Month: October 2020

Welcome to Astronomer in Shanghai! Thank you for following my blog during my first year in Shanghai and for your interest in my future adventures in Shanghai! As covid-19 continues to plague the US, and you are (hopefully) wearing masks when you go outside and are social distancing, I hope that my blog highlights that the world can recover from covid-19 by following these practices. Once things improve, I hope you’ll look forward to small interactions with friends and family. I’m sure you’ll find that these interactions will be meaningful and enjoyable. In Shanghai, life has returned mostly to normal. Since outbreaks may still occur, it’s important that you wear masks and cooperate with social distancing guidelines so things improve.

If you find my blog interesting or enjoyable, please subscribe and let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about my life in Shanghai, please ask. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, please share this blog with anyone who needs reassurance that eventually life will return to a semblance of normalcy.

Life in Shanghai

I hope that this latest post continues to find you, your families, and your friends in good health. I know that over the last week, the number of cases of covid-19 in the US has continued to steadily rise, so I want to let you all know that I’m thinking of you and hoping that people will realize that they must take covid-19 seriously so things can improve. I hope that all of you are wearing masks, following social distancing guidelines, working from home (if possible), and generally continuing to be smart and safe.

As I noted, the covid-19 situation in the US has continued to get worse, which is very disheartening. However, if you need any further evidence that the US needs a change of leadership, this is it. The current administration continues to refuse to acknowledge their accountability in the spread of the virus, instead blaming China while further inciting the racist tropes that underscore every action this administration has taken. Moreover, they also claim that after election day covid-19 will mysteriously go away. Clearly, the President is living in his own fantasy land. So, I again implore all of you to vote. If you already have, Congratulations! If you haven’t yet, plan to vote early (if possible). Continue to encourage your friends, neighbors, and students to vote. It is paramount that we change the direction of the US and elect leaders that will fill the moral vacuum that currently exists within the White House, while simultaneously listening to scientists, addressing the systemic racism that exists within America, and working to make the country better for everyone.

In terms of covid-19, the situation remains under control in China. Because of the testing policies for people returning to China, all the cases have been imported (in Shanghai). Currently, there are 87 cases in Shanghai ( 3 in Beijing). The recovery rate is 91.7%, while the rate for China as a whole is 94.3%. Shanghai is slightly lower because many of the incoming international flights arrive in Shanghai. However, as you can see, the numbers have continued to remain consistently low over the past few months. So, there is a path forward towards recovery.

In terms of Astronomy, this was a productive week! However, I didn’t spend much time on my research projects. Instead, I spent much of my time working on my DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) Secondary Target Proposal. This is the first time I’ve ever written an observing proposal, so it was a new and interesting experience. We’re hoping to get a volume-limited spectroscopically complete sample of galaxy cluster members out to a redshift of 0.30. Much of next week will be spent reading and reviewing the different proposals, since I’m also serving on the review committee! So, this will likely be dominating my research focus next week as well. However, I’m still making steady progress on the Luminosity Function Analysis and DES stellar mass-halo mass relation paper. 🙂

Other than work, much of my time this week was spent setting up my new apartment! As I mentioned last week, I moved to a new apartment located in Xuhui. Xuhui is further west than Xintiandi and is part of the Former French Concession. So far I’ve done a little bit of exploring and found some nice local markets, grocery stores, and foreign import stores! Plus the neighborhood is very quiet, so it’s nice working from home as well!

Below, you can see some photos from my new apartment!

As you can see, my apartment gets a lot of natural light, which I love!

Additionally, I also got to start exploring the area by running! Some of my old running routes went to Xuhui, so I’ve spent a bit of time modifying those routes to make sure that they’re long enough. In total, I did 3 runs this week! It’s still in the low 70s/upper 60s most days, so it’s really nice to go running!

During my runs, I saw some cute things I wanted to share with you! There are a few cats that live in my neighborhood, so I’ll try to share some more photos of them soon!

In addition to getting my apartment set up, I did make sure to take some time to do some fun things! On Tuesday, Kehilat Shanghai and Moishe House hosted another Trivia night! I got to write 2 of the categories of questions. I wrote “Plagues and Pandemics” and “Where does this come From,” which focused on the origins of things that are not always made clear or known. Overall, we had a great turnout and people really enjoyed all of the questions. 🙂 I got to play the other 3 rounds and was great at the connections category! My team came in second, so it was great fun!

On Thursday, Moishe House hosted another anti-racism discussion. This time our discussion focused on cultural appropriation. A lot of our discussion focused on the difference between appropriation and appreciation. Most of what we discussed was tone and intention. The primary difference we saw was whether you acknowledged where something was actually coming from and didn’t claim it as being your own. It was a very lively and interesting discussion. We touched on topics ranging from musicians such as Elivs Presley, Justin Beiber, and Gwen Stefani to fashion to the proliferation of baseball in Asia to anime and food. We also talked about what kinds of Halloween costumes are okay and which can come across as either offensive or racist. Moreover, we talked about how you should address people who do have racially insensitive costumes. Overall, it was another really valuable discussion. I’ve really appreciated being involved in organizing this series and it’s really helped me to become more aware of the different ways that racism persists and enters most aspects of our society.

