Category: Uncategorized

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 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 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 continues to find all of you, your families, and your friends continuing to be safe and healthy. As the covid-19 situation continues to get worse throughout the US and Europe, I hope that all of you are being smart. Please wear masks, continue to practice social distancing, work from home (if possible), wash your hands, and generally be cautious and smart. Even though covid-19 is no longer directly impacting my life in Shanghai, the situation elsewhere keeps it constantly at the forefront of my mind. So, please do everything you can do to be safe. The last thing I want to hear is that one of you is sick.

For the last time this election cycle, I want to encourage all of you to vote. While I’m happy to report that many of you have already voted, I want to encourage all of you to make sure that your friends, neighbors, and students (most importantly) have voted. America is in desperate need of change and this is our opportunity for improvement. While a single election won’t eliminate the polarization, division, racism, and hate that exists and is being sown throughout the US, by electing Vice President Biden and Senator Harris, we can go a long way in repairing the lasting damage that the current administration and it’s enablers have done. Hopefully, next week, I’ll be telling you how I celebrated with friends after the election.

In terms of covid-19, the situation in China remains under control. The numbers continue to creep up in Shanghai. However, we’re still dealing with an incredibly small number of cases. Moreover, all of these are imported of cases, where the people are tested immediately upon arrival into the Shanghai airport and are not allowed elsewhere or home until after they are no longer infectious. So, China is taking strong precautions (what the US must do) to prevent a second wave. In total, there are 100 active cases in Shanghai, which corresponds to a recovery rate of 90.9%. In Beijing, there are currently 4 cases. In total, for China, the recovery rate is 94.3%.

In terms of research, this was a fairly productive week. I went in to the office twice. It’s a nice 25 minute walk to the bus from my new apartment! As I started working as part of the Telescope Allocation Committee for the DESI secondary proposals, much of my week was spent reading over these proposals (most of which were very interesting). So far, it’s been an interesting experience serving on the Committee, though with daylight saving time, the meetings will be later, which will mean more late nights. I think that it’s been very beneficial to learn what topics are important for other areas of Astronomical research. Additionally, I spent more time working on my Luminosity Function analysis as well as starting my analysis of the higher redshift (out to z~1.0) DES-ACT clusters. So, I’m currently balancing a lot of different and interesting research projects!

In addition to my work, I went for 3 runs! I’ve really enjoyed using my runs as opportunities to start exploring the areas surrounding my new apartment. Also, on Thursday, I went running with Heather! This was the first (hopefully not last) time I’ve gone running with anyone here in Shanghai and reminded me of running in Saratoga with my Dad, Boston with Emmet, or Ann Arbor with my friend Juliette! The streets are wide enough, so it was really nice to talk to someone throughout my runs instead of just being plugged in to the latest episodes of the many podcasts I enjoy. 🙂 Below are some highlights from my runs and walks around Xuhui!

This week was Halloween! From my understanding, Halloween has been imported to China via the ex-pat communities. Many bars, stores, and restaurants put up decorations and host parties (some for kids , too). I saw lots of people (both ex-pat and Chinese) dressed up. However, I don’t think that trick or treating happens, and there’s definitely no explosion of the candy market like what happens in the US. However, it was a fun excuse to hang out with my friends and dress up! On Saturday night, Moishe House hosted a Halloween Party at a Roller Skating bar! Sadly, the actual skating rink was much smaller than I expected, which made skating a little difficult. However, it was still a lot of fun!

For my costume this year, I went as the Milky Way Galaxy!

I used cardboard and glow in the dark star stickers to make the Milky Ways spiral arms! I thought it was a really great costume! Plus, I now have some decorations for my bedroom! 🙂

However, the best costume went to my friends Kate, Ilan, and Pina, who dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, the woodcutter, and grandma! If you look closely, you can even see that Pina is wearing glasses! 🙂

Following Saturday’s Halloween festivities, on Sunday, Moishe House hosted another party, this time a joint birthday and goodbye party for Lucky, the dog that they’ve been fostering. Lucky will be going back to Israel to be with her family. The Israeli government is chartering a flight to return pets of Israeli citizens who were left behind in China. So, while we’re all happy that Lucky gets to go home to her family, we’ll all miss her at the Moishe House!

As you can see Hannah Maia got Lucky an adorable birthday cake, made of chicken and cheese.

Just as the Moishe House lost one pet, they’ve actually gained another. Daniel found a tiny abandoned Kitten in their complex and decided to take it in and care for it (and essentially adopt it). So, on Sunday, I got to spend some time playing with a very tiny and incredibly cute kitten! It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to play with a cat, so I really enjoyed it! The kitten is about 3-4 weeks old, so I’m sure I’ll share some photos as it grows over time!

So, as you can see, I had a very fun, animal, and friend filled weekend! I’m really glad that I have so many friends here in Shanghai so that I’m always able to do fun things when I need a break from work!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

On Friday, I was invited to another of the Kehilat Shanghai Family Shabbats! Even though I don’t have a family here in Shanghai, it’s really enjoyable for me to be invited to these and I’m grateful to continue to be included! It’s been a wonderful opportunity to get to know a lot of the different community members as well as get a sense for what’s important to the community. It also brings back fond dinners with my cousin Margaret and her family while I was living in Ann Arbor!

Overall, this was a very nice and productive week! I’m still really enjoying my apartment and I got to do a lot of fun social activities with my friends, while also getting to play with their pets! Next week should be another productive research week, but I already have some fun activities planned as well!

