Foreign Service Family Vol. 1: Bangkok and Preparation for Finland

Foreign Service Family is the first chapter in the government career of the authors. It begins February, 1955, when they fly to the Far East with their two young boys.

Much of the writing in Foreign Service Family was excerpted from the many letters Rita wrote to her parents, which offer a fresh and descriptive picture of what family life was like for her and Eric in Thailand during the mid-fifties.

Rita was always busy and happy. She taught English at American University Alumni Association, ran her own play school at home, and started and supported a play-reading group. She did all this in addition to entertaining, caring for her childlren, and coping with a new and radically different culture and climate. According to the Foreign Service Inspector who visited our embassy, Rita was ideal for the Service: she was attractive, interested, friendly, and without artificiality.

Eric was assigned to the U.S. Emgassy in Bangkok, where he served first as Vice Consul. He studied the Thai landuage and used it effectively in his work as well as in his ravels in Thailand. During his second year he was rotated to the Economic Section as commercial officer, and later to the Political Section, where he assisted with Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) affairs.

Part two of the book begins after the Youngquist family (now augmented by another baby) returned to the U.S. for home leave after their two-year assignment ended. Eric then began studying Finnish at the Foreign Service Institute in preparation for their assignment to Helsinki