Before I end this entry, I want to take some time to wish Happy Birthday to my Mom! It was her birthday on Wednesday. It’s hard for me to believe that I haven’t seen you in over a year, but I wanted to let you know how much I love you and appreciate all of your support here in Shanghai! Thank you for always being there to talk. I hope that I’ll get to come visit you soon! Thanks for being such a fantastic Mother!

Overall, this was a quieter week, which after the stress of moving to a new apartment was exactly what I needed. Next week, I’ll head back to the office a few times and get into my new routine (I’m close enough to walk to the bus now). Plus, I’m sure there will be a few fun things to share with you from next week as well (including Halloween)! For those of you with children, I hope that they’re still able to have some Halloween fun, even if it’s just dressing up in costume and going for a socially distanced walk around the neighborhood!

I hope that you enjoyed seeing photos of my new apartment and hearing about the trivia night and anti-racism discussion! If there’s anything you’re curious about, please let me know.

In peace,
Jesse

Welcome to Astronomer in Shanghai! Thank you for following my blog during my first year in Shanghai and for your interest in my future adventures in Shanghai! As covid-19 continues to plague the US, and you are (hopefully) wearing masks when you go outside and are social distancing, I hope that my blog highlights that the world can recover from covid-19 and that following these practices leads to recovery. Once things improve, I hope you’ll look forward to small interactions with friends and family. I’m sure you’ll find that these interactions will be meaningful and enjoyable. In Shanghai, life has returned mostly to normal. Since outbreaks may still occur, it’s important that you wear masks and cooperate with social distancing guidelines so things improve.

If you find my blog interesting or enjoyable, please subscribe and let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about my life in Shanghai, please ask. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, please share this blog with anyone who needs reassurance that eventually life will return to a semblance of normalcy.

Life in Shanghai

Whenever and wherever you are reading this entry, I hope that it finds you safe, happy, and healthy. I know that there have been rising cases of covid-19 in both the US and Europe over the past week, so I wanted to let you all know that I continue to keep you all in my thoughts. Given the recent increases, it’s now more important than ever to continue to wear masks, wash hands, and follow social distancing guidelines. While I know many of you are lamenting the end of warm weather, I hope that you continue to follow such practices to have a safe and healthy winter.

While little has changed in terms of the political landscape in this past week, I do want to again emphasize to all of you the importance of voting. While I’m sure all of you (who are eligible) are planning to vote or have already voted, please encourage your friends, colleagues, and students (especially those) to vote! It’s abundantly clear that the current administration has no intention of doing anything to attempt to reverse the course of covid-19 or any of the systemic problems that exist in America. Therefore, I again implore all of you to vote for the candidates that care about you, that care about morality, that trust science, and that want to make America better for everyone, not just those of us who are rich, white, and Christian.

In China, covid-19 remains largely under control. There was a small new outbreak in Qingdao. In total the city had ~ 30 cases, but in response, the government tested over 3 million people. This is the kind of large scale response the US needs! The numbers have risen slightly in Shanghai as more people have returned from abroad. However, all the cases here have been imported. In total, there are 76 active cases (1 in Beijing) and a recovery rate of 92.3%. For China as a whole, the recovery rate is 94.3%. So, again, clearly it is possible to contain covid-19.

In terms of Astronomy, this was not a super productive week. However, that was mostly because I spent a lot of the week looking for a new apartment, which I’ll discuss later. We’re almost done with the draft of my first DES paper! So, that should be shared with my collaborator and friend Yuanyuan soon. Additionally, I continue to make progress on the Luminosity Function analysis. While there are still some discrepancies, we have a good plan of what data we will analyze going forward as well. Additionally, I worked on drafting my DESI secondary observation proposal, which probably needs a bit more work before the Thursday deadline.

In addition to working and apartment hunting, I went for 1 run. I’ll try to increase that this week, since I know I won’t spend 2-3 days bouncing between potential apartments! In terms of weather, it’s still very nice. Most days the highs are in the mid-low 70s, with lows in the upper 50s/low 60s. So, it should be perfect running weather for quite a while!

Despite the hectic nature of apartment searching, I still had fun photos to share with you! I know which one will be my Mom’s favorite!

