Grown local, gone global: one north country girl's adventures abroad

Editor's note: This is the introductory column in a biweekly series by north country native Ashley M. Fitzgerald.

Growing up in the north country you may take for granted the many things that make it special — the kind people, diverse natural landscapes, a real sense of community. Although my studies and interests have led me around the world, I have always carried a piece of the north country with me. Now I would like to bring a piece of the world home to the north country.

From my first day of kindergarten at Harrisville Central School, my parents told me if I worked hard and got good grades, I could do anything I wanted. In high school, my history teacher told the class that our generation would be a "global generation" and our jobs would take us all over the world.

I wanted to believe him and I wanted to believe my parents. But I knew the reality was that I could not afford college, let alone international travel.

Yet here I sit in my seaside bungalow overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, an ordinary small-town girl experiencing an extraordinary life in one of the most beautiful, exotic, and culturally rich places on earth.

As I watch the amber sun set on the horizon, I think back on my journey, from Harrisville to here, the people who have encouraged me along the way, the hard work and scholarships that made an international education possible, adventures past and those that lie ahead.

I think back on my undergraduate years and the many people who doubted me, even laughed at me for choosing an international studies major. "What are you ever going to do with that?!" they would ask, with a raised eyebrow and a strange look.

I can tell you exactly what I have done and am doing with that.

I have lived, traveled, studied, taught and experienced life in some of the most wonderful places on the planet. I have learned local languages and experienced local culture. I have shared my own culture. I have felt the fear, known the joy, and discovered the rewards of cross-cultural exchange and a hands-on international education.

From leading Japanese-English tours in Hawaii to studying as an international student in Japan, from teaching in a Buddhist monastery to modeling in a big city, from playing soccer with local children in the dried-up Mekong River to now setting up an island school in the Gulf of Thailand, I have had the pleasure of meeting countless amazingly diverse people, I have faced unexpected challenges and I have been blessed with opportunities I could have never imagined.

Now, as a program coordinator and soon-to-be course director for an organization called Thailand TEFL, I am using my experiences to help others discover their own international opportunities.

Maybe you're a student interested in international studies and travel but afraid of dreaming too big. Or maybe you're a parent concerned about sending your child abroad. Perhaps you are a north country resident who would like to learn a bit about another culture through the eyes of a north country native. Or maybe you're just plain curious.

Whoever you are, whatever your interests, I want to share with you my experiences as I make my home in a place where I will always be foreign. I hope to bring you some cultural insight, fun facts, good stories and lots of laughs. And I want you to feel free to ask questions and share your own thoughts with me along the way.

To our adventures,

Ashley M. Fitzgerald

Ashley M. Fitzgerald, daughter and stepdaughter of James J. Fitzgerald and Eileen D. Fitzgerald, and of Donna J. Langs and Joseph C. Langs, was born and raised in Lewis County.

Following her graduation as salutatorian of Harrisville Central School’s class of 2000, Ashley attended Middlebury (Vt.) College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Japanese studies. She went on to study at the University of Hawaii at Manoa on the island of Oahu, and Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan.

She has since worked as an English communications teacher and print model in Japan, as an international programs assistant and ESL (English as a Second Language) instructor in Honolulu, and as an English teacher, model, actress and program coordinator throughout Thailand. She is living on Koh Phangan in southern Thailand, working to set up a school for others interested in becoming certified TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teachers.

You may send your questions and comments to her at afitzgerald@wdt.net.