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.

Daffodil Day

I've noticed that New Zealand has a lot of theme days and small-scale holidays taken from the U.K. and Canada. Last week was "Red Nose Day" by the Comic Relief foundation to raise money for children in need. We all wore red clown noses at work to promote the event and my Kiwi flatmates watched the nation-wide three hour long program of famous New Zealand comedians with great eagerness and anticipation (The Flight of the Conchords even made a special video exclusively for the cause).

Today in New Zealand we celebrate "Daffodil Day" which is a day to recognize and raise money for cancer support. At work we could send daffodils to one another for a $2 donation, buy pins of tiny daffodils and get our picture taken in a daffodil costume (the latter was actually mandatory). In addition, to raise money for the cause, the Remarkables launched the first ever "Run up the Road" which is a road race for ambitious runners to tackle the 13.5 km steep climb from the base to the top. We had a whopping seven entries for this event but the organizers considered it a success anyways. My job was to stand at the bottom and stop cars to warn them that there were runners on the road. I was pretty excited to wear a fluorescent vest instead of a daffodil costume.

I'm not sure yet what holiday we will be celebrating next week, but I'll keep you posted.

Read More 1 Comment | Posted by Sarah Sanderson

1 Comment

Anonymous on September 1, 2012 at 11:24 PM

I totally would have done that run! How fun would that be!!!

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

Daffodil Day

1 Comment