The primary activity of my week was searching for a new apartment. Thankfully, I was successful (and wrote this from my new apartment)! Since apartment hunting is a little different here, I thought I’d describe the process. Before doing that, I do want to take the time to thank my friends Heather, Hannah Maia, and Kate for all their advice in terms of which apartments to visit and rent as well as their never ending support. I found the prospect of having to find a new place very stressful, so I’m so grateful to them as well as to my family for helping me remain optimistic and positive!

1. Contact Rental Agents — In Shanghai, at least for expats, renting is done through rental agents. These are somewhat like real estate agents. However, unlike in the US, there’s no public listing. The agents have access to all of the listings. There are some online databases, but they’re not complete, so I really couldn’t look for places myself. Moreover, the agents negotiate on your behalf and help you get the best deal possible.
   — I had three different rental agents working for me.
2. Rental Agents Share property images — This is exactly as it sounds, though done entirely via WeChat. After expressing my preferences, the agents then used those to make recommendations for different options. In total, I think I was shown ~ 30-40 different options via WeChat. While I couldn’t decide on an apartment solely on images, I was able to throw out a lot of options due to poor lighting, small cooking spaces, or generally not modern looking.
3. Visit Apartments — Once I found a few places that I thought looked nice, I started to set up visits with my rental agents. In total, I ended up visiting 8 different apartments before I found the one that I wanted. There were 3-4 that I visited that were nice, but some of them had 1-2 things that I didn’t really love. Since my goal was to find a place that I wanted to live in, with a nice kitchen, and space to have friends over, I didn’t want to compromise on any of those options.
4. Negotiate with the Landlord — Once I decided on the apartment that I wanted, my rental agent (who is compensated 35% of 1 months rent) negotiated the price down for me (and got them to put in a desk and chair! After this, I paid a security deposit.
5. Sign the Lease — I signed my lease on Saturday afternoon! In China, rent is paid for multiple months at a time, so I pay for 3 months at a time (though the lease is for 1 year). I also had to pay a security deposit.
6. Move in — Thanks to help from Heather and Shimi, I was able to have a moving service transport all of my stuff (I have so much stuff) to my new apartment in Shanghai. There was a ton of schlepping my suitcases and heavy boxes down from the fourth floor of my old apartment up to the 4th floor of my new apartment. So, it was an exhausting day. My old lease expires on Tuesday, so I’ll go over before that for a final walk through and a chance to clean it up a little. Additionally, I need to return my keys.
7. Register my new Address with the Police — In China, all foreigners are required to register their address with the police. Thankfully this can now be done on line, so it takes less than 5 minutes.

I hope that this process was enlightening! It’s a little more complex than when I looked for apartments in Ann Arbor. For those of you familiar with Shanghai, I’m know living in Xuhui (instead of Xintiandi), which is the Former French Concession! It’s about a 30 minute walk from my old apartment, but close enough that I can now walk to the SJTU bus every morning (so yay less metro!). Plus, it’s conveniently located, so I can get to where my friends all live easily! I’ll share some photos of my new apartment once it’s all set up! However, overall, I’m really happy with my new apartment and looking forward to living in and exploring Xuhui!

Food in Shanghai

I had lots of yummy food this week! On Monday night, I got dessert with Heather. We went to a traditional Asian style desert restaurant (yes, the restaurant only serves desert)! I got a yummy mango and pomelo sago with strawberry ice cream! This is pomelo (one of my absolute favorite fruits) and mango in a mango custard filled with sago (which are like boba in bubble tea) and then topped with a scoop of strawberry ice cream! It was really yummy and equally refreshing!

Then, on Saturday night, I had a fantastic dinner with Hannah Maia! We went to a new vegetarian restaurant Duli! This restaurant was quite different from a lot of the Buddhist style vegetarian restaurants that I’ve enjoyed eating at in Shanghai. Overall, the food was a bit more modern, with a more global approach. This was one of the best meals I’ve had in Shanghai so far!

We enjoyed corn and cauliflower fritters stuffed in a baozi (the best dish), stir fried vegetables with tofu and crispy lotus root, Doubanjiang noodles, delicious gnocchi (haven’t had these in forever), and a delicious lemon and strawberry tart with Jasmine tea! It was a fantastic meal and I look forward to going again with more friends!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

This Saturday, three members of the Kehilat Shanghai community celebrated their B’nei Mitzvah at the historic Ohel Moishe Synagogue, which is located within the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum in Hongkou (a district of Shanghai).

The three kids did a wonderful job, each reading from the torah and delivering short d’var torahs to the community. Hannah Maia helped facilitate and lead a wonderful service with the three B’nei Mitzvah kids! As a Kehilat Shanghai Board member, I had the honor to attend and offer words of Congratulations to each of them on behalf of the community. I couldn’t help but think back fondly of celebrating my own B’nei Mitzvah with Emmet at the Canfield Casino 16.5 years ago and reflect on some of the words that were said to me by my parents. 🙂 The whole experience was lovely. I could tell how important it was for the families to have this happen.

