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Friday Program
On the Rotary side, Bill reported that District 5030 and Seattle Club No. 4 have supported and funded over 40 projects in partnership with Russian Rotary Clubs since 1999. On a professional level, Bill has been working with companies with a Russian connection since 1990. One of his principal messages was that, contrary to the overwhelming majority of news reports about Russia, it is actually a good place to invest. It has major natural resources, a high literacy rate, and unlike some other countries, has committed to make the change to a democratic form of government.
Rourke O’Brien flagged an article in the Bellevue Reporter about the chess program at the Phantom Lake Elementary School in the Bellevue School District. Rourke and his wife, Sayoko, provided a grant for the school’s chess program, which was matched by the BBRC. IMPORTANT: On May 18 the BBRC will NOT meet at Glendale Country Club, due to a golf tournament. We will meet that Friday morning at 7:00 at the Overlake Country Club in Medina. The annual BBRC golf tournament will be held on July 30, 2007.
May Student of the Month: Andrew Teng Andrew has made mission trips to Mississippi, San Francisco (twice), and Ensenada, Mexico (three years in a row) on homeless programs. He intends to enter the University of Washington next year and study either engineering, computer science, or business. His father has to be exceptionally proud, since this is the second of his sons to be honored as the BBRC student of the month; Andrew’s older brother, Brandon, was so honored.
Steve Goldfarb introduced Susan Amini, the newest member of the BBRC. Actually, Susan is no stranger to the BBRC, having previously been a member. Susan practices family law in Bellevue and now resides in Kirkland. Welcome back, Susan!
The proceeds of this brand new event and our annual golf tournament should leave the BBRC with around $100,000 for the club’s charitable purposes. A very well-deserved "Thank You" to everyone who participated in the planning and production of Rotary Walks!
So, if you were not present, test your vocabulary skills. Is a WAYZGOOSE:
If you had your hand-held PDA and could access Google, as our table did, you would know that a WAYZGOOSE is a yearly picnic put on by commercial printers.
GSE Team Travel Log From Sayoko
The second photo is seared Kobe beef, and the third photo is raw beef sushi. I have NEVER had beef like this. It was like supreme quality tuna. It was simply incredible.
05.02.07 - Vocational Day #1 05.03.07 - District 5030 GSE Team experiences a Japanese tea ceremony 05.04.07 - Transfer Day 05.05.07 - Transfer Day 05.06.07 - Free Day Sayoko enjoyed a completely free day and decided to go to Akihabara’s electronic town by herself. She wanted to purchase an electronic dictionary. It took over a half an hour to complete the transaction because of a security check imposed by Visa International. First, a sales clerk needed to call Visa Japan and she was transferred to Visa America. An interpreter from the Visa Japan office was involved to facilitate the communication. After a long conversation, a U.S. Visa representative asked for Sayoko. In addition to usual security questions, the representative said, “I have input your street address and now am looking at the area map of your house. Could you tell me two major streets near your house. Could you tell me whether there is a highway near your house and if there is any, what is the name?” Apparently, this security check was not due to the amount of charge or the location of charge per se, as the Visa office had already known that Sayoko was outside the U.S. It had to do with the nature of merchandize. A purchase of electronic equipment outside the U.S.A. by a credit card issued by a US bank reportedly bumps the security check level to a higher level. Live and learn. Kelly’s host family owns a quaint cake shop. They also own a dog named “Lu-chan.” Kelly calls this dog “Lucifer” because he is a dog from hell. He sneaked into her room and rummaged through her suitcase. He managed to drag a gift bag out of her suitcase, open it somehow, and find three small bags of M&Ms. These M&Ms were custom ordered and each one was stamped with either “2770 GSE Saitama” or “5030 GSE Seattle.” The dog ate all three bags! According to the owner, whom Sayoko talked to after the incident, the family had spent over $1,000 for a week long dog training but the dog came back home worse than before. Today, Kelly learned a new Japanese word: “Dame!” which means “Bad!" 05.07.07 - Resume Official GSE Duties
Friday Program
On the Rotary side, Bill reported that District 5030 and Seattle Club No. 4 have supported and funded over 40 projects in partnership with Russian Rotary Clubs since 1999. On a professional level, Bill has been working with companies with a Russian connection since 1990. One of his principal messages was that, contrary to the overwhelming majority of news reports about Russia, it is actually a good place to invest. It has major natural resources, a high literacy rate, and unlike some other countries, has committed to make the change to a democratic form of government. Russia has been dealing, since the fall of the Communist government with three challenges: first, the change from a totalitarian to democratic form of democracy; second, the change from a command to a market-oriented economy; and third, the challenge of creating new relationships with the countries around it and former Soviet republics. Bill has had a ring-side seat to Russian economic transformation and development in the last 17 years. He suggested that there is a core stability in Russia, that the Russians themselves are now investing in Russia; and that there is a real upsurge in the economy and a growing middle class, again contrary to the orthodox media view. One of the more interesting themes that Bill pointed out, again because of his legal connections with Russia-related businesses, and his position within Rotary is the way Rotary programs can be and are being used as a vehicle to enhance the relationships between the two countries. He pointed out that he has found a deep affection for Americans within Russia. Russia and America have much in common being large countries blessed with abundant natural resources and two sea coasts. Bill pointed out four keys which he believes are important for people to know who are contemplating doing business in Russia, again understanding that it is a transitional economy:
If Bill had an over-arching message on Russia, it is that the transition continues in a positive fashion; that Rotary programs can play a key role in that continued development; and he urges U.S. citizens to become informed and educated about Russia.
