Day 9: Eating Well in Quarantine
Upon arriving at the quarantine facility eight days ago, one of the biggest things that I wondered about was what kind of food I would be eating over the next fourteen days. Would I be eating some kind of precooked meal for each of the three meals and those three meals would be the same every day? Or would there be a variety of things that I could eat so that I would not become sick of my food after a couple of days? Would I have a good amount of both meat and vegetables in each meal? Would I have anything more to drink than simple bottled water? I had a lot of questions about one of the most vital parts of my stay at the quarantine facility.
Luckily, by the time I first arrived at my room and opened the breakfast meal package that I was handed on the way up to my room, my mind was put at ease about what I could expect in terms of food for the next two weeks. Since I have been living in Korea for a couple years now, one of things that I was worried about was whether or not I would be able to continuing eating Korean food while I am in quarantine. Seeing as how most of the people entering quarantine were foreigners, not Koreans, I had some worries that the health department workers would assume that we would all want to eat “foreign” food instead of Korean food. When I unwrapped my breakfast meal package on that first day I was happy to see that most of the food was Korean. And in addition to bottled water, I had also received some orange juice.
Over the course of the past week, I have been quite happy with the variety of food that I have been able to eat while I have been staying at the quarantine facility. Most of the food has actually been Korean food, for the most part, with some random “Western” food items thrown in occasionally, like various types of bakery. In addition to an occasional orange juice, I have also received a variety of other drinks as well, including canned and powdered coffee and a variety of soft drinks. I have received the occasional apple or banana with some of my meals, usually for breakfast, which checks the box on food with a high fiber content. And it terms of protein, I have eaten more than my fair share of meat during this first week. Surprisingly, after only a couple of days into my quarantine period, I also received a fourth “meal” package which included a variety of snacks, just in case I happen to be hungry in between the three meals that I receive every day.
The final thing worth mentioning about the food and drinks that I have received so far is the fact that everyone in quarantine also receives an additional two-liter bottle of water on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This additional water is important because there are many food items that I have received during this first week that requires boiling water to eat or drink, including cup noodles, cup soup, tea, and powdered coffee. Without having enough additional water for such purposes, it would be difficult to have enough water to drink cold and also have enough water to eat all of these additional food and drink items. Already at this halfway point in my quarantine period, I am very thankful for all of the thought that the health department workers have put into making sure that all of us in quarantine enjoy a wide variety of food and also get the necessary nutrition that we need.