I hope that you enjoyed seeing my Halloween photos and the photos of Lucky and the new kitten! 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 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

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 will 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 you, your families, and your friends are doing well and staying safe and healthy. Hopefully you are being smart and continuing to maintain social distancing practices. I know that many of you have been enjoying the end of the warm weather and taking advantage of it to do social distanced get togethers. So, I hope you continue to do so for as long as it’s warm enough. Moreover, as we transition to fall (though it’s still quite warm in Shanghai), I hope that you’re able to find new ways to maintain friendships and social interactions while still being safe and smart.

In terms of the current state of the US, this was a very depressing and troubling week. As a US citizen outside of the US, it’s impossible not to be consumed by these disheartening events. I feel a sense of shame in being American. I’m sure many of you share in my outrage over the decision to not charge any of the police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor. It’s disgusting that we live in a country where police officers are not held accountable for their actions. This was an unjustified murder of an innocent black woman.

Breonna Taylor’s life mattered. Black Lives Matter.

However, it’s clear that in the eyes of the courts that the walls to her neighbor’s home mattered more. Police officers need to earn our respect and trust just like everyone else and must be held accountable for their actions, just like everyone else. Moreover, the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the Supreme Court is another incredibly troubling move. Not only is Mitch McConnell’s rush to a vote on the appointment entirely hypocritical, but the last thing America needs is an ultra-conservative judge who will board up all the glass ceilings that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (may her memory be a blessing) shattered. Lastly, it is terrifying that the current occupant of the White House refuses to commit to accepting the results of the election. The US is not a dictatorship and the fact that he can’t understand that tells you all you need to know about how unfit for office he is.

Based on the recent events in the US, combined with the continued vacuum of moral leadership within the US, I implore all of you to vote. Encourage your friends to vote. Encourage your students to vote. Make sure that you are registered to vote. Even here in Shanghai, I voted! I received my absentee ballot then printed it out, voted for the candidate who believes in moral leadership, is not a racist, trusts science, and can lead our country out of the nightmare that has been the current Presidency. After doing so, I brought my ballot to the US consulate where it will be mailed to the US as part of a diplomatic pouch. So, I beg you. Vote! This is not a choice between the lesser of two evils. This is a vote between Democracy and the Authoritarian Trump regime. I hope you, and America make the right decision.

In terms of covid-19, I remain increasingly concerned about the situation in the US. The politicization of a vaccine and the Trump administration’s insistence on cutting corners to rush a vaccine are incredibly troubling as a scientist. I am grateful that Governor Cuomo (of NY) is taking further precautions on any such vaccine. Moreover, it stuns me that with over 200,000 Americans dead, people are unwilling or unable to acknowledge that this is a fundamental failure on behalf of the US government and current administration. It didn’t have to be this bad. Here in China, the situation is completely under control. All cases are imported cases, which has allowed China to tentatively reopen its borders (on September 28th, but still with a mandatory 14 day quarantine upon arrival). Currently in Shanghai, there are just 41 active (imported) cases. There is just 1 in Beijing. The recovery rate for Shanghai is 95.1% and for China is 94.4%. So, the American people must take responsibility and demand leadership that will address this crisis seriously.

In terms of research, this was another productive week! My DES research is coming along very nicely. We’re aiming to submit the paper to the collaboration by mid-October (a deadline I think we’ll hit 🙂 ). Moreover, I found a bug in my Luminosity Function analysis, which I believe will explain a lot of the weird results that I’d been measuring over the last few weeks. So, hopefully, by next week, I’ll be able to update you all with some new, exciting results! 🙂

In terms of the rest of my academic activities, most of our Colloquiums are on Zoom, which is disappointing. However, we’re still doing AstroCoffee and Group meetings in person. Having those in person activities is really nice and has helped increase the level of interaction and questioning at both meetings!

In addition to work this week, I was able to go for three runs!! It’s still warm, mostly in the mid to upper 70s, so it’s definitely great running weather (though I do miss the crisp fall weather I’m more used to). Throughout my time walking and running around Shanghai, I saw a lot of cool things that I wanted to share with you!

Additionally, I also got a few cool photos of Shanghai at night!

Shanghai is such a beautiful and cool city to live in and explore!

In addition to work and running, I made time for some fun activities! On Thursday, I went to the Unravel storytelling event. Unravel is a show were people tell stories (decided beforehand), based on a theme, which was Sink or Swim. There were stories about people facing life or death experiences, actually learning how to swim, diving headfirst into a career in stand-up comedy, and facing the challenges of leaving your family for a foreign country for the first time. Overall, the stories were really interesting and moving. A lot of them reminded me of some of the shorter stories that are part ofThis American Life (one of my favorite podcasts). It was a lot of fun and I definitely plan to go again next month!

The highlight of my week was on Saturday when my friend Heather and I went to the Veggie World Expo Shanghai! It was at the beautiful Shanghai Exhibition center. Unlike some of the Vegan food festivals I’ve gone to in the US, instead of restaurants and bakeries, this one featured companies providing samples of different products. It’s great to see that there are so many different vegan products being made for Chinese markets! There were some international brands like Gardein (coming to China soon), Oatly, and Just Egg, but most of the companies like Z-Rou, Omnipork, and tons of others are Chinese brands. I got to try a lot of different samples of vegan meat substitutes, some in the form of dumplings and baozi, and others that are nuggets or burgers! Some of these were a little to meaty for my taste, but overall there was a lot of good things! Though I think the tempeh I had was my favorite! Heather and I tried a lot of samples, but we didn’t buy much. However, we did get WeChat contacts and Taobao links for some of our favorites so we can order in the future! We did buy some yummy vegan chocolate and some vegan mooncakes! Mooncakes are a Chinese traditional snack for the mid-Autumn Festival (starts next week). So, I’ll plan to enjoy mine soon (and take photos when I do)!

This was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon! It was a lot of fun trying all the different products and I look forward to going again next year!

