I just today read an article in the China Daily, a site I read daily to keep up with what’s going on in China and which, like China, fascinates me. (We will be doing two Kosher English speakers’ tours to China this spring for Shai Bar Ilan Geographical Tours– come join us). In the article, the problem of the panda population was once again addressed.

As you may know pandas are an endangered species and only in recent years has China been able to successfully breed pandas so that finally the panda population of the world is increasing. Even those pandas that are rented to other zoos for 10 years (at a million dollars a year!) must be bred and the resulting pandas too eventually become the property of the Chinese.

Having visited the breeding ground outside of Chengdu more than once, I was impressed with the care taken in providing a healthy environment for the pandas and the precautions taken to safeguard the panda babies. The tiny babies may be seen only on closed circuit TV and those in the toddler stage, only through the cage which is inside a heated building and where visitors must wear coverings on their shoes to prevent the spread of germs. The rest of the panda reserve is lush and verdant with bamboo everywhere. Pandas are fed a variety of food to help them muster their energies… In the wild, pandas spend more energy eating their bamboo than they replace with its nutrition!

The problem the Chinese are facing now is that the first panda they released into the wild Xiang Xiang was found dead with injuries that seem to attest to the fact that he was unable to defend himself. Now they are wondering how to teach these animals who are used to a controlled, safe environment, to defend themselves. The current plan has to do with having a dog live with them and that perhaps they will learn survival skills from the dog.

It set me to thinking about the current stream of pacifism that has been pervading and growing in Western thought. Since the end of WWII, Western Europe and the US have been spared from any direct and imminent threat to their homeland. Korea and Vietnam are not in the backyard, nor are Afghanistan and Iraq. People do not feel personally threatened and have not for years, generations. Is it no wonder that they are ready to say that just talking will solve problems; that all people when reasoned with want the same thing? In our protected environment, war and aggression are so much NOT the point. We don’t feel it; we don’t see it; we just want it to stop.

But maybe we are like those pandas who were born into a peaceful, nurturing environment. And maybe outside, there really are dangers that we are ill prepared to meet.

I am not a theologian. My belief in G-d changes with my circumstances. Sometimes, it feels as if G-d is very close and sometimes very far. I don’t conceive of G-d as a big puppetmaster controlling each and every thing that happens on earth. I think of G-d as bigger than all that- a macro kind of manager rather than micro. But sometimes…

Sometimes things happen that make me wonder. A number of years ago we sent two of our sons to a school in St. Louis, 800 miles from our home in Oklahoma. They were to board with two families who offered to take them in for the year. We had never met the principal of the school nor did we know anyone in the community. However, when our sons arrived, one gave us a call to tell us that the people he was living with were cousins of friends of ours from Boston and the boy he was rooming with was the nephew of an old friend from South Carolina.

Coincidences like that have happened to us over and over again and sometimes it feels like it couldn’t possibly be a chance occurrence.

The most recent one happened when I was returning from China and Hong Kong. I had changed a lot of money to Hong Kong dollars because I thought I would have to spend it on transporting some of my travelers by taxi from one area to another and perhaps buy them lunch. As it turned out, the program went well and everyone’s needs were met and I had a lot of money left over that I didn’t want to re-convert and that I didn’t want to take home. I was already carrying 4 currencies (sheqels, US dollars, euros, and Chinese RMB) and that was quite enough. So I went out and spent money on all sorts of fun things- placemats and “silk” sheets and a scarf and outfits for a couple of granddaughters and a maternity shirt for my older daughter, but still, at the airport, I had a little money left. I went to the bookstore and they had a very large selection of books in English. I looked through a lot of books and finally chose one, “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter.” After I got on the plane, I saw that the dedication was “to Abigail and Naomi” (my older daughter’s two younger girls’ names). Later in the book, the protagonist ends up “taking a group to China,” something I was just completing. And the icing on the cake was when I returned to Israel and told my younger daughter about it, she said she had just finished reading that very same book!

I understand, it is all happenstance. But I prefer to believe that G-d is peeking out from the curtains reminding me that He still is around.

I would love to hear about other people’s amazing coincidences. Please feel free to comment!

I returned from China on Friday morning, bringing with me a lot of souvenirs, including a French couple who had not known that the time of our arrival had been moved back 24 hours and who could not make it back to Paris before shabbat. Fortunately, they, like the others who traveled with me this time, we completely delightful people who were very considerate of me and so when I conked out at dinner Friday night and then at lunch Saturday morning, understood that it wasn’t personal.

Unpacking is always an adventure since in China one always picks up a little bit here and a little bit there and the prices are so reasonable, we find ourselves going and buying even more when it dawns on us that we can get many many items for not so much money. And always, there is the excitement of finding out just how many little ethnic doll keychains or little girls’ purses or magnetic bracelets I have managed to accumulate here, there, and everywhere.

And every item is happy! A couple of years ago when we traveled to Hungary and Austria, even the few souvenirs we could have afforded were dour, heavy, muted– like the experience we had traveling there. China is full of light and life. In the nooks and crannys of little villages, there is light and color and joy. Red “good luck” tassels and lanterns dot the landscape. Drying on the roof are corn and red peppers. The children smile and say “Hello!” The adults gladly pose for pictures, often displaying the “V” sign with their fingers. Men and women carrying heavy baskets laden with fruits and produce from poles suspended over their necks smile and bow and one feels from them a joy in their lives.

