The Foreign Service Journal, April 2012

O ver the course of some three decades as a Foreign Service spouse, I held a variety of jobs overseas. But the one I thought Foreign Service Journal readers might find most noteworthy came relatively early in my career. First, though, a little background. Shortly after I met and wed my hus- band in 1969, we were transferred from Mazatlán to San José. There I stumbled into a position teaching third-graders at an American school. I taught for one semester until our son was born, followed by a daughter a year later. Six weeks after she was born, we were assigned to Buenos Aires. The quality of life there was pretty high, but the security situation was difficult for the expatriate community. And in any case, with two infants at home working was not an option for me. By the time we arrived in Taipei, in 1975, I was eager to go back to work during the day while the kids (now 4 and 5) were in school. I focused on jobs at private companies because of a frustrating experience working at a United Nations agency before my mar- riage. One day, while reading the local English-language newspaper, I noticed a large ad Northwest Orient Airlines had placed. They were looking for an English-speaking sales representative for the large expatriate community, in- cluding the huge contingent of U.S. military personnel, based there. (This was before United States recognition of the People’s Republic of China in late 1978 changed the bilateral rela- tionship.) Having worked for Scandinavian Airlines System for several years, and later for Civil Air Transport of Taiwan inManila, I felt this was a job just wait- ing for me! And just a few weeks after applying, I was hired. I still have my business card: Lisa Wilkinson International Sales Representative Northwest Orient Airlines Taipei, Taiwan The scope of my responsibilities was limited to American and European businesses based in Taiwan, as well as the U.S. embassy and military contin- gent. In other words, I dealt only with contacts who did not need a visa to travel to the States. That was impor- tant, because it ruled out any potential for a conflict of interest with my hus- band’s work in the consular section. Apparently I was the first spouse to work outside Embassy Taipei. I found out later that the embassy had done its own sleuthing soon after I was em- ployed, and confirmed my under- standing that there was no conflict of interest. Nor was I breaking the local law, because I was paying income taxes to the Republic of China. Even so, upon my husband’s trans- fer to another diplomatic post in 1978, the ROC informed me that it would refund all the money the airline had withheld from my salary for taxes dur- ing my years with NWA. However, I declined reimbursement, for I felt it was only proper that the money remain with the host government. During my three years with the air- line, I met many local, American and international contacts and officials. They were often surprised to see my husband and me together at functions, for they had no idea we were con- nected! It was a relief to feel so independ- ent and not be referred to as “the spouse of” or be identified on embassy documents as a “dependent wife,” which is how the embassy classified fe- male spouses then. As I mentioned, I would have many other jobs over the following decades. But I still think back very fondly on my time as an independent woman in Taipei, a place where I also found long- lasting friendships. Lisa Wilkinson, a Foreign Service spouse since 1969, has lived in Mazat- lán, San José, Buenos Aires, Taipei, Guayaquil, Manila, Seoul, Bangkok, Bonn, Guadalajara and New York City. Now inWashington, D.C., she is the second vice president of AAFSW. R EFLECTIONS An Independent Woman in Taipei B Y L ISA W ILKINSON It was a relief to feel so independent and not be referred to as “the spouse of.” 74 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 1 2