Pacific Day and Night A Success In DC

Pacific Day and Night A Success In DC

May 23, 2012

By Connie Lawn and Charles Sneiderman

Once again, the handsome New Zealand Embassy in Washington D.C was rocking. All who are invited to attend agree it is the best party in Washington. But, it is probably the hardest work for the Embassy staff, who have to serve an enormous amount of food to a large crowd. All went smoothly, and the heavy tropical rain storm ended early enough for the crowds to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air.

Pacific Day and Night is not just for fun. For the past two years, Ambassador Mike Moore added a seminar program, with a series of important topics and speakers. The keynote address was given by Foreign Minister Murray McCully, who discussed “The Pacific Century.” (His speech is posted on Scoop). The Minister also had a full schedule in Washington, which included productive meetings with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and many other officials and lawmakers.

The Seminar was co-sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Fiji’s Air Pacific. The Moderator was Ernie Bower from CSIS, who managed to sound coherent and intelligent, despite an overnight flight from Manila. There were 12 speakers all together. The US was represented by Assistant Secretary of State Esther Brimmer. One of the best presentations came from journalist Eddie Walsh, who is also affiliated with CSIS. He discussed “the role of major powers in the Pacific.” Eddie, a good friend of ours, has extensive knowledge of military, diplomatic, and trade matters. One of his themes (and that of other speakers) is the need to promote robust relations with China, without being over taken by that country.

There were many major themes, of course. They included security matters and the threat posed to low lying island nations by climate change. After thrashing out these matters for two hours, the attentive crowd was ready to cast aside concerns (for a while), so we could eat, drink, and join in spirited Pacific dancing. What a feast awaited us!

The food and drinks came from many countries: New Zealand, Australia, Guam, Hawaii (a state, of course), Palau and Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Fiji, and the Marshall Islands. The spirited and exciting dancers also came from several places: New Zealand Maori, Fiji, Australia on the didgeridoo, Hawaii, and Samoa. Please forgive us if we left anyone out of these lists. By the end of the evening, most of us were pulled onto the dance floor by the professionals. It was a wonderful melee of fellowship, friendship, and Pacific unity! Thank you again to the New Zealand Embassy and all other members of the Pacific nations.

ENDS

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