Off to the Ball

While we're all accustomed to the endless festivities of the holiday season, the diplomatic community takes the party atmosphere to new heights. To the best of my knowledge the black-tie-ball season started off with the British Ball (which we skipped) at the end of October. The following weekend we helped celebrate the founding of the US Marine's at the full-dress Marine Ball.

The evening started, in typical fashion, with cocktails and hors d'ouvres outside the ballroom followed by a mad scramble to locate our seats when the doors opened. It was another hour or more before dinner was served. First we had to observe the formalities: speeches by the US Ambassador to China and the ranking Marine officer in the Pacific region, the raising of the flag, and the cutting of the birthday cake by the eldest Marine present (a woman, much to my surprise!). All carried out, of course, with proper military pomp. Only after the speeches, toasts, marching, etc. were complete was dinner served. Fare was that of any unmemorable, large, Western hotel banquet. Dancing, naturally, followed, with some guests staying as late as 2 or 3 AM. We left at a relatively early 11 when my cold medicine started to wear off.

We skipped several other balls but landed in late-November at the St. Andrew's Ball, the Beijing Caledonian Society's black-tie affair celebrating the saint's day of the patron saint of Scotland. Although both are large, black-tie events, the St. Andrew's Ball is considerably different in character from the Marine Ball, and, dare I say it, rather more fun. The typical cocktails and hors d'ouvres were followed not by a general rush for tables, but by the Grand March. Guests lined up couple-by-couple at the door to the ballroom behind the chieftan of the Caledonian Society and his wife. At the appointed hour the doors opened and the piper (flown in from Scotland for the occasion) began to play. In time to the music (more-or-less) we marched across the dance floor to the base of the stage. From there couples turned alternately left and right, to circle around the outside of the dance floor and return to center. Once all the guests were in the room, the line continued moving back up the floor. As pairs of couples met in the middle, they linked arms. Foursomes again circled the floor in alternating directions, linking arms into groups of eight and then sixteen as they met again in the center. The broad lines dissolved into the first dance, the Gay Gordons, an easy progressive dance. We proceeded to toasts (can't forget to toast the Queen!) and on to a many-course dinner (complete with haggis) punctuated wtih music by Katie Targett Adams. Dancing continued into the wee hours with a midnight break for soup & stovies and a hearty breakfast before heading home around 3.

After a lull in January, the ball season gives a final huzzah in February with the Australia Ball on Valentine's Day (which we do not plan to attend) and the Caledonian Society's Burns' Supper (happy birthday Robert Burns!) on February 21 (which we wouldn't miss).

Off to the dance...

PS For more pics see: my Marine Ball Album.