A Broad Side - What to sneak out/or not

You've just spent time abroad and now it is time to leave. You loaded your suitcase and found that you filled it without fitting everything you have into it. How are you supposed to return home without everything? Well I'm here to tell you how… okay I lied you can't bring everything back. But you can bring the things that matter. What matters? What should you leave?

Also this isn't a list of things to bring/not bring back. Just giving you an idea of how to decide which things you should/should not bring back.

Before you freak-out you need to decide what things are important. I really struggled with this myself. I ended up deciding that I had clothes back home that I could wear and actually left most the ones if had with me in Japan. Not everything I brought back with me was probably the best, but there were many things I had already invested in and so in order to bring the things I felt were important at that point I had to make sacrifices.

For instance, while in Japan I joined the tea ceremony club (sadou 茶道) I began collecting many of the items to perform the ceremony; bowls, water pots, ladles, stands, fans, etc. I had actually collected a lot of items for it. These were culturally important, I even had special ones with history and were in many ways irreplaceable. Because of the time and investment I put into them as well as their cultural importance they were something I decided to bring back with me. Now conversely there were so many things as similar to this that I had to sacrifice an entire suitcase for this stuff. That is a large commitment because typically all you can have are two suitcases unless you pay more. So if you make a decision like that make sure you really feel it is worth it.

Something I did, that I would tell you not to do is bring a bunch of books back home with you. It was too tempting and I couldn’t help myself, but most of the books I could buy back here. Now if you find things that have a major price difference and you feel it would be better to buy it wherever you go then by all means get it there, but if not try not to go crazy. On the flip side I did but some things in Japan that were way cheaper there. Several games including newer Pokémon games for less than five dollars. Big, big price difference. So well worth their weight.

So a difficult thing to tackle is souvenirs because some people have more of a tradition surrounding it. But I can at least make this short. If it is normal for you to get them, then try to keep them small and light. I know that is hard, but if you don’t then you will run out of space and weight quickly. If you do not normally get them though, just don’t bother because you will most likely find yourself fighting for that space and weight later.

School work should probably stay there. If you have school books that you will actually reference later then bring it, but your work and other things are not really important. You should bring syllabi back because most schools need them, and you never know if you will have to reference them later. Although if you can get your syllabi digitally that would be better. Most of your other school papers though will be unneeded, so choose carefully what you bring with you.

I don’t have much more advise on what to bring or not bring back, but I do suggest you think carefully about what to bring back with you. If you have any questions or want to know what I think you should or should not bring leave me a message. And if you liked this please subscribe.

A Broad Side - What not to sneak in

I'm going to be away in another country for months if not a year. I have to bring it, I need to bring it. I'll die without it. Well it turns out that isn't true, and over preparing can become dangerous if done wrong. So here comes my list of things not to bring to another country. Please note that in extreme situations some of these may not apply, but these are just general so they should hit larger groups of people.

Let's just get this one out of the way now. Your cell phone! Okay maybe just that sim card. Few of you that can afford those roaming charges anyways. There are some services out there that let you travel and have "cheaper" phone calls but most of them are still pricey. I recommend picking up a sim card in the country you go to if you need to have one. They will be cheaper, but it is likely that calls home will still be costly so when you call home use a free service like google voice and call from your computer.

Next is going to be books. Just about any kind of book unless there is a special one that has everything you need in one, but then I still recommend you take it as carry-on. They take up a lot of space and weight, and odds are there are books like that there, or you can buy them there. Still wanting that guidebook? There is definitely one there and a million more people that will give you word of mouth information on the best places to go. Really wanting to hold onto that awesome Japanese book that you learned from to learn the Japanese you know now? (oh this one was hard for me… I brought it anyways… never used it.) Don't!