Plus, I think you’ll all love the kippahs that were made! They have Baozi on them!

For me, one of the unique aspects of the B’nei mitzvah (that will probably only be clear in photos) resulted because one of the families is half Shanghainese, and as a result had more than 50 family members in attendance and by accident, I ended up sitting in the middle of their family. So, whenever photos are shared, there will be quite a few photos of me, in my tallis, in a sea of older Chinese grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles. 🙂 However, I think by having me there, I may have helped them follow along with the service, when to stand, when to sit, and probably made the service make just a little more sense. Moreover, for me, they reminded me just how unique an opportunity it was to celebrate a B’nei Mitzvah in Shanghai! Overall, the experience was a lovely mixture of traditional Jewish rituals, surrounded by Chinese flourishes, including bits of Chinese and even words of Congratulations from the Head of the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum in Chinese. It was wonderful to experience this event with my community!

As I noted, the B’nei Mitzvah was held at Ohel Moishe synagogue, which is part of the Jewish Refuge Museum, which I visited last year. However, since then, the facility has undergone a 90 million dollar renovation! After the B’nei Mitzvah, a group of us got to be in the first Jewish tour of the Museum! Sadly, we weren’t able to take pictures; however, once it’s open to the public, I’ll definitely be back to visit and share the experience with you all! If any of your family spent time in Shanghai during or following WWII, let me know. They have a wall of names and I’m happy to do a little sleuthing on your behalf.

This upcoming week will be a mixture of some fun and interesting social events while also spending time getting my new apartment set up! Hopefully, I’ll find a nice balance of research, life, and apartment setup. Regardless, I’m sure I’ll have many fun things to share with you all (plus pictures of my new apartment)!

I hope that you enjoyed reading about the Community B’nei Mitzvah and my successful apartment hunt! If there’s anything you’re curious about, please let me know.

In peace,
Jesse

Welcome to Astronomer in Shanghai! Thank you for following my blog during my first year in Shanghai and for your interest in my future adventures in Shanghai! As covid-19 continues to plague the US, and you are (hopefully) wearing masks when you go outside and are social distancing, I hope that my blog highlights that the world can recover from covid-19 and that following these practices leads to recovery. Once things improve, I hope you’ll look forward to small interactions with friends and family. I’m sure you’ll find that these interactions will both be meaningful and enjoyable. In Shanghai, life has returned mostly to normal. Since outbreaks may still occur, it’s important that you wear masks and cooperate with social distancing guidelines so things improve.

If you find my blog interesting or enjoyable, please subscribe and let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about my life in Shanghai, please ask. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, please share this blog with anyone who needs reassurance that eventually life will return to a semblance of normalcy.

Life in Shanghai

I hope that this latest entry finds all of you staying safe and healthy! Especially now, as the weather starts to cool in the US, I hope that you are finding new ways to maintain social connectivity while also continuing to respect social distancing practices and mask wearing.

It pains me every week that I continue to write and express my concern for all of you in the US. While I know that many of you are being smart about covid-19, the current administration’s staunch, stubborn, and narcissistic refusal to follow basic moral principles with respect to people’s safety is terrifying. The president’s continued insistence that he is fully healthy (when he is clearly not), combined with his own disgusting level of selfishness and arrogance with respect to his own recovery are appalling. Covid-19 is a very serious threat and combined with the annual flu season, could be devastating in the USA. For that reason, I continue to implore all of you to follow protocols and stay safe. While I still wear masks on the subway, bus, or in taxis, I don’t have to wear it all the time. This outcome can only be reached through strict policies such as contact tracing, enforcing mask wearing, hand washing, and generally taking covid-19 seriously. For that reason, I again implore all of you to vote and vote early for the candidates who respect and listen to scientists, who want to try to make the US a more inclusive and welcoming country, who aren’t racist, sexist, or homophobic, and who care about the well being of the American people.

Here in China, even with the massive amount of travel that occurred during the mid-Autumn festival, covid-19 remains entirely under control. All cases are imported cases of people returning to China. These people are tested at the airport and taken directly to hotels, so they are not actually entering the city. In total, there are 61 imported cases in Shanghai (0 in Beijing). The recovery rate for Shanghai is 93.5% and for China as a whole the rate is 94.4%. So, clearly it is possible to contain covid-19.

As a result of the Mid-Autumn Festival (Golden Week) holiday, I spent the week working from home. This was a productive week overall. I’m just working on the final touches of our draft of the stellar mass – halo mass relation paper for DES, which is super exciting! I’ve been working on this paper for over 1.5 years, so it feels amazing to be wrapping it up! I also made more headway on my Luminosity Function analysis, which will move to the research forefront once the DES paper is submitted. Additionally, I’ve gotten a lot more involved in DESI. I’m working on a secondary observing proposal (that will be a major work focus this week) and I was also asked to serve on the selection committee for the secondary observations! This is the first time I’ve ever served on a telescope allocation committee (TAC)! So, I’m both nervous and also excited for the opportunity! Thankfully, the meetings are at 10 pm, so not too late for me. 🙂

Since I was working from home, I went running 5 times this week! My legs are a little tired, but it felt great to get out and enjoy the warm (low 70s) weather! It’s perfect running season here! The only downside is that it gets dark by 6pm, so I can’t run after work.

