A swanky German affair

Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor

Dears, we are in the middle of the diplomatic season here in Kingston, as in that time of the year when a number of diplomatic missions and their country's first citizens commemorate their national day by hosting a reception to celebrate the occasion.

Indeed, the annual reception hosted by the resident German ambassador, His Excellency Josef Beck, and his wife, Mrs Gudrun Beck, at their upper St Andrew home last Wednesday to commemorate German unification was a swanky and definitely fabulous do here. With the threat of inclement weather haunting the nation's capital for days, Ambassador and Mrs Beck decided on moving their annual commemorative shindig on to their tennis court under a party-sized marquee. This was fabulously done up in the German national colours, with giant-size cooling fans strategically placed around the reception area to make for a more comfortable do and that it proved and then some!

The evening got under way with guests being welcomed, à la red-carpet mode by Ambassador and Mrs Beck and his deputy Michael Kroener and wife, Iris Kroener, before being ushered on to the reception area. And here, there was no escaping the beauty and import of the occasion. From the party-size bar and battery of staffers; the fabulous décor and attention to details, it was clear that Euro-recession or not, this was not a celebration to be marred by a reception but a party to toast a unified Germany, which is front and centre of not just stabilising the Euro-recession, but spearheading the task of righting the world economy currently on the verge of an economic abyss.

And so it was my dears, a fabulous outing as, indeed, Ambassador and Mrs Beck proved the faultless hosts. After welcoming guests in the official receiving line, he the dapper and urbane diplomat and she, the elegant social maven made the rounds, as it were, exchanging pleasantries and bon mots over cocktails, while Rosa Moder-Ashbourne and her ensemble provided absolutely fabulous background chamber music.

And dears, it was definitely a night of haute style and the fabulissimo grande as, indeed, snob society was out and purring, and we are talking sixes and nines here, and then some.

Dears, we are talking a gathering of leading German citizens here - members of Government, the social and chattering classes, and the leisure class, and it made for a beautiful outing!

The night was not all about sixes and nines, however. Following on the flawless rendition of the Jamaican and German national anthems by linguist NastassJa Nass, who was simply superb in her delivery of both, Ambassador Beck, in his address, highlighted Germany's positive and proactive role in not just Euro affairs, but in world affairs, pointing to benevolence and leadership in the current economic crisis, as well as its history in that regard. He touched on the history of and ties to Jamaica since Jamaica's Independence, obviously peeved at an editorial reportage, questioning the role, purpose and commitment of the German government in the current state of world affairs.

Indeed, Ambassador Beck was on point and diplomatically so, as he rebutted the straw arguments advanced by the editorial, but was, nonetheless, in character as an envoy of one of the world's economic powers.

Our Foreign Affairs Minister, Senator A.J. Nicholson, was on point too, in his response, lauding the role and continued support and bilateral friendship that underpins the Jamaican-German relationship, which saw both representatives of their respective governments raising their flutes in toasts. The formalities then gave way to animated discourses and laa-dee-dah-ing crowning a most fabulous evening.

Indeed, they do say a week in politics is indeed a long time. Well, using that logic, a year is then akin to an eternity, as last year this time Jamaica had a different government and then the members of the Government were out in force. This year, members of the Government were also out in force, but the cast was completely different.

Among those out were Foreign Affairs Minister Senator A.J. Nicholson; his junior minister Member of Parliament Arnaldo Brown; Education Minister Ronnie Thwaites; Labour Minister Derrick Kellier; MP and Junior Minister Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams; Mayor of Kingston Her Worship, Senator Angela Brown-Burke; Opposition MP Delroy Chuck; Ambassador Elinor Felix; Ambassador Maxine Roberts; Archbishop Charles Dufour; The Most Hon Glynne Manley; The Hon John Issa; Fr Richard Ho Lung; British High Commissioner HE Howard and Jill Drake; head of Mission Paola Amadei, of the EU; Russian Ambassador HE Vladimir Polenov; Spanish Ambassador HE Celsa Nuño and husband Alex Crowther; her deputy, Victoria Gomez; French Ambassador HE Ginette de Matha; her deputy, Bruno Jounnen; Belgian Ambassador HE Madam Godelieve Van den Bergh; Brazilian Ambassador HE Antonio DaCosta Silva Neto; Cuban Ambassador HE Yuri Gala Lopez; South African High Commissioner HE Mathu Joyini; High Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago, HE Dr Eva Gloudon; HE Ambassador José Tomas Ares German, of the Dominican Republic; head of mission at the Seabed Authority Ambassador, Nii Odunton; chargé d'affaires of the Indian High Commission, Anil Saxena; DCM of the Argentinian Embassy Ramon Corvera and his fabulous wife Mrs Deidre Corvera; US Embassy official Gary Rex and his fabulous wife, Mrs Ingrid Rex; Japanese Embassy official Hiroshi and Mrs Junko Mitsuya; the elegant Susan Alexander; Christopher and Michelle Bovell, their daughter Terry Shoucair and her daughter Tara Shoucair; Earl and Beverly Levy; Robert MacMillan; the fab Thalia Lyn; Professor Errol and Mrs Fay Morrison; Dr Richard Gomes and wife Dr Carolyn Gomes; Dr Ruth Potop-Singh; Rear Admiral (Ret) Peter Brady and wife; Sylvia Collister; Anthony and Jeanne Watson and their son James; Errol and Ingrid Ziadie; Peter and Faye Bangerter; Paul Issa; Nicola Crosswell-Mair; Christopher Nakash; Ricardo Alicock and Suzanne Alicock; Gilou Bauer; Dr Jonathan Greenland; Anne McNamee; Duncan and Debbie Stewart; Michael and Melanie Subratie; Jacquie Neilsson; Nancy McLean; Andrea Bickhoff-Benjamin; the lovely Birgit Hauk and her fab daughter Katharina Hauk, then on the verge of celebrating her 18th birthday; Raoul Cousley; and Councillor Patrick Roberts; plus several others.