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.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Current time: 1:33 am (I can't sleep)
Number of mosquitoes on the outside of my net while I sit in bed: 9
Number of mosquitoes on the inside of my net: 0 (I hope)
Number of pirated chick flicks watched today: 1 (The Secret Lives of Pippa Lee)
Amount of ethnic food eaten: None (lunch-eggs, dinner-spaghetti)
Number of hours of English taught today: 2
Number of hours spent learning Chinese with tutor: 1
Weather: Sunny, breezy and warm. High about 65
Number of people who asked to take my picture even though they don't know me: 3
Number of pictures that I took today: About 15 during a walking tour of campus (my favorite one was of a container of chicken claws for sale)
Number of pod casts listened to while walking around campus: 4 (Talk of the Nation, Prairie Home Companion, This American Life, Culturetopia)
Amount of time spent working out: 0
Time spent on any of the following - laundry, dishes, school work, cleaning: 0
Money spent today: 0
Food that I wish I could be eating right now: fruit roll-ups and/or fruit snacks
Number of times that I almost got run over by mopeds or motorized bikes because I was listening to pod casts: About 4
Time spent looking in vain for matches to light my candle so I could listen to Norah Jones, write this blog and relax in candlelight in my mosquito net: 3 minutes
Time spent writing this post: 12 minutes

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Sarah Sanderson

2 comments

Chen on October 18, 2009 at 10:59 PM

I like this funny way you write an article. That's interesting for me.
Amy on October 20, 2009 at 3:17 AM

Stumbled across your blog ... your adventures in China sound fabulous. I also really enjoyed your post about the wisdom imparted by your Ecu and Chilean senoras. Wanderlust has bit me (again) too ... Friday is my last day of work ... and then in a couple of weeks, I hit the road and drive south, with the intention of working at Jackson Hole ski area this winter ... from there ... who knows ... = )Amy Schenck

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

Sunday, October 18, 2009

2 comments