Meet Programme Officer – International, Sarah. Half Japanese and half British, Sarah studied French and international relations, and also spent a year abroad on the beautiful island of Martinique.
Name: Sarah Bunting
Countries: North, Central and South America (except Brazil), British Overseas Territories
From: Kent, South East England
Joined the team: October 2016
Previous Chevening experience: I joined Chevening as an International Assistant in the International team, supporting ILOs with their portfolio work and helping out in the wider team where necessary.
What other international experience do you have?
I’m half Japanese, half British, and am lucky enough to have been raised bicultural and bilingual, which meant many sweltering summers of my childhood were spent in my second home city of Tokyo. I studied French and International Relations for my undergraduate degree, and jumped at the opportunity to spend a year abroad on the beautiful island of Martinique in the Caribbean. My language skills have enabled me to work as an interpreter and translator for the Imperial House of the Crown Prince of Japan.
What is your favourite food that you have consumed on a visit to a foreign country?
As a food lover, this is extremely difficult to narrow down—Georgian khachapuri (a gooey cheesy bread), omul fish on the island of Olkhon in Lake Baikal, grilled lobster after a gruelling day hike to Boiling Lake on Dominica…the list goes on and on!
What are your interests?
As expected, I’m an avid traveller and believe languages are an essential tool for cultural immersion in any country. To supplement my work in the LATAM region (or at least attempt to), I have been learning Spanish, and am currently struggling to salsa cubana with my two left feet.
What is your favourite place in the UK and why?
Glasgow and Loch Lomond in Scotland – a cultural, historical city centre in touching distance to stunning natural scenery, and the seafood is some of the best in the country!
Are you looking forward to visiting your posts?
Of course! For marketing, I visited El Salvador (where I enjoyed one too many pupusas) and Chile more recently. I hope to be able to visit as many posts in the region as I can.
Do you have any standout memories or anecdotes from your travels?
Having dinner in the Gobi desert in Mongolia, lit entirely by the bright luminous light of a full moon. Amusingly the camels resting nearby started grunting in unison, like a pack of wolves howling and lamenting at the lunar show.
Which countries would you like to visit that aren’t in your portfolio?
Angola, Iran, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe…I think I can safely say there isn’t anywhere I wouldn’t like to visit.
The Americas Directorate has recently been very busy hosting a series of roundtable discussions for various Latin American scholar groups. I have been lucky enough to attend a few of these, including one for Argentinian scholars, another for Central American and Cuban scholars, and another for a large group of Brazilian scholars. The discussions largely focused on […]
Two Chevening officer regional conferences have recently taken place around the globe: the first in South-East Asia and the second in Sub-Saharan Africa. These are the third and fourth regional conferences that have taken place since the initiative was first launched in 2015. Both conferences were organised and attended by members of the International team […]
In August, I travelled to Nigeria and Ghana to support posts’ marketing campaigns. Read about my experience travelling around these countries and answering questions from potential Chevening Scholars. Nigeria My first stop was Abuja, where the timing of my visit enabled me to attend and present at the second of the Nigerian pre-departure events. Later […]