Rotarian Gilbert’s Story in our lunch

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Rotarian Gilbert’s Story

During the lunch of 1 November Gilbert gave an impromptu talk, as there was no speaker and the crowd was modest.
He talked about how, knowing a Chinese mechanic in a hotel in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in early 1980 it unexpectedly led him to a circle of new Chinese friends in Beijing. Helping the granddaughter of a former Chinese Rotarian (Tianjin Club) to get a sponsorship from Belgian Rotarians in the early eighties it had a double effect. Firstly, it was probably the first exchange of a Chinese national to stay with Rotarians abroad after Liberation. Then, the Chinese family felt indebted and set a clever trap for Gilbert. They were successful: he ended up marrying the lady they had introduced to him with some made-up excuses. The rest is history.

(pics by Celine)

Our Rotaractors were also present: President Peter Danci, Rotaract Beijing and IPP Anissa Doradou, Rotaract Beijing
We had a visitor from afar: from the Rotary Club of Novosibirsk (Russia), who treated us with some gifts.
Do also note the upcoming Christmas Carol, with a special evening for Rotary on 6 December, all profits going to our Club.

Visitors from Sweden flooding our Rotary lunch

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Visit from RC Malmö-Oresund

A group of 21 Rotarians from RC Malmö-Oresund, Sweden visited our club on Tuesday 25 October. The group was led by President Kim Hall.
Rotary Club Malmö-Oresund has 39 members, 51% of them female. Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden. 25% of Sweden’s and Denmark’s population live in the Oresund region. 20,000 people cross the border on Oresund bridge every day.
We also had a group of Rotarians from New Zealand and Australia.

(thanks to Celine for most of the pics)

The 2016 Winter Ball by Rotaract Beijing West

Rotaract Beijing West is organizing a ball dedicated to the Morning Tears Alliance. The Morning Tears Alliance was founded in 1998. It is an international non-profit organization focused on rebuilding the lives of children of convicts. The Winter Ball is a formal party with fellowship, food, drink, dancing, entertainment, raffle prizes, silent auction, etc. The goals are to raise awareness of and help the Morning Tears Alliance in China. Rotaractors also plan to develop Rotaract Beijing West’s identity, brand and network across Beijing, all the while providing leadership and networking opportunities for our members.
Thanks to our Rotaractors Kien and Brennan for the introduction.
Date of the Ball: 10 December. In the Hilton Hotel with the band Stevie Mac & the Mac Daddies (2016 Beijinger Best Band!).

Presiding the Rotary lunch

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

The weekly lunch at Kempinski Hotel

I guess I never acted presiding the Rotary lunch. I often have to jump in as permanent stand-by Sergeant-at-Arms however.
Well on 18 October I my chance. Pretty easy as I have had to often help the presidents.

(Pics by Celine)

The routine in presiding the Rotary lunch

In our club:
– announce the opening of the meeting
– introduce visiting Rotarians
– introduce visiting guests
– banner exchange (if any) and give the word to the visiting club to introduce their club
– manage any announcements
– invite the speaker, afterwards thank the speaker by giving a banner of our club
– announce the “Happy Money Session”
– close the meeting with giving the figures (attendance, money collected) and raise to glass to RI etc.
– hit our bell!

Beijing 2016 British Ball

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Many balls in Beijing

The 2016 British Ball is one of the many in Beijing, each month there are several to choose from. Most are pretty expensive (over 1000 RMB per ticket) and formal.
As we had never been to a British Ball, we were happy to join the Rotary table on 22 October in the Kerry Hotel Grand Ballroom.
Rotarians were: President Daniel R., Joergen, Klaus, Eli, Helen, Russell.
Also happy to see our Belgian friend Ruben playing the violin!

A fully packed ballroom

While some balls have a hard time selling their tickets, the Beijing 2016 British Ball was sold out (750 seats I was told). Thanks to Rotarian Russell Brown for arranging our table. He was also the MC of the evening.
For me also great to meet again the UK Ambassador H.E. Barbara Woodward: we closely worked together on the preparation of the 2008 Olympics when she was posted here previously.
Food and drinks were great. Of course we did not win any prize, as usual, but it was a fun evening with many friends!

Gastronomic wine dinner in Morel’s

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Why a wine dinner?

Beijing is a city full of surprises, I have been organizing a few “gastronomic wine dinners” as I happen to have a very unusual collection of old Spanish and French wines. I mean, REAL old.
We invite normally two couples, close friends, to experiment the old wines while Renaat, the chef of Morel’s restaurant, serves some of his exceptional dishes.
I have been lucky till now: I always prepare several bottles as it is likely some have turned into vinegar but that has not happened yet.

Dinner on 19 October

This time we had a “Belgium-Greece Friendship Dinner”. Our Greek diplomat is an “old friend”: we worked together on the preparation of the 2008 Olympics and we went both to Athens for a large China seminar.
See the list of wines for the gastronomic wine dinner
The Spanish red I had listed as 1950 turned out to be 1930, the date was basically gone but the picture showed it was a 3 instead of a 5. That wine was pretty good but with a lot of sediment. Though called a “Moscatel Tiebas” it was red and not sweet.
The Château Lafite-Rothschild 1949 was finally not that great anymore. The Château Gruaud Larose 1989 (Saint Julien) and the Señorio de Arganza 1964 were both great.
The surprise (not planned!) was that one of the wine years was the birth year of one at the table…

Year of the horse

We were asked our opinion about some calligraphies intended for the office of the well-known Chinese CEO. See for yourself.

The dinner menu

For the Gastronomic wine dinner a copious menu. Appetizer: small balls made with Belgian Beef Stew. Starter: Belgian endive with foie gras; cream soup of small mussels; main dish: Beef Wellington (Beef Wellington is a preparation of filet steak coated with pâté and Duxelles, which is then wrapped in puff pastry and baked – Wikipedia). Desert: berries cake. Followed by digestive (special reserve of Renaat).