Ambassador of the Slovak Republic Mr. Dusan Bella and Mrs. Eugenia Bellova hosted a farewell party on the Rooftop Garden of Somerset Palace in Anguk-dong, Seoul on May 21, 2014 to say goodbye to the friends they have made during the tour of their duty in Korea as well as to their fellow ambassadors and spouses.
It was a unique reception held at the Penthouse garden on the roof top of the building commanding an excellent view of the surrounding areas, including the compounds of the Gwanghwamun Gate of the Joseon Dynasty, the Gyeongbok Palace and the Central Government building.
The venue also stood out in terms of the deco and the green ambience of the garden trees around the party site surrounded by what looked like the remaining pillars of Foro Romano in Rome, Italy dating back to the 6th century BC.
The May breezes that evening couldn’t be better for an outdoor party, which added to the pleasant and comfortable atmosphere of the reception.
There also was fitting music presented by an eight-man band, including a lady cellist, which was accorded a keen attention, admiration and appreciation.
There were no formalities nor a litany of long speeches by the host, guests and, sometimes, special guests, as in the case of other parties.
It appeared that the hosts intended the party to be an occasion for the guests to have their fill of joy in a free atmosphere over the fine spread of food and excellent wines.
Still another distinction of the wonderful function was the conspicuous absence of suspected gate crashers, some of whom are known to come to diplomatic functions (such as the National Day receptions) without invitation.
There are common expressions among ambassadors and their spouses in Korea that are made at the time of their departure from Korea after fulfillment of their tour of duty in Korea, normally four years although some are sooner and others later. They say that they cry twice. They cry at the time of their accreditation to a new country because they were coming to a country which they had never heard of before and then again when the left. The second crying was from their reluctance to leave the friends they had made heart-to-heart in Korea. Some said that they were leaving their heart behind in Korea.
This was surely the case with Ambassador and Mrs. Bella. They have made many good friends in Korea in the government, business circles and various other segments of Korean society.
They have also very deeply impressed the provincial governors and local city and county mayors in all parts of the country with their profound understanding and knowledge of each locality they have visited in tours organized by The Korea Post.
This was very well exemplified by the congratulatory speeches Ambassador Bella gave on behalf of the visiting ambassadors (a role performed by the most senior ambassador of the group by precedence of accreditation to Korea) in return to the welcome speeches made by the host governor and mayor, which revealed the surprisingly deep extent to his knowledge of the history, culture, art and various other aspects of the Korean locality.
On many occasions, Ambassador Bella presented a Plaque of Appreciation to the governor or the mayor of the locality visited on behalf of himself and other visiting ambassadors, on which the Korean governors and mayors said that they would treasure the Plaques as well as their memory of Ambassador and Mrs. Bella.
Ambassador and Mrs. Bella also appear to enjoy a great measure of friendship with fellow ambassadors. Many of them wrote in the Visitor’s Book at the farewell party their reluctant feelings to part with Ambassador and Mrs. Bella.
Hakan Okcal of Turkey wrote: “Dear Dusan and Eugenia, we are going to miss you. Hope to see you in Turkey.”
Manuel Lopez Trigo of Costa Rica: “With best wishes and warmest regards to dear friends, Eugenia and Dusan Bella, excellent diplomatic representatives of their respected country.”
Ambassador Gabor Csaba of Hungary: “It’s been a pleasure to know and work with you in Seoul. We wish you all the best and every success in the future.”
The farewell party also provided the guests with a very good opportunity to learn the tourist attractions, culture and history of Slovakia as a good number of photographs were on display at the party site. Then there were a number of exquisite porcelain ware items on display on a table for the guests to appreciate.
There were so many mission chiefs in Seoul attending the party accompanied by their spouses, who included (in alphabetical order) Ambassadors Jorge Roballo of Argentina, Ramzi Teymurov of Azerbaijan (CDA), Natallia Jhylevich of Belarus, Petar Andonov of Bulgaria, Manuel Lopez Trigo of Costa Rica, Sylvestre Kouassi Bile of Cote d'Ivoire, Jaroslav Olsa, jr. of Czech Republic, Peter Lysholt Hansen of Denmark, Grecia Fiodalicia Pichardo of Dominican Republic, Nicolas Fabian Trujillo Newlin of Ecuador, Tomasz Kozlowski of Delegation of The Europan Union, Rolf Mafael of Germany, Nikoloz Apkhazava of Georgia, Dionisios Sourvanos of Greece, Michel Idiaquez Baradat of Honduras, Gabor Csaba of Hungary, Khalil Ismai Abdul Sahib Al-Mosawi of Iraq, Aingeal O’onoghue of Ireland, Uri Gutman of Israel, Sergio Mercuri of Italy, Bessho Koro of Japan, Omar AL NAHAR of Jordan, Dulat Bakisher of Kazakhstan, Ngovi Kitau of Kenya, Duishonkul Chotonov of Kyrgyzstan, Mohammed Chraibi of Morocco, Paul Menkveld of the Netherlands, Mohamed Salim Alharthy of Oman, Krzysztof Majka of Poland, Antonio Quintero Nobre of Portugal, Calin Fabian of Romania, Konstantin V. Vnukov of Russia, Hilton A. Dennis of South Africa, Luis Arias Romero of Spain, Tissa Wijeratne of Sri Lanka, Mohamed Ali Nafti of Tunisia, Hakan Okcal of Turkey, Vasyl Marmazov of Ukraine, Scott Wightman of United Kingdom and Ying Ping-Liang of the Republic of China (Representitive of the Taipei Mission).
There also were many Korean and international friends of Ambassador and Mrs. Bella. Among them were Publisher-Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post; Chairmen Insuk Son of Youngchun Son Herbal Clinic, Suk-jin Kang of CEO Consulting Group, Hae-hyeong Cho of Nara Holdings, Young Ho Kim of Ilshin, David Kim of KH Investment and Tongsun Park of Parkington; Vice Chairman James Bemowski of Doosan; President Patrick W. Gaines of Boeing Korea; Professor Kim Kyu-Jin of Hankuk University of Foreign Affairs with his Soprano wife; and Fashion Designer Mrs. Troa Cho.