Our third member on this list is in that category where certain situations may deem it okay. Beauty products can for the most part be left behind. The time I would say are exceptions would be when you do something specific that you "cannot" find in the country you go to. For example if you use very elusive natural products on your hair that are already hard to find back home. Everyone else though, just buy it in country. I don’t want you to think "oh I can't leave home without my V05 because trust me they have something just as good if not the same product.

Since the women feel picked on now let's get the men. Grooming products are not needed either. Leave the shaver and pick one up there. Same with the cream, they already have it. If you want to sneak in your favorite deodorant because it may be a few days before you can order one though feel free, because OMG I cannot stand your funk. Still do not bring tons. And if you really care you should know that yes contraceptive can be bought in other countries. Do not ask me why I know.

The kitchen sink. Okay I know that is vague but you know what I mean. DVD players, hot plates, hair dryers, game consoles and coffee makers. If you are worried, I have already made a list on how to deal with not having some of these things like DVD players and game consoles. Check it out here http://stirfriedtango.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-broad-side-what-to-sneak-in.html As far as the other things, they can be bought online. Just know that I did bring my own game console and although packed really well, the TSA broke two of my controllers and the front of my console. Now I thought I would be using it a lot, but as it turns out TVs are expensive and the only way I had to play it was to hook it up to my computer. In the end I found that I played way more games on my computer. I would advise against bringing all of the extra gadgets.

Paper, and lots of documents are something else to try not to bring. Yes there will be a few things that you need to have but for the most part you shouldn’t bring these. Digitally copy them and bring the scanned copies. They will be lighter and less bulky. I would also try not to bring things like notebooks and just anything papery in general. Sure if you do better by taking notes on paper then do so, but you will only need something small to survive the flight until you get the chance to buy something to write in there.

Last on this list is jewelry. This sounds like a no brainer, but even I caught myself doing this. "oh I may want this awesome necklace. And my funny face glasses" okay you don’t have funny face glasses, but someone does so it could happen. I brought a bunch of things with me that I thought I would need but in the end I rarely used, if at all. And then of course I wanted to bring all of it back with me. I went to Japan with 2 suitcases and came back with 3.5 so just know that there will be other things you will want on the way.

Heh, I said that was last, but I still have another comment to make. If you love it you probably shouldn't bring it. If it is your favorite it might get left behind when you are trying to decide what needs to come back with you. So just plan to lose all of your clothes, and not care about most of the things you brought with you when you have to pick between

So guys I know this wasn’t a long list but I figured I could leave off the stuff I felt was obvious not to bring. Was there anything you thought I should tell people not to bring? Are there things you want to bring but are unsure if you should, or not? If so leave a comment down below. Don’t forget to like and subscribe. And good luck on your journey abroad.

A Broad Side - What to Sneak In

Okay please do not read the title and believe that I want you to sneak drugs in. Remember that you represent your home institution and doing something like that can get that school or even country banned from going to the location you are at. DO NOT SNEAK DRUGS IN.

Also you aren't really sneaking anything, it's just fun to call it that.

Disclaimer [check]

What to sneak in! After you have scoped out the country you plan to infiltrate there are some key essentials you will want to bring in with you so your mission can have the highest success rate.

As always communication with the home base is the utmost essential thing you need and what better way to accomplish that than your super high-tech spy computer. Able to make phone calls to home through google voice and utilize the all-powerful internet to find out any information you could possibly need. With this piece of tech you will never be bored as there are infinite possibilities on the web, just ask your local hacker.

Something important to keep in mind is that the target country may nor use the same technology as us so you will also need to make sure your tech is compatible with theirs. How terrible would it be if you get there and find out that your spy computer cannot get plugged into their outlet? Even countries that are "compatible" still share many differences. Japan, although compatible with the U.S. actually forsakes that silly ground hole and thinker/wide end on the plug. Make sure the adapter you bring allows you to adapt to even the harshest of conditions.

