Embracing International Life and Identity in Cork, Ireland with Heather Thomas

Written By Christine Job

 In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Heather shares her life story of living abroad for over six years in countries like Japan, Australia, and Ireland. Heather also explores themes of identity, wellness, and the difficulties of reintegrating into the U.S. after living abroad.

Meet Heather

Heather is a coach and instructional designer earning a Masters in Applied Psychology in Cork, Ireland. She grew up in Ohio but, as an adult, has treated North Carolina as her home base. She likes "island life" in the unconventional sense, having lived in Japan, Australia, and now Ireland. After teaching for 8 years and working in L&D for 7 years, she is studying positive psychology and coaching psychology, examining the ways that both of these fields can better serve underrepresented populations - particularly women of color. Heather is passionate about evidence-based coaching and how bespoke wellness practices can serve the individual without disconnecting them from community. She is a melomaniac who listens to tens of thousands of hours of music and podcasts a year and goes to metal shows when time allows. Heather's stopover in Ireland will serve as a launchpad for further exploration abroad as she considers her next destination after grad school.

Connect with Heather

What resources (books, blogs, services, apps) did you utilize to help you go abroad & thrive abroad?

When I first went abroad at 20, it was 2005 and I was in rural Ohio. I think the closest I got to a book about being abroad was something by Bill Bryson. I just knew I wanted to go, and talked to a few people who had studied in Japan the previous semester. In 2007 I still didn't have a lot of resources to access and did an obsessive amount of research on how to apply to grad school in Australia, mainly by looking at the student visa requirements and the university websites. I had an Australian partner at the time so I could ask him questions. When I moved from Australia to Japan in 2010, I didn't use the JET program - I was a direct hire - so I would go to whichever forums were up at the time to see how people navigated working in eikaiwa (English conversation schools). Even in 2014, my next launch to Japan did not involve much research about how to go - I knew what I wanted to do and how to do it, and I used the ohayosensei.com job board to find a legit school.

Honestly, this time moving abroad in 2024 was the most apprehension-inducing because there is almost too much information. There are just as many people who will tell you why you shouldn't go somewhere as there are people telling you why you should. So I had plenty of comparison shopping going on and it wasn't healthy. And Reddit forums are incredibly negative, so I learned nothing of value from them. As for blogs or YouTube channels about immigrants living in Ireland, there are very few and many don't stay active. There is nothing for Black people who want to go to Ireland. For me to go abroad, it seems like I just need the facts - visa requirements, cost estimates, accommodation options and the best way to travel and book public transportation.

However, when I felt like the process was taking too long and I was feeling impatient, I did find comfort and comradery in podcasts like Flourish in the Foreign, Blaxit Global, The Move Abroad Coach Podcast , Picky Girl Travels the World, Expat Focus, About Abroad, Traveling with Kristin, Zero to Travel Podcast, Expats Everywhere, She Hit Refresh, Digital Nomad Stories, Abroad in Japan, This Woman Can, Black Girl Burnout, The Maverick Show and While She's Away. There are probably more I'm forgetting but the podcasts really helped me maintain a sense of momentum when I was waiting 5 months to hear the results of my grad school application and waited another 4 months to leave the US.

What is the motto (affirmation, prayer, poem, song lyrics, etc.) that you live by?

This changes frequently because I change frequently. I think the most recent thing that has really captured my heart is a quote from Brave New World that I came across in a journal article written by some international scholars who were being critical of positive psychology and it's not short and sweet but it really spoke to me:

“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”

“In fact,” said Mustapha Mond, “you’re claiming the right to be unhappy.”

“All right then,” said the Savage defiantly, “I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.”

“Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen to-morrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.” There was a long silence.

“I claim them all,” said the Savage at last. (pp. 62-66)

I don't think we can make that into a pretty little soundbite (haha) but basically the human condition is suffering and ecstasy, beauty and ugliness, joy and despair, rupture and repair, and we need to see it all and feel it all and find a way to be ok with it all.

Or I could quote the lovely James Baldwin - “It took many years of vomiting up all the filth I’d been taught about myself, and half-believed, before I was able to walk on the earth as though I had a right to be here.”

This Episode Covers:

  • Life in Japan: First Impressions and Experiences

  • Returning to the U.S. and Transition to Art School

  • Challenges and Decisions: From Chicago to Australia

  • Graduate School in Australia 

  • Navigating Cultural Differences in Australia

  • Moving to Japan: Teaching and Living Experiences

  • Re-Entry Challenges: Returning to the States

  • Living Abroad Again: Japan and Beyond

  • Studying in Ireland: Challenges and Comparisons

  • Redefining Wellness Through Migration

Episode Credits:

Christine Job-Creator & Host

Zachary Higgs-Theme Music

Flourish in the Foreign Resources

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Christine Job
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