Historical Dragon Boat Racing on the Brush Creek, Country Club Plaza June 9th, 2012 Brush Creek at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri will be packed with people and dragons for the Eighth Annual Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday, June 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Kansas City - Xi’an Sister City Committee and the Society for Friendship with China will host the celebration of the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival with parades, stage performances and Dragon Boat races. Every year, the festival brings surprises. This year, Kansas City Mayor Sylvester James has confirmed he will be the Drummer keeping time in a City of Kansas City-staffed Dragon Boat. The Kansas City team will race in an exhibition against a team visiting that weekend from our Sister City Xi’an, China, along with their mayor and other dignitaries. In addition to the City of Kansas City and the City of Xi’an Parks and Recreation teams, currently teams have registered from the Down Town Rotary Club, the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, Johnson County Community College, the Kansas City Art Institute and three from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. This is an event you don’t want miss. Please join us on Saturday, June 9, 2012 at Brush Creek at the Country Club Plaza from Broadway Boulevard to Nichols Parkway for a full day of fun.

The Society for Friendship with China, Inc. And Kansas City-Xi’an Sister City Committee Presents Teaching Program in Shaanxi Province   English language is a major course in Chinese schools. For a long time English has been taught as knowledge, not as a communication tool. More attention is now paid to listening and speaking, but it is difficult to create an English culture environment. To meet the developing situation American teachers are needed in more and more Chinese schools authorized to employ foreign teachers. Some schools in Xi’an (Baoji, Ankang and Yan’an areas) have contacted us for teachers. Since most of the secondary schools are not authorized to employ foreign teachers, we design most of our teaching programs as short-term positions. For more information, click here.

Our pledges to you - 义 The heart of our organization's purpose is to share cultural mindsets to enrich people of our nations and through that find mutual benefit -- through trade, etc. With that in mind, I would like to share a little bit of the Chinese tradition that infuses many aspects of Chinese business and personal life. It is how I feel about our sponsors and those who support our Society, and perhaps you will find meaning and value in it too for your endeavors, especially during these domestic and global economic times. In China, people -- whether they be businesses, friends or family -- find peace and meaning in their work when they... Yi is a virtue of loyalty, of friendship. It is an honest pledge from one to another. A pledge of shared purpose and goals, of common understanding between people, between organizations, that you have a sincere interest in the betterment of the other. These times are a good time for me to bring up the concept of Yi, because it is something we all naturally seek. Someone to offer resources, to help, to encourage, on our side in challenging times and in good ones too. In these times, when organizations struggle, it is most fitting for me to say thank you to our sponsors who are more than sponsors of a single event. When you are a sponsor, you show your gift of Yi to our organization. Without your financial support, we could not enrich our collective community. What your financial support really says to us is your intention of a shared interest in and a shared belief that together everyone achieves more. Your support in any way is about a bigger purpose. Our loyalty -- our Yi -- extends to you in gratitude far beyond the direct benefits of any one event. As our sponsor, our benefactor, we accept your gift as an intention of shared mindset in the greater good of everyone. And we return our Yi to you in ways that show we share the intention of your greater good -- of business and personal prosperity. Yi has no time limit, it is not transactional. Your intention with funding opens a bridge that lasts, a bridge to friendship whose benefits arise in ways that are unexpected and ongoing. This is really what our Society is about. It is a friendship society. Your sponsorship, your time, your efforts, your actions are Yi. This value is immeasurable and for it Yi is returned to you. It is a law of nature, it is what makes our lives meaningful and prosperous if we live by it. To you, our sponsors, we extend our greatest gift, our Yi. It is the triple win and with it, an abundant, fulfilling 2011. Advisory Board Member Tammy Breitenbach President Catalyst Partners, Inc. Ph. (816) 726-0579 Fax (866) 929-7170