The Chinese people have been through terrible times. Between the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, they saw starvation and death and devastation that dwarfs the experience of other nations. But there seems to be such a sense of happiness and purpose among the people. They are kind and helpful and despite having no language in common, they communicate with their visitors.

I always return from China with a feeling of wholeness, and each time I go, I anticipate it even more excitedly!

So now I am home, in the loving arms of my family, and looking forward to Thanksgiving and Hanuka but with the faint sound of the Chinese flute still echoing in my ears.

It’s not that I have nothing to say; it’s that I have too much to say. Life gallops along at such a pace and in so many different ways that it’s hard to saddle it or begin to describe the path.

In the last few weeks I have been working with clients and feeling very gratified with their efforts to change. A long time ago I told my husband that I wanted to sell a needlepoint to therapists that said, “There are no good therapists; only good clients,” and it seems that recently, after not providing therapy for a couple of years, I have been lucky enough to be chosen by good clients.

At the same time, I have been getting ready to teach once again. When I entered the classroom a week and a half ago, I was gratified to find a group of intelligent, motivated women ready to seriously tackle the knowledge and skills needed to become therapists. Teaching them is a joy.

And, of course, there is China. Once again I am readying myself for an adventure. Already I hear the echoes of Chinese music that is relaxing and calming. In my mind’s eye, I already see the gardens. I see myself on a boat on the Li River viewing the magnificence of the Karst mountains. I am already picturing the Stone Forest.

I can’t help but smile remembering the man on the trip last spring who pretty much took everything in stride. He was enjoying the trip, but in a low-key way. As we rode in the little open air cart through the Stone Forest, he sat behind me. As I was once again appreciating its beauty, I heard him say in ever-rising tones, “This is fantastic; this is fantastic; this is fantastic; this is FANTASTIC!”

And I suppose that is what sums up my feelings about my trips to China.

I love being with people who are truly enjoying themselves, experiencing things that are new and nourishing.

And so as I pack and prepare for the trip, I have a high level of anticipation and excitement.

In the old days in the old country we used to have two cars. Sometimes when one had to be serviced, I would forget that I couldn’t take the other one and pick it up. I would often have the image of driving two cars home— magically stretching my one very versatile leg all the way through the doorway of one car into the other and somehow twisting it, enabling me to drive with both feet at the same time. The steering part was a challenge and the measurements were problematic. And so, it did always take two of us to bring home the car.

Well, today I am driving two cars home.

This morning, class begins at the Neve Yerushalayim campus of the University of North Texas, and I will be teaching the first session of the basic counseling skills class to a group of women who will be setting off on their journey to become family therapists. They are likely to arrived excited and curious about what type of experience this will be. As their tour leader, I will tell them what to expect, what they need to bring with them, and what it may feel like to be on this journey.

In the afternoon, I will be meeting with the people who will be going on my next trip to China. They are likely to arrived excited and curious about what type of experience this will be. As their tour leader, I will tell them what to expect, what they need to bring with them, and what it may feel like to be on this journey.

I feel happy and exhilarated. It’s going to be a great day!

I was tagged by triLcat but the problem is that I am only a lurker on others’ blogs. So, if any people actually read this blog, you can consider yourself tagged and leave me a comment and I will point people to you in my next posting.

“Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.”

1. I, like my daughters, love art supplies- pens with different points and colors of ink, really fine papers, paints and pastels. I like knitting, crocheting, making afghans, and embroidering and although I have no real talent, I do have patience and perseverance.
2. I love music. Even more than I wish I had artistic talent, I wish I had musical talent. Instead, I enjoy it by listening.
3. I have become totally intoxicated with China. I love the people, the art, the music, the architecture. I love visiting there and I am as excited about going on my next trip as I have been about all of the previous ones. Okay, more excited.
4. I need quiet time every day and if I don’t get it, I stay up in the night when everyone else is sleeping.
5. I never expected getting older (NOT growing old!!!) would have so many benefits and feel so good.
6. I never expected life to have so many wonderful surprises. When I married and my husband said he wanted to retire to Israel, I didn’t ever dream that we would have a home with a lemon tree and a pomegranate tree and an olive tree and a Clementine tree and grapevine. I never believed I would be living in paradise!
7. When I was raising my children, it never entered my mind that they would grow up, marry, and have children of their own. They and their spouses and children are the best people I know. When they visit, they fill our house with happiness.
8. I am living my mother’s dream. She seemed to want her daughters to grow up, marry nice men who would be friendly and kind to her, and she wanted us to live within walking distance so that we would be able to have lunch together or visit back and forth at will. I never even allowed myself that fantasy and yet that is exactly what happened!

It was upon our return to Beijing at the end of this most recent trip that I realized that Beijing felt a lot like home. Our extremely adorable and highly competent contact in Beijing, Doudou, makes our stay there pleasant and enjoyable. Dodo is now pregnant and as beautiful as she always was, now she is also radiant. I wish I could be there to share in her happiness when she gives birth.

But the good news is that I did get home in time to be here when our youngest daughter gives birth. Their baby is due in just a couple of weeks and I am certain that I am even more excited about this than she is!

Coming home was wonderful! We are overwhelmed with the kindness and devotion of those who really put themselves out for us, especially our daughters and sons-in-law who have helped us in so many ways. Imagine coming home to a house where the mail is neatly stacked, the bed is made, the plants have been watered… Seeing our granddaughters, Abigail and Nomi was such a thrill. What amazing little girls they are. It’s good to be home.