and squeezed your throat to the point of wheezing whenever you are not paying attention. This is normal. Don't worry, you probably will not be unable to breathe. A good diet will help stave off the pressure of that implacable hand, as well as keep your head and sinuses clear so you can weather your voluntary incarceration in the greatest possible comfort.
You will want to have a half gallon of soup per day, more if you can stomach it. American classics like chicken noodle soup or matzoh ball soup are a standby, but when it feels like your head is stuffed full of cotton and your nose is constantly running, you need stronger stuff. I recommend spicy Korean soup, with whatever mix of vegetables, tofu, beef, and noodles you please.
Moobongri's spicy beef stew is just the ticket. Long strips of brisket mingle with long beans in a rich, deep red broth. The brisket is neither tough nor tender, but chewy to the point of bounciness, that specific "Q" texture so prized in Asian food. The long beans, slightly withered from their long braise, are a satisfying al dente. Their length and texture make them a symmetrical complement to the beef. The broth itself is strong and bright, cutting through all congestion, a cleansing force that reopens all passageways without irritation, making it possible to breathe, see, and think once again. Plus, all those chilis provide plenty of vitamin C!
The stew is great with rice, much better than with the dull and expendable glass noodles that come with. Such noodles drown in the thick expanse of the broth, while rice provides a welcome respite from the warming chili flavor. Or, for a crunchy twist, top the stew with Sun Tropics' Mochi Sea Salt snack bites. When your world is a dull continuum of liquids draining into and out of your body, it's a joy to have any texture at all. A good crunch will remind you that your jaw still works.
MEDIA
As important as it is to get plenty of liquids, it's physically impossible to drink and sleep all day. Filling the time while maintaining your spirits can be a challenge. That's why I recommend top-rated K-dramas such as Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, and Crash Landing On You. Not only are they implausibly long, with each episode clocking in at over 60 minutes—they also provide a surprise benefit in the form of deeply sentimental cathartic moments.
When your nose is all stopped up, nothing clears things out than a good cry. What better way to get those tear ducts flowing than to watch competent but lonely CEO Yoon Se-ri, accidentally expatriated to North Korea in a freak accident where she paraglides into a tornado, missing her flight home in order to donate blood to save the life of her reluctant suitor and protector, hunky military man Ri Jyeong-Hyeok, who took a bullet for her while averting a secret government plot to kill her before she can get back home. Sniff and sob with greater meaning as you see her crying in the rain, confessing to her stoic captain that just once, she wanted to be the one to protect him instead.
Watching K-dramas has several auxiliary benefits as well. Every storyline constantly reiterates the importance of eating well and leaning on your community for support, both important factors to surviving quarantine. Plus, the complete absence of sweets and dairy products helps stave off cravings for inflammatory and congestion-promoting snacks.
REST
During COVID, sleep becomes more of a continuum rather than a binary state. If you're anything like me, you may have spent your first few nights propped up in the corner of a cheap bed in a small Mexican village, your inner ear painfully swollen from a potential secondary infection, slipping in and out of a waking dream, knowing that the moment you lay horizontal your frame will once again become racked with violent coughs that shake you awake. Or perhaps you will wake up over and over in the back seat of a small car as your friends drive through a Oaxacan mountain pass, breathless and panicked, the dry air causing your throat to constrict the point of gasping as you struggle to determine which direction is up and reorient yourself in the world. Not exactly the most restful way to sleep!
It's far better to stay warm and cozy in your room, dozing off in the afternoons, being sure to get a little bit of stretching and movement in while you're awake to keep your muscles from freezing up while they fight off infection. If you're doing it right, your days and nights will become a confusing blend of lucid moments, lost time, and hypnogogic hallucinations in which the beautiful, smiling face of big-city dentist Yoon Hye-Jin from Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha reminds you to take care of your teeth in that annoyingly clingy way she always does when she gets into a relationship, though this time it's different since her overly casual boyfriend Hong Du-Sik has yet to reveal the secret pain he's been carrying alone all these years that caused him to move to a small town like Gong-Jin in the first place. It's easier to have compassion for her childlike manner when you remember her patience and maturity waiting for him to open up to her and learn to trust for the first time in his life. Besides, you brush and floss frequently enough, so what does she have to complain about?
You might occasionally wake up in the middle of the night as day and night become a shapeless undifferentiated stream of digital media and hallucinatory fever dreams. Just roll with it. Doing half-assed restorative yoga in the kitchen at 5 in the morning, accidentally catching the early glow of sunrise through the ancient trees of the Berkeley hills, can be a beautiful experience. Savor it while you can.
SOCIALIZING
While the first couple days of isolation can be kind of refreshing, the fifth, seventh, or twelfth day carries certain emotional hazards. Friends you can normally count on will be visibly afraid to see you, even while masked. Nobody will be willing to touch you. You may go days without even seeing another person's face, even if they live with you. The extra little bit of friction can make it even harder to ask for help during the time you need it most.
During these times, it's good to remember the experience of Woo Young-Woo, the fictional first autistic attorney in South Korea, who is used to living in her own private world but still learns to lean on friends and family for help, like when kind but bashful Lee Jun-Oh helps her one-two-three waltz through the revolving door she normally finds so overwhelming, transitioning in slow motion from the quarantine-like cloister of the law office where they are trapped day and night into the wide-eyed glow of the outside, where violins play and Lee Jun-Oh smiles at you as you take a stroll through the park, finally free to be your unusual and particular self.
So too must you lean on your friends, COVID-haver. Though you may be days away from being healthy enough to have a real conversation, and though the days and nights might be a blur, your friends are pulling for you. I'm pulling for you. Someday, somehow, we will once again be visiting our local village elders to share tteokbokki and beer while gossiping about new romance and our parents' health, then making dried fish jerky late into the night while the distant lighthouse shines down on the Hyeongsan River, the dulcet tones of the exit credit music sounding as soft-focus snapshots flash from scene to scene showing all the time we've spent together, for better and worse, that made us feel like one big family.
From this Oakland bedroom to Seoul’s KT Skylife Productions to you, get well soon. See you in the real world!