While on the subject of your spy computer's compatibility, you may want to consider picking up a VPN or proxy so you can enjoy the internet of your home country. There are a few companies that sadly do not allow you to use proxies, but as you are a super-secret spy you shouldn't be spending your time on Netflix anyways. (they work locally in most countries anyways.) there are both paid and free proxy services, while free ones are not always very reliable there paid ones are not typically very expensive. Also if you are an aspiring hacker needing to hide your location Tor may be how you want to browse.

Enough with the tech, now to consider your wardrobe. In order to help you blend in I recommend bringing several shirts that allow you to look different quite often, even though you have very few with you. Pants do not matter as much but you should bring enough that you can rotate your clothes out, or you will wear them out. A smaller wardrobe means that you wear the same things more often and actually wear the clothes out faster. A good spy can set up their wardrobe in a way the makes it seem like they have tons of clothes or at least hides that they are wearing the same things over and over, while only having a limited amount of options. Remember it doesn’t take very many clothes to fill up your suitcase and if you do where will you put your high tech gear?

Another important thing is to know how to properly stave off the locals. Sometimes it can be with your awesome looks, but some situations call for more crafty tricks. A good way is to shower them with cheap gifts such as postcards from where you came from. With this light weight and clever distraction you can show pictures from home and give presents they will enjoy all while saving luggage space and money.

Another powerful tool you need is your spy watch, able to track time at home and in the target country. Remember it never hurts to be informed, and when you need to make those phone calls back to home base you would best not wake them up at odd hours. HQ gets really grumpy when you do that. This is lightweight and able to travel in carry-on. Small, simple, but the enemy won't ever know its true purpose.

Worried that you may not have the entertainment you need? The internet just isn't good enough? Well there is a solution for that. Obviously you can rip CDs to your computer, but with software such as DVD Decrypter you can bring copies of your DVDs too. PSP Video 9 can then convert them to mp4s for saving even more space. Also services such as Steam allow you to download lots of games onto your hard drive and play them offline. Do not bring the disks for these things though, as they are quite heavy. If you need space grab a portable external hard drive. Once your data is safely stored you can travel without fear of boredom. Make sure you password protect it though so the enemy cannot steal it and access your information.

Toiletries can become a must depending on where you go. You may be surprised at what is common place in a country. Some countries may prefer spray on deodorants instead of stick and if you prefer stick then you may not find it. Some other countries dislike perfume, so you also may want to research it first. Remember to bring the things that you need not just really want. A toothbrush is a need, a hair dryer is not (and is really heavy for travel, just buy one there if you actually "need" it)

Your important documents scanned and saved as files on a secret hidden file or drive. Medical, travel, and other documents can become very necessary or if you lose things like your passport having a scanned backup could save you a whole lot of grief. Try not to bring paper copies as they will take up space and weight. Besides a passworded flash drive in your hand or pocket is a lot safer than a bunch of papers in a suitcase. If you bring paper it should be money, because not everywhere takes a card.

Finally we encourage you to bring along your spy camera. One with good photographic and videographic capabilities. You never know when you will want to document something, blog, vlog, or otherwise share your amazing experience with your fellow compatriots on the web. We know it is harder for you younger spies to resist the Facebook and YouTube, so if you are going to access them at least have good quality work to show for it. If you want to have a lightweight one, I recommend a mirrorless, but anything that has both video and picture capabilities is just fine.

Good luck on your mission. If you succeed you will be a hero.

A Broad Side - Getting the Green

Set the scene

You are from a low income family and they could barely send you to college. No! you are having to pay your own way, on student loans, a job, and federal grants. Now you want to study abroad, but alas you deem it impossible for you because you can barely afford school as is.

Feel like this? I sure did. I was working full time, a full time student, very limited support from family (sometimes getting me food or fixing my ancient car) and most of the time I didn't actually know if my bills were getting paid. How could I afford to study abroad?

