Peace Corps Archives - Study Abroad Smarter

¢.18 Beers and $10 Sushi With Brandon Losh & Johnny Felsenthal

Posted on by Chris Carlton

Brandon Losh and Johnny Felsenthal did Semester at Sea and Berlin about as good as you can do it. They’re great friends who studied abroad in different locations at the same time and actually missed visiting each other by a two weeks.

One of the ongoing themes throughout The Study Abroadcast is that they system just worked;

it does work, why else do you think I’m doing the podcast…

Anyways, that could be more evident with this episode.

Detailed recollections ✅

Close encounters ✅

Late nights ✅

All in ~~a days work~~ a semester’s trip.

They’re pretty funny, too. And it sounds more like you’re shooting the shit with them in their apartment than it does podcast interview.

So listen ⤴️, interviews like these are hard to beat.

“When music hits you feel no pain” – Bob Marley

SHOW NOTES

Making the decision to study abroad 🤔 [2:14]
Johnny lived in Germany, and Brandon did a Semester at Sea Johnny 🇩🇪 [2:14] Brandon 🚢[2:46]
The art of finding a comparative vs selective study abroad experience ⚓️ [3:10]
Based in Berlin, but European bound 🇪🇺 [3:53]
Location selection and history led faculty trips 🏰 [4:46]
Getting money to study abroad 💸 [5:54]
Life at sea 🎓[6:24]
Holding it down in Berlin 🏘 [9:30]
Bonin West Africa for the Peace Corps 🇧🇯 [12:06]
Stops from the ship ⛴ [12:35]
Johnny turned loose in Europe 🇪🇺 [13:21]
The booze bus to Amsterdam 🚍🍻[13:58]
Getting mugged in the rape capital of the world 🇿🇦 [15:23]
On to the food (and drinks)… 🍱 [17:36]
Plans after graduation 🎓 [21:40]
No love for Trump in Germany 🇩🇪 [22:55]
Why Brandon decided to go to Drake 🎵 [25:31]
Justifying the $200,000+ education @ Drake 💰 [26:09]
Media recommendations 🙌[27:44]
- Joe Rogan Podcast 🎙
- Planet Money 🎙
- The Indicator 🎙
- Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury 📚
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera 📚
Advice for others thinking about studying abroad (x4) 🧐 [28:40]

Two Years of Service, A Lifetime of Fulfillment [Infographic]

Brandon Losh and Johnny Felsenthal — Glacier National Park in Montana

Studying abroad — Looking for someone to add the finishing touches to my doodles. Experience with crayons preferred, but not required.

Why Study Away Scholarships Are A Very Real Opportunity with Callie Ronstrom

Posted on by Chris Carlton

“Through our foundation we have a handful of differnet scholarships that are specifically for study abroad” — Callie Ronstrom

Coming to you from the northern most college in Wisconsin is Callie Ronstrom, the Study Away Coordinator at UW – Superior. At the beginning of the interview Callie talks about the driving force behind her first study abroad experience, which happened to be the reason I studied abroad as well. She also does a great job of explaining the plethora study away scholarships that are available to students not just nationally, but at each individual college as well.

SHOW NOTES

The reason Callie took her first study abroad trip [1:40]
What makes UW — Superior unique [3:10]
Reciprocity between Minnesota and Wisconsin [5:00]
Callie gets into the scholarships and grants set aside specifically for study abroad students [5:55]
Callie’s rat story from Guatemala [8:15]
Zesty Guatamalian tortillas [12:23]
Who Callie who have dinner with [13:20]
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris [13:50]
Callie’s travel quote recommendation [15:00]

Guatemalan Tortillas Video

4 Take Aways From Callie’s Interview [Infographic]

Why St. Norbert Tells Its Students to Get Involved With Int’l Education Early as Possible With Jeremy Doughty

Posted on by Chris Carlton

“I try to make my advisees understand that my study abroad experiences, work experiences, and personal travel experiences have altered the trajectory of my life” — Jeremy Doughty 🦘

Jeremy Doughty, who is the director of study abroad and off campus programs at St. Norbert College is quite well versed when it comes to international education. In high school, he went to Germany. In college, he went again. He’s served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine, planned summer study abroad programs in South Africa, and conducted research on effects of international service-learning programs on the community.