Afterwards, Heather I spent the day walking around and exploring different parts of Shanghai (including the area close to the other SJTU campus, where I’m planning to move in October). During our walk, we ran into 3 different people that I knew! Given how big Shanghai is, it always excites me to run into friends while out. It gives me a sense that I’m really building a life and community here in Shanghai!

Food in Shanghai

Heather and I ended up walking around so much that we decided to get dinner at one of my favorite vegan restaurants, Godly!

We enjoyed soft tofu with mushrooms and peas, stir fried gluten with vegetables (the best dish), luffa (a green squash) with edamame, and asparagus with vegetables! So, overall, it was a day filled with a ton of delicious vegan food!

As I’ve highlighted, there are so many different kinds of food here, so if you’re curious about any of it, or if there’s anything you wonder if I’ve tried (that’s vegetarian) let me know!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

I’m writing this blog post prior to Yom Kippur, so I want to take the opportunity to wish all of you who are fasting a safe and easy fast. I hope that you are able to take the opportunity to reflect back on the year and what things you liked and what you can do better to improve upon. I know that to me, this is one of the parts of the High Holy Days that I find most meaningful.

On Friday, I joined some of my friends from Moishe House for Shabbat Dinner at the Orthodox Sephardic Jewish center. I’d been there a few times before, but it was nice to go with friends. It was a very interesting experience. The community is very friendly and welcoming. However, the services were blitzed through (in normal Orthodox style). At one point, I was following the Amidah (the central prayer of Shabbat services), then got lost and a minute later, my friend pointed out that we were 25 pages ahead of where I was. So, overall, it’s not as accessible as the Reform Judaism that I enjoy. However, it was still nice to be part of the greater Jewish community of Shanghai and enjoy a lovely Shabbat meal.

The beginning of this week will be dominated by Yom Kippur. I’m leading the Kehilat Shanghai services (with the assistance of some videos). After that I’ll have a few normal days, followed by the Chinese National Holiday (celebrating China’s founding) and then the mid-Autumn Festival. So, during those Holidays, I’ll be working from home (and hopefully start looking for my new apartment). To all of you who, like me, are celebrating Yom Kippur, I hope that you have an easy fast and a meaningful holiday, even if it is different than what you normally experience.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing the highlights from the Veggie World Expo! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Shanghai, SJTU, or covid-19, 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 will 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 update continues to find you, your families, and your friends safe and healthy. Even though I’ll talk about Rosh Hashanah a lot in this entry, I hope that all of you who celebrated had a meaningful holiday, even if it was different from what you normally do. I also hope that all of you involved in education, either as teachers or parents, are finding success in the early part of the school year. For those of you who are doing it virtually, I hope that your more accustomed to the platforms you are using and are discovering new ways to engage with your students. For those of you teaching in person, I hope that you feel safe and that your schools are engaging in proper and adequate testing and safety measures.

I have to start this post with some commentary on recent political news. I’m sure you were all just as devastated as I was to learn of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing on Friday (Saturday morning my time). May her memory be a blessing. We’ve lost a pillar in legal world and perhaps one of, if not the greatest, modern champion for women’s rights . It’s truly a sad day for the US. Unfortunately, the passing of RBG coupled was coupled with both sadness and fear. Recent statements by William Barr, suggesting that protestors should be tried for sedition, our current president’s statements that we need “patriotic” education, and the insistence and total hypocrisy from Senator McConnell (who is his own unique and special brand of evil) that the supreme court justice position be filled immediately regardless of the fact that when Justice Scalia died in February of 2016, he claimed President Obama couldn’t fill the seat because it was an election year, make me truly scared for the future of the United States. We are shifting towards authoritarianism. I implore all of you to vote and to vote against the current occupants of the White House. Moreover, if you are teachers (particularly at the college level), you must insist that your students register to vote and vote! Here in Shanghai, I just received my NY absentee ballot, which I will print out on Monday and figure out how to mail back (it has to be mailed) this week. The only hope for the future of the US is if we come together and remember that we as Americans must be better and move on from this racist, sexist, homophobic, and immoral administration.

If you need any more reasoning to vote against the current administration, look at the covid-19 statistics. As the US crosses 6.7 million cases, with an unthinkable 200,000 people dead, what more reasoning could you need that the response to covid-19 has been mishandled and that the current administration doesn’t care about your safety and health. China and other countries such as New Zealand and South Korea have shown that covid-19 can be contained. Currently, in Shanghai, there are just 49 cases (all imported). Beijing has no cases. The recovery rate for Shanghai is 94.2%, while the recovery rate for China as a whole is 94.4%. So, here in Shanghai, while we remain cognizant of the fear of covid-19, we are able to return to our normal lives. We only need to wear masks on subways, buses, and taxis. Masks work and combined with contact tracing reduce the spread of covid-19.

In terms of Astronomy research, this was another productive week! I made great progress on my DES Stellar Mass-Halo Mass relation research! I’ve completed all the observational analysis for this study and am in the process of updating/finalizing the text. There’s just one last part we want to do with simulated data that I’m working on. However, this paper should be submitted to the DES collaboration by the beginning of October!!! 🙂 Very excited about that. I also spent a bit of time working on my Luminosity Function analysis. We’re still trying to figure out some of the nuances of the background measurements, but I think we’re making some interesting findings in the process! 🙂

For those of you curious about my work week, I’m going to be going in to the office 3x per week! I take the bus to campus, which allows me to read (either for fun or work), which is much nicer than just listening to podcasts on a crowded metro.

Above, you can see the temperature scanner that I have to walk through (that is me) when I enter campus. It’s pretty cool! Next to it is a photo of the campus seal. In general, it’s been nice to be back for a few days each week and has allowed me to more easily collaborate with my colleagues here!

