Japan Awards Walter Mondale Highest Honor Former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale was bestowed Japan’s top imperial decoration for foreigners in an emotional ceremony at the Japanese ambassador’s residence on Feb. 26. Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki presented the former Minnesota senator, who served as President Clinton’s ambassador to Japan from 1993 to 1997, with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers. Old friends — from Japan, the White House, Congress and Cleveland Park (the Mondales’ old neighborhood) — were delighted to see their famous friend celebrated. “I am thrilled and honored and want to personally thank His Majesty,” said Mondale, wearing the big red ribbon sash that carried the medallion. “It is fitting that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made Japan her first visit and I hear they had wonderful talks … with both countries committed to a firm relationship.” Mondale, who was joined by his wife Joan, added that with such a strong, ongoing partnership, “every big problem can be easily solved.” Ambassador Fujisaki said that U.S.-Japanese relations made real advance when Mondale was America’s ambassador there. “Really, he made the difference” in creating an everlasting bridge between the two countries. The biggest surprise of the evening was the presence of Toyota Motors Honorary Chairman Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda and his wife Hiroko Toyoda, who had flown in from Tokyo for the evening to toast their old friend. Toyoda noted that the former ambassador “charmed the Japanese people, impressed me, and all of us admire him.” Other VIP Mondale guests included former U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley, former Bush Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, and Sens. Daniel Inouye, Patrick Leahy and Dianne Feinstein. Also in attendance was Norwegian Ambassador Wegger Christian Strommen, who proudly noted that Mondale, a Norwegian-American, is Norway’s consul general in Minnesota and “chief of the tribe” of the 6 million Norwegians-Americans who live in the United States. “He is a great friend of the king and the first person I called when I arrived. He’s our man but the Japanese can have him too,” the ambassador joked. The receiving line was long and guests took their time to talk about old times. Marian Burros, former Washington Post food editor, originally met Walter Mondale at a Pillsbury bakeoff in Minneapolis. Helen Whittemore and her sister Ruth Saxe, a former deputy director of the Peace Corps, said they were “ancient friends” of the Mondales, who were their neighbors from both Cleveland Park and Minnesota’s Otter Tail Lake where they all have summer cabins. Mondale, 81, was vice president under President Carter, and ran himself for the Oval Office in 1984. He has spent a lifetime in national politics, serving as Minnesota’s senator for 12 years before becoming vice president in 1976. While America’s Ambassador to Japan, he normalized U.S.-Japanese economic and trade relations and revitalized the bilateral security relationship. He and his wife Joan also made major contributions in expanding the cultural and educational ties between the two nations. He is now board chair of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, which is dedicated to U.S.-Japanese relations and, more generally, to promoting understanding and cooperation among the nations and the peoples of Asia and the United States. Mondale also continues to speak and write about the importance of preserving a strong bilateral relationship with Japan. Top photo: From left, Norwegian Ambassador Wegger Christian Strommen, Joan Mondale, Rev. Cecilie J. Strommen, and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale attend Mondale’s awards ceremony at the Japanese Residence. Bottom photo: From left, Ambassador of Japan Ichiro Fujisaki, Hiroko Toyoda, Toyota Motors Honorary Chairman Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda, Joan and Walter Mondale, and wife of the Japanese ambassador Yoriko Fujisaki attend a reception at the Japanese Residence for former U.S. Vice President Mondale, who was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers from the Japanese government. Photos: Gail Scott Small Nations, Big Words More than five years ago, then Maltese Ambassador John Lowell and Liechtenstein Ambassador Claudia Fritsche were looking for a way for the smaller countries with smaller budgets to get more visibility in Washington’s competitive diplomatic scene. Former Ambassador Lowell’s maternal grandfather was Malta’s best-known poet and he himself loved poetry. So it was natural that Lowell and Fritsche proposed a poetry reading to their diplomatic colleagues — an annual event that continues today. It’s a popular hit that each year shows another side of the ambassadors who represent small nations. Nine countries participated this year in the fifth annual Small Nations Poetry Reading on March 4 held at the National Geographic Society’s Gilbert H. Grosvenor Auditorium. This year’s timely theme was the environment and climate change. Cypriot Ambassador Andreas S. Kakouris and his staff organized the program. Countries involved included Austria, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco and Slovenia. Both Austria and Slovenia were represented by their chargés d’affaires, Andreas Riecken and Miriam Mozgan, respectively, because their embassies are still without new ambassadors. Many of the participating ambassadors agreed that reading poetic verses in front of others took them out of their “comfort zone,” but that the poetry reading has proven to be a wonderful way to tell American audiences more about their countries. Each ambassador opened with a few minutes of information about their nation and its efforts to benefit the environment. Then, each envoy introduced their poet and explained why they chose a certain poem pertaining to the environment before reading the poem in both English and their native language. Every country represented is involved in helping find answers to their own current environmental problems, but Monaco’s Grimaldi monarchy — the longest reigning dynasty in Europe — has always had a profound interest in the environment even though it is the smallest member of the United Nations. Ambassador of Monaco Gilles Noghès noted that Prince Albert I, the great-grand grandfather of current monarch Prince Albert II — son of the late Prince Rainer III and American Academy award-winning movie icon Grace Kelly — was a pioneer in oceanography in the early 20th century. He also went to the polar region in 1906 and was at the time concerned about over-fishing, along with threats to biodiversity and deforestation. “One hundred years later,” Ambassador Noghès said, “Prince Albert