First I want to tell you about this amazing thing call the federal Pell grant (assuming you do not have it already) which if you fall under a certain income bracket you can receive to help pay for college. If not for this grant I could not afford to go. If you have never heard of this I recommend going to your financial aid office and inquiring about how you can get it. Don't worry I'll wait.

So have you gotten it? Not that hard was it? Now for students that are poor enough that they need to use this grant, you are probably still thinking "how can I afford to study abroad?" Do not worry I'm about to get to that too. For those eligible to receive the Pell grant there is a scholarship you are also now eligible to receive. The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. Here is their site btw http://www.iie.org/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

This scholarship can be really competitive so be aware that you will need to be compelling when you apply but know that it is well worth it. Normal applicants who receive the scholarship can receive up to $5,000, while those who are studying a critical language in its native country can receive up to $8,000. Critical languages according to their site include: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu. I would assume that because they use the word "include" that there may be more. Now before I received the scholarship and was still in the application stage I did see a chart that said about 50% of people who apply for East-Asian countries get the scholarship and since I was also studying Japanese in Japan and it is a critical language I'm thinking that may have given me a decent chance of getting it but do not let this discourage you. Even if you aren't studying a language and are wanting to go to England please try and apply. If you do not try the only one missing out on a life changing experience is you. Also even if you are applying in a critical language the odds of getting the full $8,000 is actually quite low. In the year I studied abroad 2015-2016 over 2,800 scholarships of up to $5,000 were given out, only 70 people received $8,000 and I was not one.

You may now be wondering "who can get this scholarship?" well they tell you that on their site too. http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program/About-the-Program/Eligibility#Eligibility You need to be a U.S. citizen, an undergraduate at an accredited university, receive that awesome Pell grant I mentioned above, have already applied to your study abroad program, and not be studying in a country that is under a travel warning issued by the U.S. The last requirement is that you cannot have already received this scholarship, but I'll just assume you haven't yet.

I see that look. Now you are thinking that there must be a big catch. Why else would they just give us poor people such a nice scholarship? What do they want from us? Get this! They want us to be better people. On the about the program page it says "The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program offers grants for U.S. citizen undergraduate students of limited financial means to pursue academic studies or credit-bearing, career-oriented internships abroad. Such international exchange is intended to better prepare U.S. students to assume significant roles in an increasingly global economy and interdependent world." 素敵だね。What do they want in return? They want you to encourage others to study abroad and if they can't afford it spread the word about their scholarship.

Pumped yet? Okay now wait a sec I'm not finished.  When you apply you will have to write a paper about why you should get the scholarship and another about what you will do when you get back to help encourage study abroad. This second one was a little hard for me. Gilman allows  you to decide how you want to encourage it as part of your follow-on-service-project. You can do just about anything here. Many people write blogs, make videos, help out at their local study abroad fair and many others. There are many things you can do and the more mediums you can think of the more helpful you will be to others that want to study abroad. I have personally found word of mouth to be more successful in getting people to apply, but that doesn’t mean it is the only way. The only limiter is your imagination.

Enough about Gilman. Although an impressive scholarship what if you are concerned it is not enough. Well there is something that may have never crossed your mind. Most other countries have scholarships and grants that you are eligible to get as well. Something else to remember is that a lot of other countries feel that college should not be this expensive thing for people to go to, and some even let you go for free. Therefore there are often some really good scholarships you can obtain while abroad that will help out a lot. I personally received the JASSO, while in Japan, and if it was not for both the Gilman and JASSO I would not have had the funds to study abroad. I also got more from JASSO than from Gilman. Surprising no one though, the cost of living in Tokyo is really high so if I had only gotten one I would have been underfunded. There are also many more scholarships you can apply for, that do not necessarily give large amounts but when combined you could easily have more than enough. So search for them and apply.

