Alex Bartlett reports from Guangzhou.

Guangzhou, on the Pearl River Delta, is the hub of (perhaps) the world’s largest urban area, from Macao on the Southwest side of the estuary, to Hong Kong on the Southeast, and encompassing the cities of Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Foshan, Dongguan and Shenzhen. With fascinating history and culture in its own right, Guangzhou benefited from waves of internal migration from other parts of China as well, giving it a wide cross-section of much of Chinese society. The Pearl River Delta is also home to some of the strongest economic ties to the United States anywhere in the world, hosting factories that manufacture products for the US market, and receiving many U.S.
exports.

As a requirement of my position in Guangzhou, the State Department put me through Chinese language training. I can report that learning Chinese was one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences of my life, which made my work as a consular officer possible, and which opened the door to friendships with local Chinese people as well. Alas, I learned Mandarin rather than the local Cantonese, but this was probably the better investment, given the wide usefulness of Mandarin throughout China and East Asia.

My fantastic colleagues in Guangzhou served as my family away from home; I’ve never worked with a more motivated, intelligent, and inspiring group of people. The work itself was fun and varied, but did involve hundreds of hours on the interview line, looking at applicants’ qualifications for U.S. visas. I also served as the Immigrant Visas Fraud Prevention Officer, working to prevent illegal immigration at one of the largest immigrant visa posts in the world.

My degree in foreign affairs is especially appropriate for work in the Department of State, and gave me the theoretical framework for understanding the United States’ place in the world. Gabriel Ondetti’s International Political Economy class and Dennis Hickey’s Cross-Straits Relations class were both particularly applicable. If I had to give advice to students of the program who are interested in the Foreign Service, I’d tell them to pay special attention to the daily requirements of the program: Writing and presenting well, developing good relationships with classmates and professors, and submitting all assignments on time. And the Foreign Service selection process takes a long time, so apply early!

Next stop, Embassy Seoul!