In terms of weather, it is starting to cool down. Unlike in Saratoga, where cool down means the 30s (at night), in Shanghai, cool down means highs in the 70s with lows in the 60s. Which is great and definitely more comfortable! Unfortunately it rained almost every day this week, but I did get to go for a nice 5 mile run on Sunday!

Here are some cool photos from around Shanghai this week!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

This week, my weekend was dominated by Rosh Hashanah celebrations! L’Shana Tovah to all who celebrate! In Shanghai, we’re fortunate that we were able to celebrate together in person! Unfortunately, covid-19 prevented us from bringing in a rabbi to lead our services. So, we had to improvise. Thanks to the help of Rabbi Art Nemitoff, a Rabbi from Kansas City who has visited Shanghai many times in the past, we had access to videos he prepared for his own congregation (B’nai Jehuda) that included the key prayers, torah readings, shofar service and sermons. However, because we were celebrating in person, we decided to do additional prayers, songs, and activities, which I had the pleasure of leading! While this was a lot of work, and not something I ever thought I’d be doing or really want to have to do again, under such a unique set of circumstances it was a meaningful experience and thoroughly appreciated by the Kehilat Shanghai community.

On Friday night, we had about 100 people join our community for the Erev (evening) Rosh Hashanah services, including the new consulate general of Israel (who was very friendly and excited to join our community. I got to speak with him meet afterwards). Many of my friends from both the Kehilat and Moishe House communities came (you can see some of us enjoying dinner together thanks to photos from Hannah Maia), so it was wonderful to bring in the new year with many of my friends!

On Saturday, about 30 community members returned for more in person services, including our in person Shofar service, which you can see here! The kids were particularly excited to hear the shofar blast (though I’m not sure what the people staying at the hotel that we did our services in thought was happening :))!

Following the Rosh Hashanah services, I attended Moishe House’s Tashlich (which is a service that centers around the idea of casting off your sins from the past year) and lunch! Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate, so we weren’t able to go down to West Bund Park. Instead, we used the beautiful pond in the compound that the Moishe House is in. This was a nice way to reflect on my first year in China and what I want to do differently and improve on for next year.

This was my first Rosh Hashanah experience in Shanghai. I left for Shanghai in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur last year (My 1 year China anniversary is in ~ 2 weeks). So, I experienced a lot of mixed emotions. Although it was lovely to be surrounded by my friends and community members here, it was bittersweet to not be home in Saratoga joining my family for services. I really missed spending Rosh Hashanah with my family. However, I’m lucky to have the fond memories of the always wonderful Temple Sinai services (evening, first and second days), the Sweets Party my Mom hosts filled with all the amazing food that she makes, and of course my Mom’s fantastic rugelach (made with my great-grandmothers recipe) filled with my Mom’s amazing raspberry jam. 🙂

Next week will be somewhat dominated by preparations for Yom Kippur, which begins on Sunday evening. I’m not sure if I’ll post my blog before or after Yom Kippur yet though. Even with Yom Kippur on the horizon, there will be a few more fun activities as well as what is hopefully another very productive week! I hope that all of you who are observing Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur find the days in between meaningful and are able to reflect on 5780 as we transition to 5781.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing and learning about my first Rosh Hashanah experience in Shanghai! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Shanghai, SJTU, or covid-19, 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 all are (hopefully) wearing masks when you go outside and maintaining social distancing practices, I hope that my blog highlights that there will be a recovery 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 highlights for you as well. In Shanghai, life has returned mostly to normal. Since outbreaks may still occur, it’s important that we wear masks and cooperate with social distancing guidelines so that things will 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 how I’ve dealt with covid-19 or 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 update finds all of you safe and healthy! While I know covid-19 continues to dominate a lot of your thoughts and concerns, I did want to check in with all of my readers on the West Coast, particularly Oregon, Washington, and California and make sure that you and your families are staying safe during this devastating forest fire season. Also, since for many of you (or your children), the school year is now back in session, I’m curious how that’s going? Are you teaching from home or going into the office? If you’re going into the office, what kind of safety protocols are in place? I’ll discuss my own situation in a little bit. Regardless, I hope that you and your families are continuing to stay safe and healthy, wear masks, and take social distancing practices seriously.

The chaotic start of the school year in the US, as opposed to the relatively calm start of the school year here in China has really further highlighted the difference in our current situations. Since at this point, I’m unable to come home (and then return to China), I grow increasingly concerned about the lack of tangible improvement for the US as a whole. So, I really implore all of you to stay safe and wear masks (it’s not that hard). Like last week, the situation in China is mostly recovered. Shanghai has just 45 cases, all imported, (Beijing has 0) and Shanghai has a recovery rate of 94.5%, while the recovery rate for China is 94.3%. So, as another political reminder, make sure to vote for people who take covid-19 seriously and are willing to listen to scientists, not their bank accounts, for solutions.

Before discussing Astronomy, I wanted to let you know that I returned to the SJTU campus for the first time since January!!!! 🙂 Thankfully, my desk was still there, and it was loaded with goodies from the Dragon Boat festival that my colleagues had left out for me! I was given a bunch of yummy dried fruit, some snacks (which sadly all had meat), and some walnut and rapeseed oils! It was a very generous gift from the department and university! Overall, it was really nice to be back in the office. I got to see a lot of the post-docs I haven’t seen in months. I got to meet in person with Ying, my research supervisor as well as have our group meeting in person! Also, AstroCoffee will be in person next week.

I’m sure you’re all wondering what precautions the SJTU is taking. To enter the campus, you have your temperature checked and must have a campus ID. Then to actually enter the building, you need a green QR code (separate from the Shanghai Green QR code). I’ve also been using the bus to commute between the SJTU Minhang (where I work) and Xujiahui (closer to where I live) campuses. Everyone wears a mask on the bus. Additionally, the campus is closed for students, who are not allowed to leave the campus. Though I’m not entirely sure how this is enforced and plant to ask some of the students.