Test Your Intelligence The following short quiz consists of four questions and will tell you whether you are qualified to be classified as a smart person. The questions are NOT that difficult. First question: Second question: Third question:
Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions
Fourth Question:
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Long-time BBRC member Carol Hoeft died in her sleep early Thursday morning, May 3, 2007, after a long bout with cancer. 
Elena Howell introduced our speaker, attorney Bill Robinson. In addition to being an attorney who specializes in assisting companies from Russia doing business in the United States or United States companies doing business in Russia or Russian-American joint ventures, Bill is the District 5030 Russian Projects Coordinator.
President Jim Zidar called the meeting to order, after which Jim Gordon delivered the invocation, and Chris Rasmussen greeted visiting Rotarians and guests.
Larry May, appropriately, introduced the May student of the month, Andrew Teng. Andrew’s father, Leland, a member of the other Bellevue Rotary Club was in attendance, as was Andrew’s principal at Bellevue Christian, Bill Safstrom.
Newest BBRC Member: Susan Amini
Phil Salvatori reported on last Saturday’s walkathon event, since Jenny Andrews could not attend, due to her husband’s surgery. He reported that approximately 300 walkers participated and the preliminary net proceeds will be well above $45,000. 
He went on to thank all of the committee chairs for the walkathon (and by all accounts this was an exceptionally well-organized event): Chuck Barnes, Bob Bowen, Margie Burnett, John DeWater, Andrew Face, Jane Kuechle, Steve Luplow, Tim Moriarty, Jan Nestler, Scott Sadler, Peter Stadelman, Hal Teel, and Steve Vincent.
Next year’s Sergeant at Arms, Tom Harrelson, flexed his Sergeant muscles by introducing Mitch Freedman, who, in addition to financial acumen, has demonstrated talents as a wordologist. Given the word “WAYZGOOSE,” he provided five possible definitions, only one of which was correct.
04.30.07 - Eating, Eating, Eating 
My host family is Kan-no family. Mr. Kan-no is the president of the Satte RC and he has wonderful members in his club. One of them is Mr. Matsumoto, who owns this restaurant. The other is Mr. Kobayashi, wine importer. Together, they hosted a memorable 
Elena Howell introduced our speaker, attorney Bill Robinson. In addition to being an attorney who specializes in assisting companies from Russia doing business in the United States or United States companies doing business in Russia or Russian-American joint ventures, Bill is the District 5030 Russian Projects Coordinator.
Bill suggested that Russia also gets a bad rap in the press on the question of criminal elements and lack of freedom of expression. He pointed out that there is no lack of criticism of the government in Russia on the television, radio, and in the print media. He also said that there is widespread and complete internet access. Another bad rap, he suggested, is given to President Putin. He pointed out that the President enjoys an exceptionally high approval rate, far greater than any United States president. In Bill’s view, President Putin and Russia have not been treated well by the United States, particularly since the Iraq war started.
Given the transition, which would be difficult for any country to undergo, he sees the judicial system becoming increasingly independent and commercial legislation which will smooth business transactions developing nicely. 
05/02
