Welcome to Wellington, President (Whoops!) Secretary Clinton!

Hillary Clinton's "smart diplomacy," as she demonstrates time and again in countries around the globe, extends, as she described it herself, "beyond the ministerial halls." Everywhere she goes, in addition to seeing her in the grand, polished, gleaming settings of palaces and parliaments, we see her spending equal time strolling in marketplaces, giving local media interviews, and conducting town halls, often with students, in enormous auditoriums.

For the first time, she is visiting New Zealand, a country with which relations have not been the best over the past 25 years, and she was greeted there in a style that responds to her smart diplomacy in a special way. When I began collecting these images, I was attempting to keep the traditional Powhiri greeting separate from the obviously ministerial ones. They are, however, of a cloth! I cannot embed this video, unfortunately, but the full video of Hillary's Powhiri shows that both greetings were part of a single event. The New Zealanders integrate the traditional with the formal which is right up Mme. Secretary's alley! Right up MY alley is that she was greeted in the tradition of a great and powerful chief. To so many of us, that is who she is. My friend Normita refers to her as our Village Chief. Indeed, she is!

The title in the header refers to a slip of the tongue made by PM John key in referring to Mme. POTUS Secretary shared by our reader Mr. Filipino-American. We are grateful for the cute story! NZ Prime Minister calls Hillary Clinton 'President'

Here is the link to the video. There are several othe videos at 3news.co.nz that you might want to watch.

Hillary Clinton's powhiri - full video

Here is a slideshow of the wealth of images from today. Events proceeded directly from the traditional greeting outside to the governmental events inside. They are as organized as I am going to get them. Enjoy! She looks stunning!