Friday Nights

Today, after visiting the Chinese Urban Planning Exposition Center, two of my friends and I went to Shanghai's Chabad to have Shabbat dinner. My friend Amy is our resident Jew, and this is our second time attending Friday dinner. Thanks to many of my Berkeley friends, I can easily pass at any Jewish event, and although I cannot sing a single Hebrew song (Amy promises to teach us at least one), I've learned quite a few Chinese words relating to Judaism. We already feel like regulars at Chabad, because everyone remembers us and makes a point to come say hi at some point throughout the night. It's interesting to hear why everyone is in China, because historically there has never been a huge Jewish population in China. Shanghai is famous in Jewish history for being the one of the few places in the world that previously didn't require a visa, which made it a safe-haven during the Holocaust. This is the extent of my Sino-Jewish relations knowledge, however I plan to return to Chabad every so often, because I'm trying to embrace the fact that I must have been Jewish in a past life.

After our four-hour dinner, we went to 新天地 (Xintiandi), to go to a club called Luxe. It was recommended as one of the most popular clubs amongst the locals, and it was definitely mostly a local crowd. Unfortunately, our table reservation was lost, so we couldn't really congregate in one area, and it would have been nicer if there was a larger dance floor, but we just found our own places to dance. Our friend warned us that it was loud, but I was surprised how blaring the music actually was. I thought he was exaggerating when he said he had to adjust to normal hearing over the next few days after visiting Luxe, but he wasn't lying. If I stood still in the building, I could feel my entire body reverberate, and when we stepped outside it felt like we were deaf. The DJ was awesome, and we stayed for a bit, but I came home early (yes, 2am is early in China), because Sophie is coming today and I wanted to get a good night of sleep. Here's a picture of Xintiandi I found on Google. It is located in the French Concession, a European-styled district in Shanghai, and it makes me feel like I'm in Paris every time I come here, which is probably why I come here a lot!



Chinese Word of the Day: 犹太人 (youtairen, yo-tie-ren: Jewish people, but somehow it supposedly translates to mean "people who scheme"...but in the nicest way possible?)