Now more than ever, I'm guessing this is all of us to some degree, combined with a disproportionate amount of video calls. I have to say, this is nothing new to me - video calls via Skype have been a part of the family since my adolescence. Back then, those wouldn't be for casual chatting with friends or people you could otherwise meet in person, video calls were nothing short of a special occasion because they were the only way to chat to relatives living far, far away (in America). Counting the hours to make up the time difference and still being not entirely sure what part of the day it is on the other side, my mum would set up the webcam on top of the large monitor, straighten the mic in front of her like a delegate in the UN about to make a speech on the podium and would then dial our aunt. After a few rounds of Skype's signature ringtone my aunt's video would appear, a 124x640px rectangle full of excitement and otherworldliness.

Despite the deliberate tech setup and turnt up volume of the speakers, my mum would then proceed to talk so loud that you could hear her all throughout the apartment, talking as loud as clear as she could, probably to make up for the distance across the ocean. Often, the sound of my aunt's voice would get modulated and pitched down to a grotesque stuttering, probably also due to the large distance those bytes needed to travel on a less-than perfect internet connection.

Little did I know that this setup would become a constant part of my everyday the moment I decided to move to Berlin. Almost 7 years into it, I cannot count the hours spent chatting to my parents and my brother, mostly on Skype, usually sitting down for at least 1.5 hour at a time and always taking at least one screenshot to document our date. To me, those Skype dates were and are still essential, as I feel like my family is a part of my daily life whereever we may be. Similar to spending time together in person, those chats don't follow any agenda or structure, the topics are meandering without any urgency or awareness of the time spent on the call. Often we would take some breaks or go to the kitchen to cook or eat while taking the other side with us, placing the laptop strategically on the table and offering to share a snack through the screen.

Do video calls count as "time well spent" or are they just adding up to already substantial screen time? Before video calls became the thing our waking lives are made of by basically exchanging all our communication with people beyond our household, I've experienced a fair share of confusion by others for my video past times. "Why would you stare at a screen for hours on end? You're missing on real life while you're trying to stay connected with someone who's just not here".

I know this year we've all had zoom fatugue in various grades, as talking to colleagues, catching up with friends, attending meetups, quitting a job and starting a new one, never seeing the new coworkers in person has been just the normal way to be. For all the hours on video calls, I'm trully gratefull we have this technology to be able to still be together, even if not in the same room. As we're all itching to properly see each other again, I'm hoping we'll keep some fond memories of being together through video - still better than not at all.