It is the end of the Summer, and high season of the hay fever, I don’t think it has ever been so bad. I don’t usually have problems but this year even I suffer, so I really feel for those who are seriously allergic to pollen. Let’s hope for some rain, which would bring some relief!

I start with the Queen’s Birthday Party, which seems to have been ages ago. It was a success as we hoped, and lots of guests accepted the invitation despite the bad weather. It is becoming a tradition that there is a thunder halfway through the party. This year has not been an exception, the sky got really dark at around 6 o’clock, and soon after heavens opened. We were prepared, therefore didn’t even flinch but continued chatting. The wooden floor was definitely a big hit and everyone managed to get away with dry feet.

I was happy to see a large number of celebrities turning up as well and since I had the Embassy’s camera, I felt brave and important enough to approach most of them, have a few word, then take pictures. They were all friendly, even if a bit surprised, since they had never been invited to such event. I had a great time, hopefully I didn’t bore them too much!

We had several sponsors that evening, thanks to them the food was great, the drinks plenty and there was even two huge freezers full of ice cream! Do I need to say more?

To cut a long story short, we have again drawn the conclusions, what was good and what was not so good (there was hardly anything in that category of course), and have already started thinking about next year.

After all those years however, I would like to see what other Embassies do and how they organise their Queen’s Birthday Parties.

When it was over, we all shifted back to our everyday jobs and were looking forward to the next event, the Embassy Away Day. It is the one day each year, the team building day, when everyone can relax, even the Ambassador. We spent the morning with work related quiz games, on a boat! While floating towards Visegrád (a historic town North from Budapest in the Danube bend), our destination, we managed to reveal what IiP meant to us. Hungarians are not that familiar with these three letters, which stand for Investors in People. It is a kind of prize a workplace can only get if all employees are treated according to a standard. Please let me not to get into details, let’s just say that we got the IiP accreditation in 2005 and are now concentrating on getting the accreditation again. Believe me, it is hard work for everyone, so I conveniently skip to the afternoon. We had lunch in Visegrad, and then went to the Summer Bob, or some colleagues took a walk to the castle. I’m sure by now you know which experience I chose. I had seen the castle before…. It is a much better sight seeing grown ups who do really serious work otherwise, sleighing down the hill like kids, and enjoying it enormously. We did have a lot of fun, but without a doubt the best and most unforgettable sight was our two Drivers in one bob, both big guys, they just managed to squeeze themselves on…No need to say more.

The boat trip back to Budapest went very fast, if you have a chance do go to Visegrad from Budapest by boat, the view is spectacular. To cool ourselves off, a few of us ended up in the Embassy, and had drinks in the Embassy Club. I know, I know, the Embassy is a real tough place to work at.

As I wrote at the very beginning, summer went very quickly, we were really busy with officers leaving post, and new colleagues arriving. I can’t believe it is already September! Only a few more days to Christmas! It feels like it anyway.

Last Saturday was another day worth mentioning here. A team from the Embassy went to a village near lake Balaton, called Balatonendred to a game cooking competition! Aren’t we great? It was a team of seven, and we cooked deer goulash with potatoes and very Hungarian pickles called kovászos uborka. Gherkin made in a special way, put in a glass jar with garlic, dill and a slice of bread is put on top, then the whole lot has to be left outside on a sunny place for a few days.

Anyway, we arrived there at around 10 o’clock in the morning and were immediately met by a good old Hungarian tradition, which is a quick shot of palinka (spirit made of fruit). I was soon in a festive mood and helped the others with chopping carrot, and potato, while listening to the show on the stage, and later eyeing the team next to us suspiciously, they were so professional, laid their table beautifully, and took it all too seriously.

I have to say our goulash was really tasty, although a bit heavy even to the Hungarian stomach. The jury liked it too and one of them even had a second helping. We had no idea however that we were expected to cook a whole menu, and lay a table, and I’m sure this is the only reason we didn’t win after all. The village did make a lot of effort organising the event, and since the British Embassy was the only Embassy accepting their invitation and turning up, we got special attention, and this is why our little team was placed amongst the professionals. We agreed that next year we would be much more prepared and would win, no matter what it takes!

This is the end of my latest bulletin, I’d better get back to work now, because I know it does not seem like it from the above, we at Management Section do have a lot to do, and we are a very important part of our little community here.