Since I did a lot of runs and walks this week, I also want to share some of the beautiful photos I took of Shanghai this week!

I also saw a lot of cats this week as well! Including a very friendly cat while I was getting lunch with friends from Moishe House on Sunday!

This was an enjoyable and social week for me as well! On Thursday, I met my Mom’s former Skidmore Honor’s Society student David Glassman, who works as a math teacher in Beijing! David was visiting Shanghai for the holiday. It was great sharing stories with David about what it’s like being ex-pats in China while also talking about how fortunate we are that the covid-19 situation has improved so much in China! I also enjoyed hearing what it’s like in Beijing as well. I look forward to having the opportunity to visit Beijing once Emmet moves to Beijing later this year!

The primary social highlight of this week was celebrating my One Year China-versary on Saturday night! Before describing it, I want to take reflect on my first year living in Shanghai.

I arrived in Shanghai on October 5th, 2019. So, before I talk about how I’ve grown over the course of the year, it fills me with great sadness that I haven’t seen my parents and brother in over 1 year. While I’m excited to see Emmet once he moves to Beijing, I don’t know when It’ll be safe for me to go home to Saratoga and see my parents. While FaceTime is a fantastic resource, I hope that the world can recover from the covid-19 pandemic so that I can see my family and friends in the US in person again.

In terms of Astronomy, this was a year of a lot of adjustments. Being a post-doc is hard. It’s quite different from being a graduate student. There’s not as much guidance and you’re not working towards the singular goal of a Ph.D. For me, I struggled to find balance working on 3-4 different projects at a time, something I’m now better at. I had to adjust to working with a new research supervisor, which I think has gone very well, while also adjusting to working with collaborators in vastly different time zones (which meant a lot of late nights, something I always avoided while at Michigan). While it wasn’t quite as productive as I hoped, I have high expectations that this upcoming year will be very productive both in terms of papers and also in terms of my involvement within the collaborations that I’m part of (DES and DESI)!

This was a year of a lot of firsts! My first time living in Asia, my first time living someplace where I didn’t speak the language, my first post-doc, my first conference as a post-doc, my first time living through a global pandemic, my first of many Zoom Astronomy conferences, my first time leading a Passover Seder with more than 3 people, my first time receiving a grant from the Shanghai government, my first time leading Shabbat Services in Shanghai, my first time taking an active role in learning and leading discussions about social justice and anti-racism, my first time traveling outside of Shanghai in China, my first time voting from abroad, my first time learning Mandarin Chinese (still working at it with my phone apps), and most significantly, my first time leading High Holy Day Services!

Hopefully this second year in Shanghai will be filled with just as many amazing firsts and wonderful new and exciting experiences! If you’re curious about the things I’ve mentioned or anything in my first year in Shanghai, take a look at some of my previous entries!

One of the areas I’ve most grown is how politically vocal I am. While I’ve always been a staunch liberal with strong progressive values, prior to living here, I haven’t taken the opportunity to vocally discuss issues that are troubling such as systemic racism and discrimination. Particularly, in the last few months, as you’ve all likely noticed on the blog, I’ve been actively involved in discussions on anti-racism as well as reading books and listening to podcasts to help confront my own prejudices and biases. While this is work that will never be finished, I’m proud to be actively involved in discussing these topics and working to improve myself and my communities.

Perhaps the area that I’m most proud in terms of personal growth is my ability to build a friend community here in Shanghai. When I was in grad school, I relied solely on the Michigan Astronomy department for my friend group. However, I realized that I wanted to meet more new and interesting people in Shanghai and couldn’t solely rely on the SJTU postdocs. When I moved to Shanghai, I knew two people, one was the professor who hired me, Ying, and another was one of the other SJTU postdocs, Haojie, who I met at a conference a few years prior. While it took a while to start making friends (it’s hard to make friends), over the course of this first year, I’ve forced myself to be more social, break out of my comfort zone, and build my own social network/ friend group. I’ve met so many interesting and caring friends through either Moishe House, Kehilat Shanghai, or friends of those within the Jewish communities. I feel blessed and grateful to have such a wonderful, supportive, and caring friend group! I hope that I can continue to grow these friendships into lifelong friendships while simultaneously building new friendships during my second year in Shanghai!