II has created his own foundation to protect the environment. He went to the North Pole in 2006 to bring attention to global warming and to the South Pole two months ago.” Prince Albert is also active in biodiversity preservation, especially in the Mediterranean, and has a very successful billion-dollar Tree campaign. The new Icelandic Ambassador Hjálmar W. Hannesson won over his audience with funny stories about his native countrymen and naturally stunning volcanic island. “Now we want to protect it.” Poetic and practical. For more information about upcoming programs of “National Geographic Live!” go to www.nglive.org or call (202) 857-7700. Photo: From left, Ambassador of Bulgaria Latchezar Petkov, Ambassador of Cyprus Andreas S. Kakouris, Ambassador of Iceland Hjálmar W. Hannesson, Ambassador of Liechtenstein Claudia Fritsche, Ambassador of Malta Mark Miceli-Farrugia (also pictured on the front page), Vice President of National Geographic Live! Greg McGruder, Chargé d’Affaires of the Slovenian Embassy Miriam Mozgan, Ambassador of Monaco Gilles Noghès, Chargé d’Affaires of the Austrian Embassy Andreas Riecken, and Assistant Defense Attaché of the Bahraini Embassy Mohamed Al Ahmed attend the fifth annual Small Nations Poetry Reading held at the National Geographic. Photos: ©2009 Rebecca Hale / National Geographic Hollywood on the Potomac Movie stars don’t usually come to diplomatic national day receptions, but this actress had a special reason to attend. She is the wife of the bew Bulgarian Ambassador Latchezar Petkov. Boriana Puncheva, daughter of Bulgaria’s legendary film director and cameraman Borislav Punchev, is a super star in Bulgaria and is recognized almost everywhere she goes there (see her profile in the April issue of The Washington Diplomat). Now more involved in producing, directing and writing for television and cinema than acting, this dramatic lady is still remembered for her early years on the big screen (her most famous film is “Dami Kanyat” or “Ladies Choice”) as well as her long-running TV show, “Club NLO/Club UFO.” Married less than two years, this Bulgarian “power couple” still act like newlyweds. Their official D.C. debut together was at Bulgaria’s National Day on March 3 at the Organization of American States. Boriana’s devoted fans lined up, as did his. Ambassador Petkov is a favorite in the Bulgarian community for caring so much about Bulgarian culture, instituting many cultural programs head of the Bulgarian consulate in New York from 1995-1999. No surprise that this creative couple is already planning monthly cultural events at their Northwest residence. Boriana’s fans and colleagues included many collectors of her movies and even a classmate from acting school back in Sofia. “I even starred in one of her father’s films,” said Rossitza “Rosie” Petrov, now a Virginia resident who left Bulgaria in 1987 and herself enjoyed a successful acting and broadcasting career both in Bulgaria and in the United States. “I was afraid that she wouldn’t recognize me but … it’s been thrilling to see her, catch up a bit and be together again after more than 25 years.” Photo: Boriana Puncheva, center, is surrounded by fans at Bulgaria’s National Day reception at the Organization of American States. Photo: Gail Scott Latino Student Fund Offers Taste of Mexico With Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan and his wife Veronica Valenca-Sarukhan as ambassadorial committee chairs, the Latino Student Fund’s ninth annual fundraising gala, “A Taste of Mexico,” was a tasty smash at the Organization of American States on March 5. Ambassador Sarukhan quoted Ralph Ellison’s “The Invisible Man” to compare the plight of African Americans with many Latin Americans today. “If they are invisible it is simply because people refuse to see them,” he said. “These lines, written in 1952, almost a decade before President Obama was born, have lost neither their power nor their relevance, and especially so for the Latino community in the U.S. as it today faces a worrying surge in anti-immigrant sentiments in this country.” He praised “the important work” of the Latino Student Fund, whose Scholars Program supports 84 students through pre-kindergarten to the senior year of high school, along with 87 students in LSF’s highly successful tutoring program. Since the Latino Student Fund was founded in 1994, every single sponsored student has not only graduated from high school, but enrolled in top colleges and universities across the nation. Ambassador Sarukhan emphasized that “education is the key factor” that will help Latino students “to emerge from the shadows.” LSF co-founder Rosalia Gutiérrez-Huéte Miller, a native of Nicaragua, has an impressive background to help her cause. Formerly with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, she is a popular National Cathedral School teacher and Beauvoir board member. She introduced this year’s honoree, Joseph E. Robert, Jr., who has supported her dream from the start through his Fight for Children Foundation. “Having Joe with us and being able to thank him for supporting us from the very beginning means the world to me,” said Gutiérrez-Huéte Miller. “He was a nurturer of LSF during its infancy and he has touched the lives of over 1,000 Latino children who, with his generous contributions, now have the chance of a lifetime.” The Latino Student Fund, now 15 years old, was created “to combat the growing high school dropout rates within the Hispanic community by providing better access to educational opportunities.” Along with the Saturday morning tutoring program to support at-risk and underprivileged Latino youth, LSF continues to develop new services, activities and programs to better serve the Latino community including financial aid and mentoring support for the Latino parents to gain the skills, confidence and knowledge necessary to navigate the American educational system and serve as strong advocates for their children. For more information, visit www.latinostudentfund.org or call (202) 244-3428. Inside photo: From left, Ambassador of Chile Mariano Fernández and his wife Mariá Angélica, Latino Student Fund co-founder Rosalia Gutiérrez-Huéte Miller, and wife Veronica Valencia-Sarukhan and Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan attend the Latino Student Fund’s “Taste of Mexico” fundraising gala at the Organization of American States. Front page: Latino Student Fund 2009 Gala Honoree Joseph E. Robert, Jr. with Latino Student Fund co-founder Rosalia Gutiérrez-Huéte Miller and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, a longtime LSF supporter, attend the LSF fundraising gala. Photos: Gail Scott THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT P.O. Box 1345 Silver Spring, MD 20915-1345 Tel: 301.933.3552 Fax: 301.949.0065 www.washdiplomat.com