July, July!!

Hi Everyone! Astronomer in Shanghai is back! Thank you all once again for reading and taking interest in my life and adventures in Shanghai! I hope that all of you are having a safe, healthy, fun, and fully vaccinated summer! As I mentioned in my last post, I’m going to be writing my blog once per month going forward. Since I won’t be writing every week, I’m going to be shifting the focus of the blog to be more about some of the fun, unique, and interesting experiences that I’ve had in Shanghai and less on the minutia of day-to-day life. That said, if there’s ever any topic that you’ld ever like me to talk about or that you’re curious about, please let me know!

So, here’s the first entry of Astronomer in Shanghai 2.0!

While I won’t be spending as much time talking about Astronomy, I will still be sharing any major updates (like papers, conference presentations, grants) with you. So, I wanted to start this new entry off by letting you know that at long last, my Dark Energy Survey Paper on the evolution of the Stellar Mass – Halo Mass Relation was finally submitted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ)!!! I’ve been working on this project for over 2 years, so it was a big relief for me to finally submit the project! I’m really proud of this paper (thanks to Chris and Yuanyuan for all their support and help in the process) and think that it tells a really interesting narrative about how the massive central galaxies that reside at the center of galaxy clusters grow over the last 6 billion years (all the growth is in the faint intra-cluster light surrounding the galaxy). If you’re interested in taking a look at the paper, here’s a link to my paper on arXiv (an open source platform used in Astronomy), where you can download the paper as a pdf.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.02197

Now on to the more fun stuff!

For those long time readers, you may remember that it is extremely hot in Shanghai over the summer! Most days the temperatures reach the mid to upper 90s (feels like as high as 119) with the nights only cooling off to the mid 80s. And it’s always humid, regardless of the time of day. Basically it’s so hot that every time I come back to my apartment I need to shower. So, this makes doing fun activities outside a little challenging. Even running is a little to tough when it’s this hot. That said, in the past month, in between my research responsibilities (so basically after the paper was submitted on July 1), I’ve made time for some fun activities with a bunch of different friends that I’d like to share with you all!

Some of the main highlights over the last few weeks have been activities within the Kehilat Shanghai community. Due to the travel restrictions (for leaving/entering China), many of the community members are sticking around Shanghai for most of the summer, so we’ve been doing more activities! In the past month, we had a wonderful Family Shabbat and Community Shabbat (hosted by my friends John and Alex)!

Both events were lovely! It’s always so much fun celebrating Shabbat within the Shanghai communities, whether it’s chatting with other members at family Shabbat over pizza (vegan pizza 🙂 ) or going through the Kabbalat Shabbat service and fun discussions at dinner at community Shabbat. This month, Alex led a wonderful Kabbalat Shabbat service and it was really nice to be a member of the audience, instead of the service leader, for a change!

Additionally, my friend David and I have ramped up our trivia nights and are doing them twice a month (just for the summer)! We’ve been getting a really great turnout and are having a blast testing our contestants with a bunch of different categories. Since my last post, I’ve written questions for a connections round, the Summer Olympics, and Gods and Monsters! See how you do down at the end. 🙂

Over the past 2 months, it’s so oppressively hot and humid that I can’t comfortably run outside anymore, so I’ve been going to the F45 HIIT classes a lot (~ 5-6 times per week). I’m really enjoying them and can feel myself getting noticeably stronger! As part of pride month, the gym organized a Pride 5K. Even though it was really uncomfortable running (because of the heat/humidity), it felt great to get out and stretch my legs in that way again (can’t wait until it’s cooler in the fall and I can run more) and to support a good cause!

In the past month, I’ve also been cooking up a storm. From brownies and cookies, to scallion pancakes and so many tofu dishes, I’ve been trying to use a bunch of different and unique Chinese ingredients as well (so many different kinds of tofu — I’ll have to take some photos of all the different kinds they sell here!!). However, sometimes, I do crave things I miss from home. So, last week, my friend Heather and I got together to make Tempeh Reubens! We made the recipe from the Lunchroom, my favorite vegan restaurant in Ann Arbor! They were fantastic!

Additionally, for my 30th birthday, my Mom really wanted to treat me and some of my friends to dinner! Even though I turned 30 almost 3 months ago, I wanted to wait until I submitted my DES paper to celebrate again (I was getting really stressed out about it). So, this past weekend, thanks to some organizational help from my friends Heather and Shimi, I had a lovely celebratory dinner at If Vegan!

It was so much fun gathering with Heather, Shimi, Kate, Ilan, John, and Alex!! We had a fantastic meal! We enjoyed potatoes, clay pot tofu, lotus root with bamboo, ginger crusted mushrooms, lions head mushrooms, more seasonal mushrooms, sweet and sour seitan, dumplings, lotus seeds and aspargus, and tempeh! Afterwards we got gelato for dessert! The food was fantastic!! It was so interesting trying all the different dishes and seeing all the different types of mushrooms that are used! Thank you so much to my friends here for joining me and most importantly to my Mom for treating me to another lovely celebration!!! Even though I’m so far away (too far to mail cupcakes), it’s wonderful to know that you’re still able to do things to help me celebrate. Thank you so much Mom! I love and miss you!!

