Wandy Wang Druss: The Abundant Life of a Jewish-American Woman in Florida

CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — This is the second part of a Jewish story with a
Taiwanese twist. The first appeared here and reported
some preliminary news about Mrs. Wandy Wang Druss who at 51 is
president of the Orloff Central Agency for Jewish Education in
Florida.

A ”letter to the editor” published recently in the
English-language ”Taipei Times” in Taiwan, penned by Lewis Druss, Mrs.
Wang Druss’s Jewish-American husband and a Florida attorney, explained
some of the backstory.


In a subsequent email exchange between this reporter in Taiwan and Mrs Wang Druss in America,,
more of the story unfolded, and here are some excerpts from our online chat:

"I was born and raised in Taiwan until I was 11 years
old and I know so little of its history and even less the Jews of Taiwan.

''I picked up quite a bit of Yiddish when my
in-laws were still around. They passed away a few years ago...my favorite
word is 'schlepp'.

''My favorite Taiwanese Hoklo word for Lewis is ''Ge-Po'' ( chicken
mama).. it means
someone who is overtly helpful and considerate... as in this case, I had no
idea Lewis had submitted the letter to the Taipei Times, and I am
quite shy it...
......but it is endearing that he is so proud of what I do, still a Ge-Po
regardless.

''When I was growing up in Taiwan, I had no idea what Jewish meant. I don't
think I ever met anyone Jewish until I went to University of Florida. On the
bus, a very cute Jewish boy name Steve from AEPI asked me to go on a date
with him. I didn't say yes because I was dating a Taiwanese boy then.

''I was translating for my parents when Lewis and I first met. He was a lawyer
fresh out of law school and my parents had some legal questions that needed
his counsel. Lewis said he liked me then but I was too young, so he waited 6
years until he asked me to go on a date. My parents had gotten to know him
and trusted him by then so it was not a big problem. I was the first in the
Wang clan to marry a foreigner though. Even my grandparents on both sides
had to give their blessings.

''We often go to shul. Lewis is more observant than me, and I am very involved
in the Jewish community. We have shabbat dinner every Friday and
consider ourselves Conservative Jews.

''We expect quite a bit from our
children. To participate in academics, religious, Asian/Chinese, and musical
pursuits. They complain but still go along with what we hope they would do.
We don't really force them to do anything, maybe the Jewish guilt (oy
vey)..

''Our two daughters attended synagogue schools, went to Poland and Israel with The
March of Living and graduated Judaica High School. (These programs were run
by ORLOFF CAJE, that is how I became involved).They also attended United
Synagogue Youth Camps every summer since they were 9 years old. Meredith, my
eldest, was the Hillel President at Dartmouth College. Samantha, my
youngest, was a senior officer of the Jewish sorority D-PHI-E, and involved
in Jewish Family Services while at Brandeis.

''While at camp, they were often mistaken to be Hawaiians... in
the beginning the kids at camp were quite perplexed.. why, do they have Jews
in Hawaii? Why would Hawaiian Jews want to attend camp in Palmer, Mass?

''One
time, I visited the girls at camp Ramah in New England. I asked the camp to
pick me up from Bradley airport. I waited at the airport a long time because
they couldn't find Mrs. Druss at the terminal. I was there all along, they
were looking for a Caucasian mom instead of one that is Asian. They always
knew who I was after that incident.

"There is a saying in Chinese, "Marry a chicken, follow the chicken. Marry a
dog, follow the dog". To me, it means to be loyal and devoted to whomever
one marries. My family taught me to follow this as well. No matter whom you
marry, you must give 100 percent commitment. As in the American wedding vow goes, 'in sickness and in health, until death do us apart.'

''I had the
blessing of my parents and even my grandparents when I married Lewis. They
knew he had a kind and gentle soul and they trusted him. I was the first in
my family to marry a foreigner. (It's kind of old fashioned thinking, I
guess.) Nevertheless, it was quite unusual almost 27 years ago for my
husband to marry an Asian and I to marry a Caucasian Jewish guy. My parents
knew there were certain "rules" to be Jewish but as Buddhists, they felt it
was a destiny that we married.

