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.

Great Ocean Road

Whenever I talked to Australians who were visiting New Zealand they always recommended seeing two things in their country: the Great Ocean Road and the Great Barrier Reef. Melbourne is a good base from which to see the GOR and since we didn't want the hassle of renting a car we booked a day trip with a small tour company that received a lot of good reviews on Trip Advisor. The company was called "A Tour With a Difference."

What's so great about the Great Ocean Road? It's one of the most beautiful coastal drives in the world and winds around some pretty amazing scenery. The 150 mile road was built as a project by soldiers returning from WWI and is one of the largest war memorials to soldiers in the world. The route also takes you by Australia's famous Twelve Apostles, which are really just huge limestone rock formations just off the coast.

We really enjoyed our tour because it was a small group, we took lots of breaks and we did a few activities other than just snapping pictures of the beach. We were picked up quite early in the morning and then headed straight to Bells beach which was quite dramatic against steep cliffs. We were more interested, however, in the scene opposite the coast: a field of kangaroos grazing and hopping around in the morning mist. I couldn't believe that they were so easily seen from the road!

Our first coffee break was held at Blacks Beach in the city home to the birth of companies like Quicksilver and Rip Curl. We had a 'traditional' Australian morning tea which consisted of "Billy" tea, crackers and Vegemite and lamingtons. Billy tea is tea made in a bucket, Vegemite is a salty yeast spread and lamingtons are chocolate covered jam biscuits covered in coconut. It was only about 10 in the morning and it already felt like a whole day but the best views were yet to come.

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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

Great Ocean Road

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