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.

Coromandel Peninsula

Bring your shovel!

Hot water beach - you have to walk past those rocks in the water

By far the best beaches and scenery we have seen on this trip have been in the Coromandel Peninsula. We had planned two days and one night in the peninsula and we wished we had had more time. The coastlines were rugged and remote and the small beach towns were friendly and picturesque.

We spent the first day exploring Whitianga which had attractions like Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach to be explored.

I've never seen a beach like Hot Water Beach before. For two hours before and after low tide, you can walk past a rocky point in the beach and find hot water bubbling up in the sand. People bring their own or rent shovels and spades to dig their own personal spa pool.

Cathedral Cove

Cathedral Cove is exactly like what it sounds - a big limestone rock formation in the shape of an arch. The hike to the cove was beautiful in itself offering views of the rocky cliffs along the ocean and lots of islands scattered about on the horizon.

We barely made it to Coromandel Town before dark to find a camp site and cook dinner with plans to reach the far north of the peninsula the next day. Feeling sandy from the beaches and pink from the sun we were quite happy to have more of the same tomorrow.

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

Coromandel Peninsula

0 comments