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.

Expat's Eye Surprise

A few days ago I was flipping through a magazine while waiting in line to make copies and saw a story that looked familiar. Really familiar. Too familiar. I glanced at the author's name and was surprised to see my name listed under the title. Then I remembered that a long time ago I had sent in a story from my blog to the "Expat's Eye" column in the Beijing Review. I wrote about making dumplings with Chinese students but never really thought they would actually print it - I think that since the magazine runs every week they must be in desperate need of foreigners' submissions. Sadly, the picture that they included is one of complete strangers.

The magazine, however, had neglected to inform me that they used my article so I was completely surprised when I saw it in print. I would never had known about it had I not been randomly flipping through an older volume of the magazine that day. After I emailed them about it to ask what was up, they apologized saying they must have forgotten and then said that they would reimburse me $80 since the article was published. I felt like it was my lucky day and the extra money is going straight into saving for the NOLS trip - every little bit helps! Now if I can just convince Sean to write one too . . .

Read More 1 Comment | Posted by Sarah Sanderson

1 Comment

Kate on April 1, 2011 at 2:43 PM

That's exciting, congratulations! (and good catch, that does sound a bit slimy on their part)

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

Expat's Eye Surprise

1 Comment