To celebrate my One Year China-Versary, I went to Vegetarian Lifestyle, the first vegetarian restaurant I ever went to in Shanghai, with my friends Heather, Hannah Maia, Kate, and Ilan! We had a wonderful dinner (photos further down)! While much of the dinner was spent providing me with advice about looking for a new apartment (more on that next week), it was wonderful to spend an evening with some of my closest friends! Since I know some of them read my blog, I wanted to take the opportunity to again thank them for being such amazing friends and people! I’m so fortunate to have all of you in my life!

Food in Shanghai

As I said above, I had an amazing vegan feast to celebrate my One Year China-versary!

We had stuffed lotus root, eggplant, vegetarian chik’n, cauliflower, lotus root balls with bok choy, sword beans, and dumplings! There was so much delicious food to enjoy!

Additionally, since it was still the mid-Autumn Festival, I had a lot of delicious mooncakes!

The different flavors included lotus jam, red bean paste, and ginger/almond!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

This past week, we celebrated the Jewish Holidays of Sukkot and Simchat Torah! Sukkot is a fall harvest holiday and Simchat Torah celebrates finishing the torah and starting it once again with Genesis chapter 1.

On Friday, Moishe House did their annual Shabbat in the Sukkah! They turned their small balcony into a lovely Sukkah! Since it’s Shanghai, they were of course adorned with Chinese lanterns!

While small, it was fun to squeeze as many of us in as possible into the Sukkah and say some of the blessings together. I later went back individually and did the traditional blessings (we did have a lulav and etrog!). To top it off, we had a wonderful meal of harvest fruits and vegetables (squash, pumpkin, pomegranate, apples and many others)! It was great celebrating Shabbat and Sukkot together with friends!

On Sunday morning, Kehilat Shanghai and Moishe House hosted a small Simchat Torah celebration for Tov! (Kehilat Shanghai’s religious school)! As part of that I got to spend a lot of time carrying the Torah around!

While we didn’t unroll the torah, we had a wonderful time dancing around with the torah on the top floor of the WeWork building where Tov is held!

This upcoming week will be busy: apartment visits planned for Tuesday (so hopefully I’ll write my next entry from my new apartment), plans to finish up the draft of my DES paper, our next anti-racism discussion, and the Kehilat Shanghai Community B’nei Mitzvah! So, it should be a fun, but likely stressful week (moving is stressful for everyone).

I hope that you enjoyed reading about my One Year China-versary and reflections on living in Shanghai for a year as well as my celebrations for Simchat Torah and Sukkot. If your curious about anything that I’ve done or experienced during my first year in Shanghai, please let me know.

In peace,
Jesse

Welcome to Astronomer in Shanghai! Thank you for following my blog and for your interest in my adventures in Shanghai! As covid-19 continues to plague the US, and you are (hopefully) wearing masks when you go outside and maintaining social distancing practices, I hope that my blog highlights that the world can recover from covid-19 (which is sadly far away in the US). Once things improve, I hope you’ll look forward to small interactions with friends and family. I’m sure you’ll find that these interactions will be both meaningful and enjoyable. In Shanghai, life has returned mostly to normal. Since outbreaks may still occur, it’s important that you wear masks and cooperate with social distancing guidelines so that things improve.

If you find my blog interesting or enjoyable, please subscribe and let me know! To subscribe, enter your name and e-mail on the right side of the page. Once subscribed, you’ll receive an e-mail with each new post. If you have any questions about my life in Shanghai, please ask. Instructions are on the “To Comment” page. Also, please share this blog with anyone who needs reassurance that eventually life will return to a semblance of normalcy.

Life in Shanghai

I hope that this entry finds all of you continuing to stay safe and healthy. With all the turmoil going on in the US right now, I hope that you and your families have been smart and are following social distancing guidelines, wearing masks, and continuing to wash your hands after going outside.

Before I begin, I wanted to address a change in the Word Press platform. Prior to the last few entries, those of you who posted comments would get notifications that I had responded to your message. However, due to a recent update, that feature no longer appears to have changed and I haven’t figured out how to change it back. However, I wanted to assure you that I am still responding to your comments (usually with 1 day). So, if there’s anything I say or show that excites you or you’re curious about, please comment and then check back the next day for my response!