Regardless of all the safety concerns, it was lovely to step foot on the beautiful SJTU campus again! Even though I’m only going to go in 3x per week from now on.

In terms of actual Astronomy, this was a very productive week! I had an awesome meeting with my Ph.D. supervisor Chris and have reignited my DES SMHM relation research, finally making some strong progress! We’re aiming to submit our paper to the collaboration by the beginning of October. I also spent some time working on my Luminosity Function analysis and have a new avenue to explore for a uniform background. Lastly, we’re actually starting our science analysis for the DES-ACT (the high redshift data), which is exciting! So, there should be a lot of fun and exciting results to share with you all later this year!

Although this was an exhausting and productive week (I’m now getting up at 5:45 to take the 7:30 bus to campus), I still made time for some fun! On Wednesday, I got together with my friends to play Improv games! My personal favorite are story telling games! We did one where each person is telling the same story from the perspective of a different character, which was awesome and led to some hilarious interpretations! We also did one where we had 2 person teams and had to speak one word at a time alternating who speaks, which was challenging! Overall it was another fun night of laughs!

Another highlight of my weekend was that I finally got to go running again!!! It’s finally cooled down to the low-80s, so I’m able to go running comfortably, which I love! Although I’m a lot out of practice and need to get a lot more runs in, it felt amazing to stretch my legs, clear my mind, and run! Plus, I no longer have to wear a mask! Most people only wear masks on the subway and in taxis. Below you can see the beautiful park I ran through!

Another highlight of my weekend was on Sunday I hung out with my friend Heather! We went for lunch (which I’ll show later) and then went for a long walk (~4-5 miles) down the West Bund, which runs along the Huangpu River! It was great to catch up with Heather before her semester at NYU Shanghai starts! I got to see this different side of Shanghai and Heather pointed out some of the places that she’s visited. I’ve seen parts of the West Bund and the Shanghai skyline, but it was really cool to get to walk along it and then end up on Nanjing Road (kind of like Broadway + Times Square only bigger)! It’s definitely a spot I’ll come back to and would make for a great run!

In addition to the gorgeous skyline, there were tons of beautiful flowers along the path!

We also ended our walk by stopping by the famous Peace Hotel, originally built by the Sassoon family, one of the oldest most prominent families Jewish families that lived in Shanghai until the 1940/50s.

In addition to the fun adventures this weekend, there were also a few things I wanted to show you! First, on the bus ride each morning, I pass an amusement park! Though I’m unsure if it’s still opened.

Plus, while it may not be safe enough to go to the movies in the US, it is here in China. Tenet is the movie to see! I hope I’ll be able to see it in theaters (I haven’t seen a movie in theaters in China yet).

Additionally, while I was walking home on Saturday night, I saw a bunch of rentable bikes being loaded into trucks to be moved strategically around the city! These kind of bikes are super popular in Shanghai. Almost everyone uses them (I have) and they’re very inexpensive (less than $1 for a 15-20 minute ride). Sadly, they don’t provide helmets, which is not ideal.

Food in Shanghai

It’s been a while since I’ve eaten out, but on Sunday, I got a delicious lunch with Heather! We went to a new vegetarian restaurant near my apartment!

We got a mushroom, fruit and quinoa salad, rice with mushrooms, stuffed mushroom caps, and a tofu hot pot! Everything was very fresh and delicious!

For some other culinary highlights of the week, I cooked with Chinese Eggplant (I made Szechuan tofu and eggplant)! These long Chinese eggplants have no seeds and are not bitter like the normal eggplants I get in the US. I also tried a red bean popsicle, which was quite interesting!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

On Saturday evening, Moishe House hosted a Yoga Havdalah! My friend Ely is a trained Yoga instructor and led our class, on the roof of the building the Moishe House is in. We focused mostly on our hips and pelvis. I’m definitely going to do it again, even though I’m not very flexible!

After doing Yoga, we did the Havdalah rituals and blessings up on the roof to usher in the week! It was great fun to practice Yoga and enjoy the Havdalah with my friends!

Next week (Friday night) is Rosh Hashanah! While I’m sure this year will be different for almost all of you, I want to wish all of you who are celebrating L’Shana Tova! Happy New Year! I hope that this is a good year for all of you. I’m helping to coordinate and lead Kehilat Shanghai’s services, which I’ll tell you all about next week!

Overall, this was a productive and enjoyable week! A great balance between work and friends! Next week will likely be dominated by Rosh Hashanah (my first in Shanghai!) as the Kehilat Shanghai board works to finalize everything. So, I’m sure there will be lots to share with you all.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing all of the the West Bund and Shanghai’s skyline! I hope that you enjoy exploring Shanghai with me! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Shanghai, SJTU, or covid-19, 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 all are (hopefully) wearing masks when you go outside and maintaining social distancing practices, I hope that my blog highlights that there will be a recovery 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 highlights for you as well. In Shanghai, life has returned to a new normal. Since outbreaks may still occur, it’s important that we wear masks and cooperate with social distancing guidelines so that things will 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 how I’ve dealt with covid-19 or 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 update finds you all staying safe and healthy while enjoying your labor day holiday. For a China fact, Labor Day is celebrated here, but on May 1st as part of International Workers Day. Since Labor Day officially marks the end of the summer, I hope that all of you have been able to have an enjoyable summer even while staying safe, wearing masks, and following social distance protocols. As I’ve mentioned before, I know that many of you work in Academia. Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, a graduate student, a post-doc, or a professor, I really hope that you feel comfortable about what your school/institution has implemented. I hope that all of you are able to work safely (and remotely if possible) this upcoming year.

