It's an observation I've shared with another consular officer here in Sydney: Consular Corps don't seem to have as many friendly informal interactions among themselves as the Diplomatic Corps. I mean it's still early days for me here, but I haven't seen anything like a football tournament between missions or a home dinner party among ASEAN colleagues. Our working theory is that Consulates are focused on serving their respective local communities only, while Embassies get to have their dealings with the host government or a resident multilateral organization as a constant common denominator.
That being said, ALL the consular receptions I've been to in Sydney have been awesome. Maybe precisely because the consulates have few other occasions to informally socialize with their counterparts, every consular reception or gathering seems to have a little extra something something.
Turkey - Meat Station and National Beer
Poland - Historic Church and Great Organist
Korea - Touching Animated Tribute and Impressive Strings
Ireland - More Impressive Strings (at an Irish Pub!)
Thailand - Beautiful Dances and They Gave Me a Plus One
Sri Lanka - Traditional Ceremony plus Lovely Singing plus a (*checks notes*) Professorial Lecture on Prehistoric Rocks
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