It’s hard not to begin this entry off with some discussion of what’s happening in the US. For what might be a first, I think I learned about President Trump’s covid-19 diagnosis long before many of you did. In an attempt to not be entirely political, I think that this super spreader outbreak that appears to have occurred as a result of a public event in the Rose Garden highlights the importance of doing the exact opposite of what this current administration has done and continues to do. With that in mind, avoid large crowds, wear masks, wash your hands, maintain social distancing guidelines. These are not difficult principles to adhere by and the fact that these policies aren’t in place already in the US is terrifying. Moreover, the fact that there was suspicion about a possible diagnosis and Trump still went to a campaigning event is incredibly stupid, selfish, and arrogant. Additionally, I want to call out the racist response of Senator Kelly Loeffler who in response to Trump’s diagnosis continued to once again blame China. Being racist is not new to Senator Loeffle, who, for those of you who are unaware, is a part owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream and claimed that their protest in support of Black Lives Matter was too political and an anti-American statement, and instead called for support of the flag. However, the continued rhetoric from Trump and his underlings within the Republican party that somehow all of this is China’s fault and not their own, is disgusting and false. While China did not handle covid-19 perfectly, everything that has happened since the outbreak began in the US in March lies at the feet of the current administration. With all of this in mind, I’m incredibly grateful that former vice-President Biden is healthy and I hope that he and Senator Kamala Harris remain so. Therefore, as I’ve reiterated multiple times, Please vote. If you’ve gotten your absentee ballot, send it or drop it off as early as possible. If you can still register, please do. Remind everyone you know to vote! With everything happening this past week, it’s clear that we need an administration that will take covid-19 seriously for the entire country, not just when one man gets ill. Moreover, we can’t have a continued administration stoking the flames of hate and racism.

In terms of covid-19 in China, the virus remains under control. Restrictions have been lifted and foreigners holding valid resident (non-tourist) visas have been allowed back into the country (though a 14 day quarantine is required). Moreover, there has been travel during the mid-Autumn Festival holiday (though SJTU, where I work, recommended that we stay in Shanghai). In terms of cases, there are currently 50 imported cases in Shanghai (1 in Beijing). The recovery rate for Shanghai is 94.4% and for China as a whole, the recovery rate is also 94.4%. So, there is a way forward. Covid-19 can be controlled and it starts by taking the matter seriously and not sitting on your hands waiting for a vaccine to be discovered.

In terms of my own research, this was a super productive week! I finished all of the research for my DES paper! Finally! It feels fantastic to just have to adjust a few figures and modify the text! Hopefully, we’ll be submitting the paper to the DES collaboration in 1-2 weeks! Very excited for that. In terms of my Luminosity Function research, I also had a major breakthrough in how I was measuring the background! Sadly for me, that breakthrough was the result of a coding bug that was entirely my fault, but sometimes, that’s how research goes. Overall, I’m now getting results that make physical sense and are in much better agreement with prior results. I’m still working on a few minor adjustments, but, it feels great to have moved forward on that project as well!

Of note, October 1st – October 8th, is the combined Chinese National Day, which celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic of China (71 years ago), then followed by the mid-Autumn Festival, which is a harvest festival celebrating the moon! So, as a result, I’ll be working from home next week, which hopefully will allow me to be productive, while also going for lots of runs!

One of my favorite perks of working at a Chinese university is that for many of the Chinese holidays, the university gives us gifts! For the mid-Autumn Festival, all employees got a huge package of food!

I got a box full of bags of nuts, 2 bottles of alpine camellia seed oil, a 5kg bag of rice (which I’ll eat forever), and cookies! While it was exhausting carrying all of this home, it was a really nice gift from SJTU!

On top of that, my research supervisor, Ying, gave me a voucher for mooncakes! These are the traditional delicacy for the mid-Autumn Festival (more on that later).

Thanks to the help of some of my friends at improv, I was able to decipher which of the mooncakes were vegetarian!

While not nearly as exciting as all of the holiday presents, I wanted to let you all know that I finally started to learn Mandarin Chinese! No, I’m not taking classes (I wanted to actually have a foundation before considering that), but I’ve downloaded both Duolingo and Hello Chinese onto my phone and have been using the apps for ~ 30 minutes or more each day. I haven’t learned a foreign language since I was in high school, so it’s interesting working these brain muscles again. While I’m still a long long ways away from having a real conversation, I’m already starting to recognize and learn a more words (though reading the characters and not the pinyin/transliteration is unlikely). So, who knows, maybe in a few months I’ll be able to have a simple conversation at work!

On top of the Holiday celebrations, this was a fun week. As I’ve said in the last few posts, it’s now cool enough that I’m able to run comfortably, so I went for 4 runs this week! Additionally, I spent a lot of time outside walking around and took a lot of cool photos to share with you!

As you can see, Shanghai is an awesome city! There are again tons of flowers that were planted to beautify the city (likely for the holiday). Plus, there’s tons of cool sculptures set up all around the city. It always makes it fun when I go running or walking! I never know what I’ll see.

In addition to running, I also took some time to spend with friends! On Thursday, I had a lovely dinner with my friends Heather, Hannah Maia, Shimi, Clem, and Robert! Many of us are involved in organizing the anti-racism discussion series that Moishe House has been hosting, but it was really nice to hang out in a different setting as well!