Since the news was a little bit calmer this week, I want to start this post by briefly updating you about the status of Covid-19 in Shanghai and China. China is almost entirely recovered. There are still imported cases, but there have been no recent outbreaks. Masks are only required on public transportation, such as the Metro and in taxis. Moreover, schools are open for in person learning. The only difference is that universities (like SJTU, where I work), will have closed campuses this semester. All students are required to remain on campus for the entire semester, they cannot leave to go to other parts of the city. While this type of policy may be strict, it will help halt potential outbreaks. Currently, there are 46 active cases in Shanghai (0 in Beijing). The recovery rate is up to 94.2%. For China as a whole the recovery rate is 94.3%. So, Shanghai is now typical of China. As the US is now well over 6 million cases, I want to again emphasize the importance of following social distancing guidelines and electing officials that will listen to scientists, not just listen to their bank accounts, the stock market, and the economy.

In terms of Astronomy, this was a very slow week. I spent some time working to get a better understanding of the high redshift DES-ACT data that I just started a project on. However, for the other projects that I’m working on, I have reached phases where I actively need to have discussions with my collaborators. Unfortunately, the end of summer/beginning of the semester/labor day holiday, made it difficult for those meetings to occur. So, I spent much of the week reading papers. Hopefully this upcoming week I can continue making further research progress.

Before I share the highlights of my trip to Moganshan (which was great!), I want to briefly talk about or latest Moishe House discussion on Racism and Social Justice (we’ve expanded beyond just BLM). This past week’s discussion focused on the Model Minority Myth (which plagues both the Jewish and Asian American community) as well as the racism that impacts and exists within the Asian and Asian American Communities. Additionally, we talked a lot about the idea of affirmative action as well as the relationship between the Black and Asian community and how a lot of the tension that exists has historically been related to systemic racist business practices and laws.

Since I gave a presentation on it, for those of you unfamiliar, the model minority myth is the idea that there are certain minority communities that have reached high levels of either socio-economic or academic success. These models are then touted to emphasize that the struggles of other minorities are not due to the systemic injustices that exist in the US (and elsewhere) but rather the faults of the minorities. Model minorities are often invisible because they’re doing what they’re supposed to until they become too good at which leads them to become hypervisible, which can lead to further discrimination or identification as n other. This behavior is shown by both the ebbs and flows of anti-Semitism and Anti-Asian sentiment. Furthermore, model minorities are often used to perpetuate negative behavior toward Blacks and Latinos. These stereotypes persist all throughout the world and are often highlighted in movies and tv. While not all the stereotypes are bad (on their own), in my opinion, the problem arises from how these myths perpetuate the idea of being an other and an outsider. Moreover, these myths remove any sort of differences among members of the community and add undo pressure to members of those communities.

Moganshan!

After being in Shanghai for 11 months, on Friday, I finally left the city! I went to Moganshan with 8 of my friends (and one dog, Lucky!). Since many of you are likely unfamiliar with cities in China other than Shanghai and Beijing, I’ll start by describing Moganshan. Moganshan is a park/mountain with a small village nearby. It’s been described as the Hamptons of Shanghai, since it serves as a vacation area for many of the people who live in Shanghai. While I don’t think that’s the best comparison, Moganshan is not nearly as exclusive or as fancy as the Hamptons, it was still lovely! Moganshan is about a 3 hour drive from Shanghai. We rented an awesome AirBNB and spent Friday, Saturday, and the first half of Sunday enjoying time away from the city and in nature!

We had a fun drive out to Moganshan! Though, as you can see, Lucky spent most of the trip roaming around the car, which made it extra fun! We then stopped at a really nice Chinese rest stop. The Chinese rest stops were similar to the one’s in New York, with lots of restaurants, and even some fresh fruit vendors! I got rice noodles with veggies!

Here you can see our fantastic AirBNB!

After arriving in Moganshan, we went on an amazing three hour hike! It brought back fond memories of the hikes I’d do with Emmet and my Dad in the North Woods or the Adirondacks! Lucky led the way and I was often close behind. 🙂

These are some of the beautiful photos from the first part of our hike! After being in the city for so long, it was so much fun to hike through the stunning bamboo forest! This was the China I remember from watching all the panda videos (and The Great Panda Adventure) growing up and have been eager to see and experience! The first part of our hike was super intense and very steep. Once we reached the main trail, we saw a sign that warned foreigners not to go the way we did. 🙂

One thing that I was really impressed by was that there were trash and recycling bins set up along the paths. Sadly, I ended up picking up some trash and recycling along the way, but it was nice that some effort is being made to prevent littering.

Next we saw an amazing and majestic waterfall!

Near the waterfall, there was a pagoda built into the mountain and a really cool statue of a swordsmith forging a sword!

We continued our ascent up (on some stairs this time–stairs are commonly carved/built into the mountains) until we reached the castle, seen in the distance. The castle was built by the Naked Company (which is similar to WeWork) and has super expensive villas that you can rent out. We didn’t go in, but it was a nice landmark for our hike!

You can also see how gorgeous Moganshan is as further highlighted by the colors on the way down!

Overall, the hike was an amazing start to the wonderful vacation!

After our hike, we spent some time cooking and had a lovely Shabbat dinner! Although not shown, we had homemade pizzas (Hannah Maia was able to get pizza dough from one of the restaurants here), delicious Challah (made by Hannah Maia), as well as pasta with homemade tomato sauce (thanks to Heather) and watermelon salad!

After dinner, like we did on Saturday, we played games and enjoyed the chocolate tahini cookies I made! We played Anomia, Secret Hitler and tons of the games on jackbox.tv. After a long day of hiking it was wonderful to relax in the evening with games and friends!

