Celebrating Day of German Unity...

... at the 'Alliance Francaise' in Manila. Where else would a German celebrate Germany’s national day?

The days are gone when the German embassy invited Philippine-based Germans and local partners from different backgrounds to celebrate Germans Unity united. Over Schweinshaxe, Sauerkraut, Schwarzbrot, and Bier we got the chance to mingle. Not anymore.

Last year's invitation list was already reduced remarkably. Blame it to the budget cut? Or call it responsible (German) fund management?

This year the selection of guests was even more confusing and seemed rather arbitrary. (To me known) representatives from the German private sector were not invited. Selected colleagues from German aid agencies were... Shouldn't we, if ever, pamper the money makers, the job providers, the tax payers?

I guess this raises an interesting question: who should be invited to celebrate The Day of German Unity? Germans? Clearly, not all registered Germans can be fed on Embassy’s costs. Filipinos? Which signals are we sending to our Filipino partners, if they are excluded? German companies? German aid agencies?

Well, two Germans and a Filipino decided to let others bother with the answer to these questions. Instead of crying over the fact to not have been invited, we joined the French! Aren’t we all Global Citizens these days? Allez!