A postcard from a very much needed 72 hours in the mountains
163 days to go!
Hello everyone,
I’m definitely not ready to go back to Tokyo!
For sure the current situation is not inviting, as Tokyo is still in a state of emergency that will last until the 8th March and, as you no doubt read in the newspapers lately, the daily news about the Games are not really exciting.
As if dealing with a global pandemic was not enough, Mr. Mori, the President of the Tokyo2020 Organising Committee unfortunately made the wrong comment at the wrong time and we are also now dealing with the consequences of this.
My time in Italy has been great and made me really realize how much I love my hometown, my family and my friends. I also love my job, but leaving is always tough, especially if it means being 9,000km away and not being able to come back for at least eight months, missing everyone and everything in between this space and time.
Because of restrictions and curfew, I was not able to do a lot, but I’m very grateful for the shared love of these last three months.
The proof I wore normal clothes and make up
I’m now in the process of doing the last couple of things before leaving and already crossing my fingers for everything to go smoothly when I land in Japan; apparently the process of going through customs these days is a real pain and it will take more than three hours to leave the airport after landing.
I will be tested for Covid-19 twice, before departing and after arrival, and I will then be on a 14 days quarantine, monitored by the Japanese Government, but on the 1st March, I hope I’ll be able to go back to the office full time.
Can I already miss her if I haven’t left yet?
The workload in the office is really ramping up, the Covid-19 countermeasures are going to be defined shortly through the Playbooks, so that we will then be able to finalise and confirm all the plans and from then all the other departments should also share their defined operational plans.
The good thing is that the re-start of the eventing season is close enough, in the meantime enjoying some Six Nations rugby matches is not that bad...
Stay safe everyone!
Carola
Spring 2020 in Tokyo