In this robust international education interview we hear Jeremy’s narrative on all of the above, plus get into what makes St. Norbert College’s study abroad program unique and why they consistently rank above the national average when it comes to the amount of students studying abroad and the length for which they go.

I apologize, but for some reason my end of the conversation was a little muffled this time around.

Jeremy’s book recommendations:

Educated by Tara Westover — “something that speaks to the power of education and grit”
Grit by Angela Duckworth

Apps:

Duolingo – Jeremy’s language learning app of choice
Google Translate
Uber
Google Trips – Plan daily trips with with the swipe of the magic wand
Home Away – room rental while traveling abroad

SHOW NOTES

Starting with Germany in high school 🇩🇪 [2:50]
Not knowing what to do after graduation 🎓 [5:11]
Spending time in The Peace Corps ✌️ [5:38]
The School For International Training 🏫 [6:27]
International education and graduate school 👨‍🏫 [6:53]
Advice for students thinking about studying abroad 🙌[9:20]
How studying abroad altered the trajectory of Jeremy’s life 🙋‍♂️ [9:45]
St. Norbert’s approach to international education 🗺 [10:00]
Student advice: start as early as possible [🏁11:30]
Comparing St. Norbert to national trends 👏 [12:40]
Why more students are studying abroad during the summer 🍉 [13:30]
A picnic with vodka in Ukraine 🧺 [15:25]
Having misconceptions about the world 🌍 [18:20]
Jeremy teaches us about Ukrainian food 🍲 [20:10]
A South African dish you’ve probably never heard of 🥘 [22:01]
Jeremy’s book recommendation(s) 📚[25:02]

A Closer Look at Jeremy Doughty [Infographic]

Study Abroad Guide Recommendation, Going During Winter Break, and Faculty Led Programming at UW-Eau Claire

Posted on by Chris Carlton

“At the very least, visit your study abroad office and ask a question or two” — Colleen Marchwick

Colleen Marchwick is the Director of the Center for International Education at UW-Eau Claire and teaches a great deal about the process of studying abroad in today’s interview.

Before serving in The Peace Corps for two years and obtaining her Master’s degree at Ohio University, Maureen received her undergraduate degree at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. She tells us about a study abroad guide that gets into the nitty gritty of what it means to potential employers, sheds some light on what faculty programming actually is, and we learn that it is possible to study abroad during your winter break.

Although Colleen gives us a recommendation on a study abroad guide to read, you may as well listen to the interview in its entirety as Colleen served as your own personal digital study abroad guide for about half an hour.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” — Lau Tzu

SHOW NOTES

Foreign language in college and spending a year in France 🇫🇷 [3:10]
Serving in the Peace Corps for two years ✌️[4:00]
What it was like living in Morocco 🇲🇦 [5:42]
What happens to study abroad students 👨‍🎓[7:44]
AIFS article recommendation 📰 [9:05]
The multitude of study abroad options at UW-Eau Claire 🗺[9:45]
Standards of Good Practice recognition 👏 [11:27]
Studying abroad during winter break 🏂[13:30]
Faculty led programming 👩‍🏫 [14:44]
Colleen’s advice if you’re on the bubble about studying abroad 🙌 [15:46]
Why now is the time to travel ✈️ [19:00]
Traveling alone and meeting people from all walks of life 👩‍🎨 [20:28]
Colleen’s worldly food recommendations 🍤[22:25]
- The End of Elsewhere by Taras Grescoe. Colleen gives a great review and recommendation of the book which towards the end of the interview.

**This AND That UW – Eau Claire [Infographic]**

Chicken Tagine Video

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]