Becoming a member of a society

Before the dinner started, Irina Malikova introduced me to a gentleman from Holland, who is the President of the Gorbachev Foundation in the Netherlands. His name is Fred Matser. He and his wife are very dear to President Gorbachev. He started talking to me at great length.

At one point, he said that he wanted to make me a member of his society. He explained that President Gorbachev is also a member of this society. He took a ballpoint pen and on my thumb he drew a semi-circle and added two dots. Then he pressed my finger and said, “You have now become a member of my society. I did this for Gorbachev also.”

I said to him, “I have been to Holland. I will never forget your tulips! I went to a place where there were millions of tulips. I also liked your Dutch porcelain.”

He said, “Do you really like tulips?”

I said, “Yes.”

He asked, “Do you have a garden?”

I said, “Yes.”

“All right,” he said. “In September I will send you a very large quantity of tulips.”

I thanked him for his most generous offer. He gave me his card and said that he wanted to be in touch with me.

Then I went to my table. My seat was at table number three. This table was right in front of the stage where people were going to perform. To our left was table number one with President Gorbachev, his daughter, Germany’s former Foreign Minister, family members and a few important dignitaries. Sitting at my table were Irina Malikova, two Japanese ladies and two Russian gentlemen.