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.

Things that are popular with the students at JSTUT (as far as I can tell)

1. The new library
2. Ugg boots (especially with tights under skirts or shorts)
3. Bicycles
4. QQ (Chinese chat program based on the original IQC program)
5. Long underwear
6. Cell phones
7. Playing music out loud on cell phones
8. Kobe Bryant
9. "Titanic" (the movie)
10. Gossip Girl, Sex and the City, Friends, Prison Break
11. Going out for hotpot with friends
12. Playing computer games
13. Basketball, ping pong and badminton
14. Anything cute (MeToo bears, Hello Kitty, Teenie Weenie bear etc.)
15. Lensless glasses
16. Avril Lavigne, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion and Lady Gaga
17. Dumpling soup (it's cheap, hot and delicious)
18. 2012 (the movie)
19. Puma, Kappa, Nike, Adidas (or any copy/off-brand of those like Pmua and Poma... really)
20. Street food (kebabs, dumplings, sandwiches etc. from vendors outside campus)
21. Shopping on South Street (the main street in the down town)
22. Drinking hot water and tea
23. Riding two people to a bike (person sits above the back tire)
24. Pencil holders and cell phone holders (the cuter, the better)
25. Putting stickers on your ID/meal cards (yes, even the guys too)
26. Arm/sleeve guards
27. The NBA
28. Eating sunflower seeds (you have to crack open the shells first, and they are flavored sweet, not salty)
29. Singing and going to karaoke/KTV
30. Walking hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm (girls with girls as friends)
31. Colored contacts
32. Jeans that are purposely wrinkled and faded in odd places
33. Hot water bottles
34. Making a peace sign in pictures
35. Getting a part-time job

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Sarah Sanderson

0 comments

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

Things that are popular with the students at JSTUT (as far as I can tell)

0 comments