On Saturday, we started the day with a workout. 🙂 Hannah Maia and Daniel are F45 (Function 45, a global gym also in Shanghai) fanatics and led us all on an intense HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout! I was beat afterwards (though, I really enjoyed it and it’s definitely something I will do more of), but it was a great start to the day!

The best way to relax after a tiring workout was to use the pool! Which was great to have, but only went up to my knee.

We followed up pool time and a workout with a wonderful brunch! We enjoyed french toast (and vegan french toast), chick pea salad, tofu salad, fruit salad, and shakshuka.

In the afternoon, some of us went down to explore Moganshan town. It felt a little Disneyfied, where the town has become a lot more tourist friendly (both to Chinese and Western tourists). However, it was still fun to explore and see different part of China!

There were so many cool sculptures and works of art to see in the town, which I loved! My favorite was the Totoro selling ice cream!!

After exploring the downtown area, we had a delicious barbecue dinner prepared by Daniel and Hannah Maia! The vegan highlights were tofu kebabs, roasted potatoes, and Indian spiced cauliflower!

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to play with Lucky! She really helped me relax and made everyone enjoy our company a little bit more (while also making us go very fast on our hike). 🙂

On Sunday, we had a relaxing morning! Hannah Maia and I took Lucky for a walk, which allowed me to take some more photos of the area!

The cabin built into the bamboo reminded both Hannah Maia and me of the Adirondacks!

We ended our trip on a high note with one last delicious brunch! The highlights included cinnamon buns, chive pancakes (like scallion pancakes), and fruit compote!

One other fun part of the trip was seeing all the different wildlife! From large beetles on the hike, to birds living in the rocks, to frogs in the swimming pool, it was fun to see such different wildlife than what I regularly see in Shanghai.

Overall Moganshan was a wonderful trip filled with great friends, delicious food, and beautiful nature! I’m so grateful to my friends Hannah Maia and Daniel for organizing and including me on this trip! I also have to thank my friends for sharing some of their own amazing photos (some included here) with me! I’m so glad that I finally was able to start exploring other parts of China! While I love living in Shanghai, I’m already excited for my next adventure outside of Shanghai!

This was a wonderful, relaxing, and fun week! The trip to Moganshan was exactly what I needed to reset and get ready for the new school year! I’ll be finally back in the office next week, so I’ll let you all know what it’s like to no longer be working from home full time and what safety precautions SJTU is implementing.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing all of the beauty in Moganshan as well as some of the fun that I had! I hope that this update gives you a greater appreciation for China’s natural beauty! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Shanghai, Moganshan, or covid-19, please let me know.

In peace,
Jesse

Welcome to Astronomer in Shanghai! Thank you for following my blog and for your interest in my life in Shanghai! As covid-19 continues to plague the US, and you all are (hopefully) wearing masks when you go outside (I still am!) and maintaining social distancing practices, I hope that my blog highlights that there will be a recovery 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 highlights for you as well. In Shanghai, life has returned to a new normal, though new outbreaks may still occur. However, we are all in this together and if we wear masks and cooperate with social distancing guidelines things will 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 how I’ve dealt with covid-19 or 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 continues to find all of you, your families, and your friends remaining safe and healthy! Moreover, even though there are a ton of troubling things that are happening in the US that I’m sure are preoccupying your thoughts, whether it’s the senseless shooting of Jacob Blake, forest fires in California, or the Hurricane in the Gulf Coast, I hope all of you are still remembering to be vigilant with regards to covid-19, especially as schools begin to reopen in person. With that in mind, I know that this past week was the start of the academic year for many of my readers (at least all of those who work at Skidmore College with my parents :)). Regardless of whether you’re teaching online or in person, I hope that the start of what I imagine will be a tiring and different semester was good. Hopefully, your students are excited to be back in class. Also, if you are teaching in person, I hope that you are reminding all of your students to maintain social distancing practices. As the examples of many large universities (most recently looking at you Alabama) have shown, college campuses appear to be a super spreader for covid-19.

Before discussing my life in Shanghai, I want to share a few political thoughts. First, as evidenced by the senseless shooting of Jacob Blake, it’s abundantly clear that the entire United States policing system needs to be reformed. Regardless of whether you think Jacob Blake did anything wrong (I don’t believe he did), it is not the job of police officers to serve as judge, jury, and executioner. Moreover, the fact that we live in a country where 17 year old Kyle Rittenhouse (and his mother who drove him to Kenosha, WI also needs to be blamed) can cross state lines to murder peaceful protesters only further highlights the systemic and deep-seeded problems within our country. The fact that a 17 year old white boy can murder 2 innocent people and shoot a third and still be alive while innocent black men and women are being murdered is all the evidence that anyone should need to understand that the whole system (especially the police unions) need to be reformed and that all police officers need to be held accountable for their actions just like every one else. On another thinking point, why does it take college plus 3 years of law school and passing the bar exam to legally practice the law, yet it only takes as little as 6 months of training to enforce it. Maybe we need to require law enforcement officers to be better trained in the same ways we require lawyers and judges.

At times like this, it’s imperative to remember to vote and hold the people who make our laws accountable. Seeing the highlights of the DNC and RNC in the last two, make it abundantly clear that we have one party that believes in diversity and inclusion. That same party believes that we can be better that we have to listen to scientists and work to better the country for everyone. In contrast, the other party is now ruled by a racist, sexist, and homophobic tyrant. It buries itself in lies, racism, and fear. I believe that the US needs fundamental change that the current administration is unwilling to admit or enact. The current administration is complicit in the continued deaths of black and brown people in the US, the further restrictions of their right to vote, and the deaths of over 180,000 people in the US as a result of covid-19. I implore all of you to vote and to encourage your friends and students (who are eligible) to vote as well. So, if you plan to vote by mail, please request your ballots as soon as possible.

