Not going home for the holidays
Pandemic means many university students staying put in Atlantic bubble this season
Many students will have to forgo trips home this holiday season as COVID-19 travel restrictions continue and they weigh their options of staying in the Atlantic bubble and missing their families in other parts of Canada versus travelling home and risking exposure.
Those whose families live within the Atlantic bubble, which was created during the pandemic to allow the region’s citizens to travel between its provinces without quarantining, will most likely be able to return home for their nearly month-long vacation.
But others, like St. Francis Xavier University nursing student Samantha MacDonald, are choosing to forgo the risk of travel and stay in Nova Scotia instead.
It was an easy decision to make but a hard reality to face for MacDonald, whose parents and sister live in Ottawa, Ont. It’ll mean her first Christmas alone in Antigonish, but it also means that she’ll remain safe.
“Ontario is a mess right now, so going home just doesn’t make sense for me this year,” she says.
MacDonald currently lives in Antigonish with her partner, Johnny Obdam, and their two pet pigs, Jameson “Jamo” and Rudy. The COVID-19 pandemic means it will be the first Christmas there for both her and Obdam, who hails from Barrie, Ont., and has also never spent a Christmas away from his family.
It’s a bittersweet time because while they are excited about their first Christmas together as a little family, it will be hard to be away from their respective loved ones. Even with St. Francis Xavier having announced an extra two-week break for anyone needing to quarantine after the holidays, they’ve agreed that going home is just not worth the risk.
“Last year, we had intended on staying in Antigonish, too, but at the last minute I said to Johnny, ‘we have to go home.’ So we hopped in the car and drove home with Jamo,” she says.
“It’s definitely sad because I’m so close with my family. I would rather be going home.”
NOT WORTH THE RISK
University of Prince Edward Island computer science student Yijun Yu will also be spending Christmas away from family for the first time this year.
Before the pandemic, Yu, who is from Jiangxi, China, travelled to Markham, Ont., each year to spend the break with his aunt. But he has elected not to go this year because of the increasing COVID-19 case numbers in Ontario.
“My family has told me not to come … because they are worried about COVID. It’s really serious in Ontario, so it’s better to stay here. There’s no point to go there for the holiday,” he says.
Memorial University of Newfoundland PhD geography student Simone Cominelli is intimately acquainted with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as his family lives just 100 kilometres from Milan, which was among Italy’s hardest-hit regions when the country was the first in Europe to be swept by the pandemic in February.
This first COVID-19 outbreak in Italy was sign enough for Cominelli that he and his wife, fellow PhD geography student Marie Louise Aastrup, would be staying put over the winter holiday. His family in Italy and Aastrup’s family in Denmark have remained safe, which is
a trend the couple is eager to continue.
“We realized that very early this year when the first lockdown at home in Italy wasn’t going too well. We were pretty settled on the idea that we wouldn’t be seeing our family for a while when the borders closed the first time,” says Cominelli.
Not seeing her family is also the hardest part for MacDonald about this year, as she remains very close with her parents, Joan and Gus, and younger sister, Kathleen. However, her father’s family still lives in Nova Scotia, so some family visiting will still be on the menu this year if the pandemic permits.
“I think it’ll get harder, the closer that Christmas gets, because it hasn’t really set in yet. Johnny also hadn’t been home for a while, even before
COVID. But we’re trying to weigh the pros and cons, and it’s nice to have each other and my extended family in Cape Breton,” she says.
MAKING PLANS
The decision to stay may be an emotional one for MacDonald, but it’s not one that concerns her or her partner, as they have lived in Antigonish for nearly seven years. With plenty of friends around from both the university and the town, they know they’ll find a way to celebrate the big day.
“There are definitely quite a few people sticking around, for the same reasons we are. We’ve got a good group of friends here now, so we’re not too worried about it,” she says.
This holiday will be Yu’s first alone in Charlottetown, where he says he and many of his close friends will all be together over the winter break. With time on their hands and a province that Yu says can sometimes start to feel small, he will pass the holiday time by staying home, playing videogames with friends and building his new computer.
Concerns about staying are feelings Yu doesn’t ruminate on, rather choosing to focus on his work.
“Yes, I have concerns, but there’s nothing I can do about them but focus on what I’ll do for my next semester. The world is chaos, and we need to take care of ourselves. I don’t expect the pandemic will end in a year,” he says.
Since Christmas is not a huge concern for either Cominelli or Aastrup, it’s the missed opportunity to take a break from grad school and catch up with their families that's really weighing them down.
When the couple married this September, their families made them promise to host a big party when they can once again travel home.
Both spent their last Christmas breaks at home in Europe but are now geared up to stay in Newfoundland and Labrador for future holidays. They’ve lived in the province for five years and will spend this Christmas with other Europeans who will also remain for the holiday.
Cominelli says he and Aastrup plan on staying in Canada once they’ve graduated. But, as for their honeymoon, it’ll be straight to Europe for both of them as soon as the pandemic lifts.
“After COVID ends, we’ll be going back to travelling as soon as things go back to normal. We’re also due a honeymoon and can’t wait to spend a good amount of time back home,” he says.
“The world is chaos, and we need to take care of ourselves. I don’t expect the pandemic will end in a year.”
Yijun Yu