Expat rises to the occasion during lockdown
"Residents, it is garbage time; please return home immediately after dropping your garbage!" This could not have been more common, except that this announcement, enunciated in standard Chinese, came from Michael Oldfield, an Englishman living in Minhang District.
The expat is frequently called "Lao Tian" – literally what his last name means in Chinese – by his friends and neighbors, who are getting used to the exotic face Lao Tian has come to signify.
Oldfield dressed in protective clothing.
Oldfield met his wife, a native of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, in the United Kingdom, and they moved to China nine years ago. He is the head teacher at a bilingual preschool and kindergarten in Xuhui District.
Since his wife did not accompany him back to Shanghai after they visited her parents during Spring Festival, Oldfield is living alone, facing the resurgence of the virus on his own.
Since he used to get a lot of help and attention from his community's neighborhood committee, he felt compelled to assist its work during this challenging period.
On March 26, when many Shanghai residents took their first antigen tests, Oldfield began volunteering. He spent more than four hours assisting the neighborhood committee by distributing test kits and tallying results.
When he learned that volunteers were also needed during the lockdown, he immediately signed up, stressing that he'd received two COVID-19 vaccine shots and was an ideal candidate because he's living alone.
In no time, a 25-person volunteer team was created right before Puxi was locked down. Oldfield was assigned to handle delivery work every day for four hours beginning at 8am.
Oldfield is in charge of delivering packages to residents.
Oldfield (far left in the second row) with the volunteer team.
"I was summoned at 6:30 this morning. We had to conduct a new round of nucleic acid testing, and I had to take the loudspeaker and call residents down in batches for the testing," Oldfield said yesterday. It was close to 2pm when he returned home.
Ironically, even though he has been handling deliveries every day, prior to volunteering, Oldfield wasn't familiar with group buying and purchasing vegetables on food-delivery apps such as Dingdong Maicai.
Because he didn't stockpile a lot of food before the lockdown. he occasionally got by on nothing more than instant noodles.
However, volunteer work has changed that.
Oldfield said he has recently joined several WeChat groups, which have helped acquaint him with his neighbors and other residents in the community.
"I used to be unfamiliar with many of my neighbors, and I rarely spoke with them when I saw them," he said.
The silver lining of the pandemic and current lockdown is how it has brought people together.
"My neighbors were genuinely concerned and assisted me with group buying. One of them even sent me 30 eggs," Oldfield said.
Oldfield's account on Bilibili. The vlog about his volunteer work has attracted a lot of attention.
Oldfield has an account on the streaming platform Bilibili under the username "Newcastle Lao Tian." He posted a video of himself as a volunteer a few days ago, dressed in protective clothing worn by dabai (literally "big white," a nickname for medical personnel in protective suits) against the backdrop of deserted streets.
He said he can sense people's depressed state because of the pandemic. However, he hopes everyone works together to get through this difficult period.
Oldfield said he will continue to volunteer until the lockdown is lifted.
"I believe everyone has to do their part. All for one and one for all," he said.
