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.

Melbourne

Bye New Zealand - see you in two weeks!

While we were on the other side of the world in New Zealand, we wanted a chance to visit Australia as well (a country that really deserves a year of exploration all on its own). We only had the time and the funds to be able to go for about two weeks and divided up our time in "Oz" between Melbourne, Sydney and Cairns (where the Great Barrier Reef is located).

After our drive back down the South Island, we spent one night at our old flat with Kathryn and Andrew and left right away again in the morning bound for Melbourne, Australia. Due to the nature of cheap flights, we arrived in the middle of the night and were deposited directly in the center of the city by the airport bus. To save money, we only took small carry-on backpacks for our whole trip and from the center of the city we started the long walk to our hostel as all buses and trams were out of service.

The main, central plaza in the city

Oddly, there were a lot of people out and about. To make matters even more strange, most were in bizarre costumes and masks. I was already a little spooked being in a new city in the middle of the night with all of my possessions on my back so when someone lunged and roared at me in a gorilla costume I literally almost jumped out of my skin. What kind of crazy freaks live in Melbourne? we wondered aloud to each other. And that's when we realized that we had arrived in the middle of Halloween.

Melbourne was full of tiny alleys or "laneways" that were full of shops and cafes

Melbourne turned out to be our favorite city that we visited in Australia. It's is a trendy city big into coffee, art, alleyways, old-fashioned trams and fashion. There were hipsters on every corner and fashionistas strutting on all the sidewalks right behind them. We had a couple of activities planned: a day trip on the Great Ocean Road and a day trip to Phillip's Island but overall I think our favorite thing to do was just walk around the city and check out the architecture, get lost in the alleys and drool over all the little artsy and creative shops. Even after one day, I could definitely see why Melbourne is labeled one of the most liveable cities in the world.

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

Melbourne

0 comments