Maiden embassy roundup
The German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., in collaboration with the German Embassy, held its two-day fair dubbed “Mabuhay Germany 2017” at Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig on February 18-19.
Mabuhay Germany 2017 featured an array of booths, showcasing German products and services. Despite the rain, a host of participants and spectators trooped to the occasion and joined what the exhibitors had prepared for Mabuhay Germany 2017.
There were a number of games and cool prizes for the young and the young at heart.
One of the more challenging games was the one hosted by the German Embassy: the staff asked participants to guess the place or personality printed on huge flash cards.
Each participant was asked to choose three of these “mystery cards” and if they were all answered right, the participant was allowed to choose among the “major prizes”
made available. In the event that a participant gets to identify and name only one or two, he or she still got to take home a consolation prize.
Included in the flash card “mysteries” were the name of Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and the manufacturer of Gummy Bear, Haribo. (There you go, some clues to next year’s expo quiz…that is, if the embassy staff use the same items for guessing!)
Quite interestingly, the “pop quiz” was a random measure of how much an average Filipino knows about Germany, including its officials, current events and scenic spots.
Equally challenging part was the Airline Lufthansa booth, which also held a variety of games at Mabuhay Germany 2017. Participants were asked to spin a roulette wheel and answer the questions in the category where the wheel stopped.
My daughter Charity, 14, was asked to name seven European countries in seven flash cards. Each flash card bore at least four pictures that were supposed to portray prominent places in each country. She had to identify all the countries in just 15 seconds. Quite challenging, you might say. But guess what? To my amazement and the delight of the Lufthansa staff, she was able to name all the countries in less than 15 seconds! And she hasn’t even visited any of those countries!
Unfortunately, Lufthansa, by then, had given out the major prizes, and despite what we would call a great job, Charity was given only a minor prize by an apologetic staff, saying they had run out of the better prizes. Nevertheless, we went away with heads held high, as besting the game and the sheer joy of participating made all the difference!
It was heartwarming to have witnessed my daughter know a lot more than what I thought she knew! She and my son Daniel also got to ride Lufthansa’s “plane” without necessarily leaving BGC soil!
Another booth that featured cool games was that of Continental, which allowed participants, like my son, to balance weights using a cool balancing toy.
While adding thin, different-colored metal weights to the balancing metal, the participant had to make sure none of those previously added fell on the table. It looked simple, but even my “precision-driven” husband lost on his bid to win the game when he was just adding the second weight to the metal!
Thankfully, Charity and Daniel won with ease in this game. That balancing toy must have been really designed for smaller sets of hands!
My husband did not go home empty-handed, though, as he was given consolation prizes that he can use for the car! My kids, on the other hand, were given elegant memo notepads embossed with “Continental”, with pens to boot!
Furniture store Hafele had a different family treat. It allowed people, from individuals to families like ours, to have their pictures taken. Then the photo was creatively placed in a paper photo frame bearing the company’s name.
Plus, its booth featured a dart game in which my older daughter, Bethany, hit the target thrice in a single, three-dart try! She was given three cool prizes for her “victory.” Hmm… precision must run in the blood!
The Sports and Photography “Segments”
Mabuhay Germany 2017 became more attractive to visitors as it featured Philippine-German nationalities, Azkals’ Roland Mueller and Kevin Ingreso. The two football superstars gamely signed autographs at a booth. Unfortunately for some fans, the two sports icons were only available in a one-hour “meet and greet” in the morning. Well, as the saying goes…better luck next time!!!
Other sports enthusiasts also enjoyed the Football Juggling Contest, every full one-hour on the two-day fair. Winners of the contest brought home their own special German Embassy football! Cool!
Mabuhay Germany 2017 also had another unique feature:  the awarding of the Embassy’s Facebook photography contest. Besting all other entries was no less than a beautiful and talented young lady, Geleen Lorica.
First Secretary for Cultural Affairs Thorsten Gottfried presented the custom-made plaque of recognition, which displays the winning artwork, to the winner at the main stage of Mabuhay Germany 2017.
To quote from the Embassy’s FB page, “the winning artwork featured cultural icons of both Germany and the Philippines, forming a shape of a heart.” According to Geleen, this represents the unique cultural exchange between the two countries – which appears at first sight as cultural polar opposites.”
The Serious Part…
Not everything in Mabuhay Germany 2017 was fun and games. There was also the “serious side to it.”
For one thing, as the German Embassy’s Facebook page said -‑ a job fair was also held, which gave Filipinos the opportunity to connect with prospective employers through the cooperation of Kalibrr, a  job-matching website that connects people with jobs which equal their skills and competencies.
The Goethe-Institut Philippinen, in partnership with the German Embassy, held a one-hour symposium entitled “Make it in Germany: Opportunities for Philippine Nurses” which focused on work opportunities for Philippine health care professionals in Germany on the main stage. It turns out the program was hatched in 2011 and crystallized through a German-Philippine agreement in 2013. This was an accord which facilitated the placement of Filipino health care professionals in employment positions in Germany. (Thanks to my journalist friend, Jessica Domingo Gross for this bit of info!)
Already, Mabuhay Germany 2017 featured two nurses who are about to go to Germany for employment! Hurrah!
The German Ambassador’s Time
No less than German Ambassador Gordon Kricke graced the opening ceremony of Mabuhay Germany 2017, through a champagne brunch. He was excited to be back, holding the event after a year’s hiatus.
Ambassador Kricke noted that the first Mabuhay Germany was in 2009. Since then, he said, “Mabuhay Germany has become the trademark event of the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and has become a tradition
to the German community in the Philippines.”
His excellency went on to say that as Mabuhay Germany showcases the wide spectrum of German-Philippine relations, the participation of 50 German companies at this year’s fair portrayed the strong and growing bilateral economic relationship between the two countries.
Among those who joined Ambassador Kricke in the opening ceremonies were Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Tourism Director Shalimar Tamano, Ambassador Franz Jessen (EU Delegation to the Philippines), Greek Ambassador Nicolaos Kaimenakis and French Embassy Economic Counsellor Laurent Estrade.
German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI) President Dr. Bodo Goerlich and Executive Director Peter Kompalla were also among the VIPs who joined Ambassador Kricke in kicking off Mabuhay Germany 2017.
(Photos of the opening ceremony will be uploaded in a section of this site later, courtesy of German Embassy Manila.)
Just can’t get enough…
We didn’t quite get enough of the fair on the first day…we returned the next day, braving the difficult flash card questions and guessing the flight codes of European destinations. The codes were quite difficult to guess and yes, I didn’t get to name a lot! (Perhaps next time I can be better? Haha!) Nonetheless, it was still fun and challenging the “second day around.” I have a good feeling we’re going to be returning next year for another Mabuhay Germany experience!
Buhay na buhay (very much alive) indeed!