To change gears here. As the school year begins here as well, it’s remarkable to see just how strikingly different the situations are in the US compared to China. As far as I know, all schools are meeting in person (thought masks are required). The only restriction is that students aren’t allowed to travel outside of Shanghai. Other than the small outbreaks in Xinjiang and Beijing (months ago), covid-19 has been held completely in check by the Chinese government. Currently the vast majority (nearly all) of cases are imported cases of Chinese nationals (and a few foreigners) returning to China for work. In Shanghai, there are 61 cases. The recovery rate is up to 92.4%. There are now no cases in Beijing! For China as a whole, the recovery rate is at 94%. So, as I’ve emphasized, if you require strict lockdowns and 14 day quarantines, the covid-19 can be controlled.

This was another fairly productive Astronomy week. I spent most of my time working on two different projects than what I’ve previously been working on. I’m waiting on feedback on my Stellar Mass-Halo Mass Relation and Luminosity Function Analyses, so I spent most of the week working on my DESI research on the spectroscopic completeness of Brightest Central Galaxies and likely cluster members. I’ve been able to determine which targets would need to be observed to yield a complete sample! I also got started on another new project I’m working on with my friend and colleague Yuanyuan Zhang. We’re starting to look at DES-ACT clusters for an analysis of the light profiles of the central galaxies. ACT is the Atcama Cosmology Telescope (a 6 meter telescope in Chile), this is a high redshift survey, which covers out to redshift of 1 (overlapping with the redshift range that Emmet studies!). So, when I get some interesting results, I’ll discuss those more in depth. 🙂 Additionally, this week, I had the opportunity to lead the Zu Group meeting for the first time! It was a fun experience (hopefully Ying will let me do it again). It also forced me to pay better attention to some of the students presentations (which can be hard when we’re meeting online). However, it was interesting to hear what everyone had been working on this past week.

Before talking about my week, I want to note, that it is slightly starting to cool. It’s still super hot and humid, but instead of it being almost 100 degrees, it’s now peaking in the low 90s. Sadly, it’s still way to humid for me to run in the mornings, but I’m optimistic that in a few weeks, it’ll be cool enough (at least for some early morning runs)!

While most of my week was spent working, I did take some time for a few fun activities! On Wednesday, my friends and I got together to play Improv games! We tried a few new ones we had seen at the improv show that we went to a few weeks ago. My favorite is a story telling game where one person points at the participants and then they tell the story until the host points to another person! So you have to be quick on your feet to react while also telling a cohesive narrative. I really enjoy the story telling aspect of Improv! The acting/over-acting emotions is a little trickier for me though. However, I’m really happy that we’re doing it! It’s a great break in the middle of the week!

On Saturday, I went with my friends Heather and Shimi to a Pop-Up Afrika market (a market supporting black owned businesses and artists in Shanghai). Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate so it was smaller than expected, but it was cool to go check out. There were musicians performing at the market, too. The steel drum was really cool to listen to!

The market used what looked like a music/art studio space, which I thought was really cool! I thought my Dad would especially like seeing the guitars!

On Sunday, Moishe House hosted a games afternoon! In addition to playing with Lucky :), we played Splendor (which was fun once I figured out how it worked), and cards against humanity! It was a lot of fun hanging out with my friends and playing games on a hot afternoon!

After games, we went up to the roof of the apartment building the Moishe House is in and watched the sunset. The building is 40 stories tall and has an excellent view of downtown Shanghai!

In addition to my fun stuff, I also took some cool photos around Shanghai, which I wanted to share!

This week, I also did a lot of cooking! I made orange cauliflower, which was a hit at Improv! I also made a tofu satay with peanut sauce and broccoli for me! Lastly, I made a vegan cashew queso for the games afternoon, which was super popular with my friends and everyone wanted the recipe!

Jewish Life in Shanghai

This Friday, Kehilat Shanghai had their monthly Family Shabbat! I’m friends with the women who organize it, so I was thrilled to be invited again! There was a fantastic crowd of almost 30 people this week! There were many families where certain family members had just recently arrived back in Shanghai (with their children). So, it was really nice to see all the different children running around and playing with one another. It brought back fond memories of attending Henry and Max’s birthday parties while I was living in Ann Arbor. :). Below you can see some photos from the evening including photos of the candle lighting, kiddush (blessing over the wine and grape juice), and hamotzi (blessing over the bread/Challah)! I’m really glad that I was invited. It was another opportunity to get to know more members of the wonderful Shanghai Jewish community!

For Family Shabbat, pizza is always served. However, this week, the organizer got special vegan pizza (with vegan cheese) for me! You can see it in the first picture! While I never expected to have good pizza in Shanghai, I definitely didn’t expect great vegan pizza!

This was another very nice week, highlighted by the games afternoon and Family Shabbat. The first half of this week will be research focused. However, on Friday, I’m leaving Shanghai for the first time!! I’ll be travelling to Moganshan (a nearby mountain, ~ 200 km away from Shanghai) with some of my friends, including Heather, Shimi, and Hannah Maia for a weekend of hiking and relaxing in nature! I look forward to sharing some amazing photos with you all! Though I will note that there’s a chance that my next post arrives on Monday, since it’s unclear right know what time I’ll return home and whether I’ll be too exhausted to write my next entry.

I hope that you enjoyed hearing about my week! I hope this update reminds you that the covid-19 situation can improve (though the process of recovery can’t be rushed) and that when it does, small gatherings and hangouts make it special! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Shanghai or covid-19, please let me know.

In peace,
Jesse