U.S. Foreign Service Officer headed to Wuhan, China

The mission of a U.S. diplomat in the Foreign Service is to promote peace, support prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the U.S. abroad. The work that diplomats do has an impact on the world as they serve at one of any of the more than 270 embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions in The Americas, Africa, Europe and Eurasia, East Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia.

The duties of a Consular Officer include to provide emergency and non-emergency services to American citizens and protect our borders through the proper adjudication of visas to foreign nationals and passports to American citizens. We adjudicate immigrant and non-immigrant visas, facilitate adoptions, help evacuate Americans, combat fraud, and fight human trafficking. Consular Officers touch people’s lives in important ways, often reassuring families in crisis. They face many situations which require quick thinking under stress and develop and use a wide range of skills, from managing resources and conducting public outreach to assisting Americans in distress.

Okonomiyaki / Japanese pancakes

The very first week I was in Japan, some friends introduced me to the neighborhood okonomiyaki restaurant near campus and I was hooked. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese pancake that's not sweet or eaten for breakfast but instead filled with vegetables, egg, and seafood or pork. At a restaurant, you usually grill it yourself on a large griddle and then cover it with mayonnaise, sweet brown sauce, seaweed powder and dried fish flakes. The combination is delicious!

Mixing the veggies, batter and shrimp together

During one of Sean's last visits with his Japanese tutor, she gave him all the ingredients to make okonomiyaki at home and last night we gave it a try. In this version of the recipe, we chopped up cabbage, green onions and shrimp and mixed it with two eggs and the mix in the bag. Then we spread the mix in the pan, waited a bit, flipped it over, and waited a bit more until it was cooked all the way through.

The finished product

A close-up of the savory pancake

Finally, we added mayonnaise and brown sauce on top and sprinkled seaweed and fish flakes for the final touch. Sean and I devoured one entire pancake ourselves and have enough to make one more for lunch tomorrow. Making okonomiyaki at home was fun and easy and it inspired us to bring a few mixes back to Holland for others to try as well.

The instructions in Japanese

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Wanderlust

In Mandarin: 旅遊癮 (lǚyóu yǐn)

According to my Mandarin teacher, the term 'wanderlust' can best be translated as 'a travel addiction or craving'. In the above translation, 'yǐn' has several meanings such as 'a strong impulse', 'a longing', or 'a desire'.

U.S. Foreign Service Officer headed to Wuhan, China

Okonomiyaki / Japanese pancakes

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