The last fun highlight I wanted to share was that I finally had time to make jam again!! In April, Hannah Maia and I had bought frozen strawberries with the intention to make strawberry jam one last time. Well, it finally happened. Along with our friend Monte, we made both strawberry jam and strawberry jelly (with the leftover juice from the frozen berries)!

The jam and jelly both turned out great! I look forward to making more (peach/peach mango?) and sharing some with my friends soon!

Additionally, the beginning of July was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in China. There were huge celebrations and parades in Beijing. President Xi Jinping did visit Shanghai, where the party was founded (not far from my old apartment in Xintiandi). Unfortunately, there were no parades that I was aware of in Shanghai. However, there were a lot of new decorations and gardens added to the city and to the SJTU campus.

In addition to all my fun activities, I’ve still seen a lot of really cool sculptures, art, clothes, and advertisements that I wanted to share with you!

There were also a lot of cute animals (mostly cats!) and beautiful flowers that I saw!

Thank you so much for reading this latest entry about my life and adventures in Shanghai! I have a lot more fun activities planned for the next month, so, I know I’ll have a lot of interesting things to share with you all next time! Hope you all have a safe, happy, and healthy month!

In peace,

Jesse

Trivia

The Summer Olympics

1). The last country to win a Gold Medal in Men’s Basketball that was not the United States was in 2004 when this country led by a young core of Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, and Andres Nocioni won.

2). Michael Phelps has won 28 Olympic Medals 10 more than any other athlete. The 2nd place athlete is Larisa Latinya a gymnast who competed for this country between 1956-1964

3). The first man to repeat as Champion of the 100m dash was this man?

4). This tennis player is the only athlete to complete the calendar Golden Slam, winning all 4 majors and the Olympics in 1 year.

5). This Japanese gymnast won the All-Around Gold medals in both 2012 and 2016 after winning the Silver in 2008.

6). Baseball and Softball will return to the Olympics in Tokyo. What was the last time Baseball and Softball were contested at the Olympics.

7). In the modern Decathlon (for both men and women), how many of the events are races (this would include hurdles)?
Bonus: name the races:

8). These 4 popular action sports will make their Olympic debut in Tokyo.

9). The southernmost Summer Olympics were contested in what city?

10). This Athlete, known as the Flying Fin, holds the record for most medals by a track athlete at the Summer Olympics.

Gods and Monsters

1). These are Japanese Death Gods

2). These mysterious beings are referenced in Genesis and described as being large and strong.

3). These monsters from Romanian folklore are thought to have inspired the vampire’s in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. They are described as troubled spirits that can rise from the grave and have the ability to transform into animals, become invisible, or gain vitality from the blood of their victims

4). In Norse Mythology, this is the name of the world serpent that will signal the beginning of Ragnarok when it releases its tail.

5). In West African mythology/folklore, this is the name of the spider who is the god of all knowledge of stories

6). This Philistine God, also associated with the Canaanite god Baal, has a name that translates to Lord of the Flies

7). This mythical Phoenix in both Japanese and Chinese mythology is a symbol of fire, the sun, and justice. It is said to appear very rarely and symbol the beginning of a new era, such as the birth of a virtuous ruler

8). This Native American/First Nations monster is described as a malevolent spirit, sometimes with human like characteristics. It has an insatiable hunger and a desire to cannibalize humans.

9). In Greek mythology, Kronus is the father of Zeus, but who is Zeus’s grandfather?

10). In Maori tradition, this demigod is a culture hero and trickster who possessed superhuman strength and could shapeshifter into animals. He’s also credited with catching a giant fish that would create the North Island of New Zealand.

Connections Round (there is a link between the answers to the first 9 questions, the answer to the 10th question is that link)

1). Professional athletes playing in either New York or Winnipeg

2). The Baltimore Ravens are the only professional sports franchise with this type of animal as its mascot

3). A shofar is made from the horn of what animal

4). What year was Live Aid

5). The first name of the dear first First Lady of the United States

6). Madame Tousaud’s is an example of one of these?

7). The name of these common stellar explosions translates to what in English.

8). The Great Wall of China is one well known examples of one of this type of pathway

9). The Title character of an obscure Thomas Hardy novel

10). What is the Connection

Answers

The Summer Olympics: 1). Argentina 2). The Soviet Union 3). Carl Lewis 4). Steffi Graf 5). Kohei Uchimura 6). 2008 (Beijing) 7). 4 (100m, 400m, 110 m hurdles, 1500m) 8). Skateboarding, Surfing, Rock Climbing, BMX 9). Melbourne, Australia, 10). Paavo Nurmi

Gods and Monsters: 1). Shinigami 2). Nephilim 3). Strigoi 4). Jormungandr 5). Anansi 6). Beelzebub 7) Ho-o 8). Wendigo 9). Uranus 10). Maui

Connections Round: 1). Jet 2). Blackbird 3). Ram 4). 1985 5). Martha 6). House of Wax 7). New 8). A Long and Winding Road 9). Hey Jude 10). Paul McCartney songs