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.

Weekend in Suzhou - Friday

This past weekend a student of mine, Andy, invited Sean and I to visit his hometown of Suzhou. Suzhou is also located in Jiangsu province and is about an hour south of Changzhou. When I asked Andy what he thought the main differences between our city and Suzhou were he said that Suzhou was richer, bigger and more beautiful than Changzhou.

Andy is a great student and has a very high level of English - he is also a blast to hang out with. Not only is he a lot of fun but he is also training to be a guide for English-speaking tourists at some of the main attractions in Suzhou so we got individualized (and well-practiced) tours everywhere we went. He also took us to all his favorite places to eat that were off the main tourist track. Although the weather was kind of cold and gray and we didn't get to see the gardens in bloom it was a really cool trip.

A lot of my students have raved about how beautiful and great Suzhou is so I have wanted to visit it for awhile. The city's nickname is called the "Venice of the East" because of its many canals and it is also famous for its elaborate gardens. Some of the gardens are over a thousand years old and are supposed to use the combination of rocks, water, trees and buildings to reflect the Chinese appreciation of balance and harmony.

Friday we left school at around 3:00 and took a bus to Suzhou where we met Andy's dad. Then Andy took us to explore the downtown and we had dumplings for dinner. We walked around in the modern downtown as well in some of the older and more traditional (and now touristy) streets. I loved the atmosphere in these streets - the red lanterns, the cobbled streets, and the canals were fantastic! We walked around, took in the sights and browsed around shops filled with art, carvings, silk products and souvenirs and tried some desserts (Suzhou is also famous for sweet foods and cakes - an excellent perk for me).

We finished the night with a visit to some of Suzhou's bakeries to buy some pastries and doughnuts for breakfast the next morning. Andy informed us of the following day's plan and we thanked him again for hosting us. He replied with "it's my honor".

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Sarah Sanderson

2 comments

Chen on December 15, 2009 at 11:35 PM

Da Niang Dumpling is a local brand of Changzhou. But it tastes not as good as before.I haven't been to Suzhou Amusement Land yet.
Omar Rolas on January 13, 2010 at 7:42 PM

Nice pics.....!
I hope you guys are having a blast in China.
Tell Sean I said Hi.

Omar Roa

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

Weekend in Suzhou - Friday

2 comments