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.

Cross country skiing

This weekend my parents and I really made an effort to get out and enjoy the snow as there are warm temperatures and rain predicted soon. On Friday night, Mom and I went snowshoeing on torchlit trails at the DeGraaf Nature Center. We used old wooden snowshoes which were handmade and felt quite different from the ones that I used with Linde in Colorado. The night was quiet, not too cold and beautiful especially with the torches every few yards. It cost us $3 to rent the snowshoes and use the trails and there was coffee and hot chocolate afterward as well. The next time they are going to do it is February 15 if you are interested. Not a bad idea for a romantic Valentine's date!

Today we went cross country skiing at Pigeon Creek Park. Although I had run there quite a bit with the Hope cross country team, I had never been there in the snow and was very impressed. There are miles and miles of trails which are well-labeled with their name, direction and level of difficulty and there are groomed tracks for skiers and a larger area on the trail for ski-skaters. In addition, there is a lodge where you can rent equipment and a sledding hill nearby.

I love cross country skiing; it's peaceful, inexpensive and great exercise. It felt so good to just cruise around in the woods all covered in fresh snow. Once you get the hang of it, the movement of cross country skiing is fast, smooth and efficient - it's definitely a lot less painful than running can be at times. I would really like to go out again before heading to Brazil and it would be fun to take advantage of their lighted trails at night. Here's hoping that the rain and warmer temperatures stay away a little bit longer.

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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

Cross country skiing

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