"I found it comforting to be with my Jewish
family. The holidays remind me of so many of the Chinese holidays. For example, the
High Holidays often coincide with the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in Taiwan, and Passover and L'Bohmer coincides with the Tomb-Sweeping Festival and
the Dragon Boat Festival, too.

''When Taiwanese people and Jewish people are together, everyone talks all
at once, and there is always so much food!


"Particularly, I am touched by how we as Jews honor our parents by saying kaddish for
them and light a yarzheit candle to remember them. It is very much like the
Taiwanese tradition of visiting our ancestors and lighting incense to remember
them. I feel very comfortable living in both cultures, the Jewish American culture and the Taiwanese culture, peaceful and happy
among my family and friends.

''I remember the bat mitzvah I had for my daughters when they were 12 and 13.
My parents and my sibling all went on the bima to read an
English prayer. My dad and my brother wear yarmulkes when they come to my
home for dinner, and we use chopsticks to eat kasha and gefilte fish. By the way, I make
a mean matzo ball soup! My own father said it is the best Jewish fish ball
soup.

''My family understands quite a bit about the Jewish holidays, except for the
fasting part. Every year on Yom Kippur, my mom will always call and say: 'Are you
fasting ? Don't be so strict, you can drink just a little soup can't you?
Why, you will faint and get sick!'

'I would say to my mother: 'Mom, I'm repenting and asking
G-d for forgiveness, one has to fast for 24 hours'. And my parents would say, '24
hours! How can you not eat for 24 hours?' (This happens every year!)

Taiwanese-American woman leads Jewish education center in Florida

Wandy Wang Druss was born in Chiayi in southern Taiwan and moved to the Dominican Republic when she was 12 when her Taiwanese father and mother
went there for their professional work. Two years later, when she was 14, she and her parents landed in America. Today, Druss is president of the Orloff Central Agency for Jewish Education
in Florida, which develops and provides educational programs for the Broward Jewish community. How do I know all this? A letter to the editor in English published
in the Taipei Times recently, penned by Lewis Druss, Ms. Wang Druss's Jewish-American husband, explained the entire backstory for readers in Taiwan.

"As an 11-year-old girl living in Taipei, Wandy attended Penglai Elementary School, where she won a citywide essay and calligraphy contest. Her father, Chan-hsiung Wang , moved the family to the Dominican Republic when he took a position there as an irrigation engineer when she was 12 years old. Two years later, the Wangs moved to the U.S."

According to her husband, an attorney, Wandy still speaks to her parents in Hoklo Taiwanese, a dialect language from Fujian Province in mainland China, somewhat similiar
to Yiddish in the way it is used in Taiwan in the 21st century, and she also uses Mandarin when necessary ''and is cherished by the local Jewish community in Florida.

''

The couple have two bi-racial children, both recent college graduates: one from Dartmouth College and the other from Brandeis University. Mrs Wang Druss herself has two master’s degrees and works as the director of continuing education for health sciences at Broward College in Florida.

There's a cute story here, too.

"A few years ago, a female family friend, who is Jewish and is a judge in the Broward County court, was talking to Wandy about kosher dietary laws — the old Jewish religious practice still followed by Orthodox Jews of only eating foods that are permissible and avoiding those that are not according to an ancient set of Jewish laws," Lewis Druss told readers of the Taipei Times in his letter
published on March 13, 2012. "This friend knows Wandy's background and knows that her Taiwanese-born parents were not Jewish. Nevertheless, she asked if her parents kept a kosher home when she was growing up. After saying this, they both paused and burst out laughing."

Added Wandy's husband: "Wandy, although looking as Taiwanese as any other Taiwanese woman, so easily fits in that people no longer see her physical appearance, but instead see her inner character."

There's more: "She also feels as comfortable eating Shabbat dinner at a Hasidic rabbi’s house as she does buying something from a pushcart street vendor in Taipei. She has an enthusiasm and passion for kindness that draws people to her and energizes them, regardless of their ethnicity. She understands and relates to the essence of the Jewish soul and Jews embrace her as one of their own. The Jewish population of Broward County and the people of Taiwan have someone they can both be proud of."

