Being 'the wife of a visiting scholar'.

On my first visit to 'The Centre' at the YWCA I was handed a registration card to fill in. Immediately following the space for 'name' was the space for 'husband' and the next for 'his Department'. It seems my claim to fame here is that my husband is a visiting scholar in the Astronomy Department at the University of California, Berkeley. During the next hour I met a dozen or so other women from countries as diverse as South Korea and Sweden and invariably when I asked what had brought them to Berkeley, the answer was 'my husband'. Yes - we are the wives of international visiting scholars.

Actually, as an identity, it is a useful one. It qualifies us to meet once a week for 2 hours at the YWCA, where American volunteers (all 'Faculty wives') organise a program and put on morning tea. This morning's program was about the Californian Gold Rush and we had a display and a talk by a 5th generation Californian woman (yes, she was also a Faculty wife). One morning I, along with another 'wife' talked about our countries of origin. Both of us were from the Commonwealth (she was from Canada) so that was our linking theme. I made vegemite sandwiches and Anzac cookies and taught everyone 'Walzing Matilda'. The dish from Canada was waffles with maple syrup. Another morning our theme was Chinese new Year and we ate dumplings, while to celebrate St Valentine's Day we ate wedding cake. I always look forward to Thursday mornings!

Thanks to my new identity I, along with some other 'wives' received an invitation from the wife of the Chancellor of the University to coffee and pastries in her home. The invitation instructed me to dress professionally and the reminder email requested that I be on time. The venue was University House, on the Campus grounds. The interior reminded me of an English stately home, except that the original paintings on the wall were mostly by Americans. Two waitresses ('servers') were standing by next to a sumptuous spread, in case we required help. During the morning, the wife of the Chancellor asked us to go around the circle, introducing ourselves and the reason we are in Berkeley. One French woman made a point of first describing her own career (which has been put on hold, of course, like the careers of the rest of us), before describing her husband's. Radical!