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.

Wedding number one

Right after I got home Sean and I had to go to Detroit for a wedding in which Sean was one of the groomsmen. The wedding was for one of his high school friends named Tony and his fiance, Kim. It was strange to be in a car and driving on my own again. Though the traffic in Detroit was kind of crazy it was in no way as chaotic and life-threatening as the traffic in China.

We arrived on Friday for the rehearsal dinner where Tony gave all of the groomsmen a personalized wooden sign. After a tasty dinner (steak and shrimp sizzling fajitas- yum!) and much socializing, we all headed over to Tony's for the afterparty. Still suffering from jet lag, I only lasted about five minutes until I fell asleep.

The next day was the wedding and it was probably the fanciest wedding I have ever been to. It was held at a country club and the ceremony was held near the lake outside on the golf course. The setting was beautiful and it was perfect weather. After the wedding all the guests stayed outside for cocktails (open bar from 5-midnight) and hors d'oeuvres. Then we all went inside for an awesome dinner of filet mignon and chicken parmesan. I was impressed. The food was good, the bride was gorgeous, the drinks were top notch, the DJ was fun and nobody had to drive anywhere (the bride and groom had arranged for shuttles in between the hotel and the wedding).

It was cool to see old friends and catch up with acquaintances that we hadn't seen in a year. Questions that I heard over and over were the following:

When are you getting married to Sean?
When's your wedding?
When are you getting engaged?
Are you getting engaged? . . . you get the picture
How was China?
When are you going back to China?
What's next after China?
How much Chinese can you speak?

I'll keep you posted about the answers as soon as I find out for myself =)

Congrats Tony and Kim!

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Sarah Sanderson

2 comments

Erica on July 21, 2010 at 6:43 PM

I still maintain that you eloped months ago... :)
Anonymous on August 13, 2010 at 5:08 AM

Dear Friend,

I loved all postings in your blog

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

Wedding number one

2 comments