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2012/03/13/2003527645

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/wandy-druss/12/329/844

Taiwanese student brought a World Press Photo Exhibition to Finland after 16 year absence

‘I needed to do something for my internship, and as I am here I also wanted to benefit the community here somehow,’ explains the bubbly Taiwanese 25 year-old woman, who is studying for a masters segreee in education and globalization at Oulu University in Finland. ‘Already back in Taiwan I’ve worked as a volunteer at World Press Photo exhibitions. They raise issues that you don’t often see in the mainstream media,’ she adds.

Yu-Hsuan, who has been in Oulu just under a year, was astounded to find that the exhibition had not taken place in Finland for 16 years, when it was last in Helsinki.

‘I see Finland as international country, as any other European countries are. It amazes me this exhibition hasn’t been brought here for 16 years. ’

Her masters degree, she explains, is not aimed at school teachers working in international schools. ‘Most of the graduates become policy-makers, such as project leaders, coordinators and educational consultants.’

Yu-Hsuan becomes ever more passionate as she tells me how the exhibition, which has been organized since 1955, fits with her degree. The exhibition has traveled 45 countries in over 100 places. It is supposed to ‘inform and transform’ the public, provoke a ‘reaction’ from them so that they better understand current issues. Most importantly, she wants it to promote the feeling of ‘living in global context rather than just as individuals’ and to provoke debate and discussion. For Yu-Hsuan, bringing this to public attention can be achieved more effectively through the medium of pictures, ‘Images speak a lot,’ she tells me.

For all these reasons, she has thrown herself into bringing the World Press Photo Exhibition to northern Finland. Photographs are submitted to it by professional photographers, news agencies and newspapers. The exhibition displays 54 photographs, the winners in such categories as People in the News, Nature, Contemporary Issues and Daily Life. The 2010 Photo of Year, yet to be announced for 2011, was the iconic picture of an eighteen year-old Afghan girl with her nose missing, it having been cut off as punishment for fleeing her husband.

Yu-Hsuan seems to have a history of throwing herself into projects that might seem novel to the outsider. She works as a Japanese translator because she ‘majored’ in Japanese at university in Taiwan. She learned Japanese – without ever living there – and when she vacationed there for two weeks they could all understand her. Sort of. Chimpoon Kampoon! Busasa!

She also acted as a promoter for some Japanese musicians, who she met in Taiwan, who have formed an ‘Indian style music band’ in which they play sitars. The band is particularly popular in India. And when most of her classmates were looking into doing their masters degree in the USA or Japan, she decided on Oulu.

Now here, and having got to know the city, she has noticed that it is not just forest but also businesses and especially businesses in the IT sector. This is useful, because for the exhibition, which will take place in March next year, to go well she needs sponsorship.

‘This exhibition is not about sponsoring World Press Photo Organization,’ she insists. ’You as a sponsor are contributing to the general public. Together, your investment creates an opportunity for participating in one of the world’s biggest press photo exhibitions, which also carries educational value to people.’

Like most foreigners in a new country, certain things about Finland have been really noticeable to Yu-Hsuan.

She has had problems with ‘the darkness’ and people, at least at first, seeming ‘distant.’ But this has begun to break-down the longer she’s been here, she even has a Finnish boyfriend, who comes along to the interview.

‘I don’t appreciate the silence but I like the honesty,’ she says, referring to her impressions of Finnish people. ‘In Taiwan it’s much easier to get talking to people. People here seems not familiar with interacting with others, but once they speak, they are sincere. I also feel very safe here. I think it is really a friendly place,’ she adds.

Every expat has a story and, for Yu-Hsuan it’s the story behind the photos that is the most important thing.


‘The photographs in the exhibition are not about art, but the story being presented by them,’ she says. ‘It is important to see and try to understand what is happening around you. And I hope people would not only to remember what they have seen, what has happened, but also to follow this up.’