Plus, we had a fantastic dinner of vegetable tagine, macaroni and cheese, miso-glazed eggplant, sesame cauliflower (I made this!), chocolate chip cookies, and cheesecake!

On Saturday, my friends and I got together for another fun night of improv games! While I still struggle with spontaneity and am generally much better at story telling games, it was a lot of fun to play with everyone! I think my favorites are still the story telling games. This time, we played another game where we had four people set in a square, with each pair set to a different theme. We would rotate every minute and start the conversation with the last thing the said in the previous conversation. We always had to keep it on the theme, whether it was an emotion or idea, which led to some pretty strange (in a good way) improv roles!

Food in Shanghai

While I didn’t have any exotic meals out, I did want to highlight mooncakes! These are a pastry that can be either sweet or savory. I’ve tried a few different ones and they’re really good! I got some vegan mooncakes at last weekend’s Veggie World Expo and I’ve also tried some sweet ones as well. I haven’t tried the ones from Ying yet, but I’ll share photos when I do! The mooncake pastry is flaky (or chocolate for the last one).

The one in the center is the one filled with a vegan meat substitute and the one on the right is cranberry flavored!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

As many of you know, I posted my last entry just before the start of Yom Kippur. So, for all of you who observed Yom Kippur, I hope that you had an easy fast and a meaningful and self-reflective day. While I’m sure the services were different than what you’re used to (they were for me), I hope you still found meaning in the holiday.

As was the case for Rosh Hashanah, I had the opportunity to lead services for Kehilat Shanghai. Thankfully, we received videos from Rabbi Art Nemitoff that provided our community with many of the key aspects of the services such as the Kol Nidrei prayer, the torah reading, and sermons, but the rest of the song leading and prayer leading was done by me, which meant I had a lot of solos. I’m happy to say that the community was incredibly appreciative and complementary of my efforts to lead the services. However, it was a completely exhausting and draining experience. By the time it was time to break the fast, I was drained. Despite my exhaustion, I still attended the break fasts hosted by Kehilat Shanghai as well as the one following at Moishe House. So, I definitely got enough to eat that night (though I was a little dehydrated, since I didn’t drink any water throughout the day). After an exhausting day of service leading and fasting (which just makes you tired), it was nice relaxing and celebrating with friends.

Overall, I was honored to have had the experience of leading the High Holy Day services for Kehilat Shanghai. This is not something I ever expected nor really desired to do. I really enjoy the High Holy Days and find the liturgy very meaningful and thought provoking, particularly Yom Kippur. However, I never thought that I would be asked to do any more than lead a prayer or chant from the torah. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to become a participant again and find the entire experience slightly more relaxing.

In addition to my thoughts about my Yom Kippur services, I also wanted to share with you a link to a sermon that Hannah Maia shared with me. The sermon is given by Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, the Rabbi at Central Synagogue in New York. Rabbi Buchdahl is the first Asian-American to be ordained as a Rabbi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X3-dqQ3gUk&feature=youtu.be

Living in Shanghai for almost 1 year and being an integral part of a multi-racial Jewish community has forced me to confront my own racism, prejudices and biases, particularly towards who is Jewish and what makes up the Jewish community. In particular, during the High Holy Days (especially Erev Rosh Hashanah), I was struck by how diverse the congregants at Kehilat Shanghai were. We are a community of White Americans, Chinese spouses, multi-racial children, Israelis, Europeans, Sephardic Jews, and Latinx’s. While we don’t look like one another, we all identify as Jewish or as part of the Jewish community and that is ultimately what matters most. While the Jewish communities in Saratoga (Temple Sinai), at Brown, or in Ann Arbor (Temple Beth Emeth) are all wonderful, supportive, and caring environments, they are, like most Jewish communities, not that diverse, filled predominately with people who look like me. Given that the ideas of racism and inclusion are topics that I have spent much time thinking, reading, and learning about, combined with my experience within a multi-racial community, I found Rabbi Buchdahl’s thoughts and experiences relating to treating the Jewish people not as a race with a distinct look, but rather as a welcoming family particularly powerful and moving. I hope all of you will take 20 minutes out of your day and watch this sermon. If you do, please share with me what your thoughts are.

This upcoming week should be a mix of some fun activities and a productive work week. Moreover, tomorrow, October 5th is my 1 year China Anniversary! It’s hard to believe that I’ve been living in Shanghai continuously for an entire year! I’ll be having a little celebration with some of my close friends next weekend, so I’ll reflect more on my first year in Shanghai in my next post. On top of that, I’ll also have some celebrations for Sukkot and Simchat Torah to share! Additionally, I’m going to start apartment hunting soon, so in one of the next two posts, I’ll discuss that process!

I hope that you enjoyed hearing about my Yom Kippur experience and seeing some of the treats for the mid-Autumn Festival! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Shanghai, SJTU, or covid-19, please let me know.

In peace,
Jesse