Get out there and explore

Japanese speeches

Diver city Tokyo plaza お台場ダイバーシティ東京プラザ

利茶亜土・辺理以

　ICUから駅までバスに乗る。三鷹駅でも武蔵境駅でも、どちらでもいいが東京駅までの中央線に乗って、新宿に着いたら、降りる。それから、さいきょう線のしんきまで乗る。20分ぐらい後で、東京テレポート駅で降りる。駅のB出口から出て、５分ぐらい歩く。ICUのバスていから三鷹駅まで２２０円で、三鷹駅から東京テレポート駅まで７２０円はらう。つまりこうつうひは全部で９４０円だ。
お台場ダイバーシティ東京プラザの前に、一番有名なガンダム像がある。その像は大きくて、ガンダムの頭が動くから、すごくないだろうか。モールの中に色々な店があって、服と本と食べ物を買えるし、そのうえにドラッグストアもある。
　その場所の近くに色々な有名なところがある。例えば、自由(じゆう)の女神(めがみ)と大観覧車(だいかんらんしゃ)とレインボーブリッジと未来館(みらいかん)だ。色々な他の所も近い。楽しいから、ぜひ行ってほしい。

利茶亜土さんの写真

キティーさんの写真

ニックさんの写真

アグネさんの写真

エミリーさんの写真

マンティさんの写真

ハンナさんの写真

ポゾさんの写真

マックスさんの写真

ミン　シュウさんの写真

クリスティーンさんの写真

Traveling Pains: Himeji Castle: Walk, Run, or Ride the Bus

Hello Everyone, and Welcome back to Stir-Fried Tango. Last time we had just made it to the station near Himeji-jo also known as Himeji Castle and I was looking down the road toward the castle as the buildings framed it and just showed us the clear path there. We grabbed a quick snack (who needs lunch when there is a giant castle sitting out there) and swapped out our luggage in a coin locker about 5 times until we had what we actually wanted to carry for the rest of the day. 2500 yen in a 500-yen coin locker later we started heading for the castle. Christine asked the people at the information counter about what the best way to get there was and they told us that we should ride the bus because it would take about 25 minutes to walk there and the castle would be closing soon. Too bad I didn’t ask "how soon."

We headed out for the bus stop and started waiting thinking the bus would be there soon, then I checked the time. This bus only ran every 30 minutes exactly and I had just missed it… by 1 minute! Ok so 30 minutes for a bus (and then the time to get there,) or a 25-minute walk. 25-minute walk it is since it closes soon. I walked down the street until I saw a few obviously English speaking people that would know a little about the castle. I say “obviously” because of their tall stature, white skin, and giant camera hanging off of their neck like one of the chains that hold Jacob Marley down in “A Christmas Carol,” not because I heard them speaking English or because they were walking away from the castle. Christine asked them what time the castle closed (it was around 3 something then) and they told us 4.

As I was running to the castle I remembered that I didn't bring my inhaler with me. One of the many things left in the locker. No time to care, give me the castle or give me death (or both?.) I made it to the castle gates out of breath but with plenty of time (take that 25-minute walk) and entered the castle grounds. What I saw next took my breath away, either that or the asthma did, don’t remember quite which. The castle… didn’t close until 5.

Why? Why me? Oh my air. Did I mention Christine won't run? I think it was mentioned by "Jedimaester" in the comments.

From the castle gates you walk into the open castle grounds leading to a large white castle sitting atop a hill. The walls surrounding the castle spread out all the way around us so far that even shooting a panoramic shot on my widest lens could not even take it all in. a trail along the big open field, I mean castle grounds, ran along the nearest wall all the way to the first layer of surrounding walls and another set of large gates leading up to the castle. There were trees along the sides of the grounds separating it from the paths, and while the sad trees were lacking in beauty at the time, I could tell that in a few weeks when everything was in full bloom this place would be as breath taking as my asthma.

It only cost about 500 yen ($4.25?) to enter the castle so of course I was going. When you enter you follow a steady trail up through several layers of walls all the way to the castle and around almost every corner you get another spectacular view of the castle itself until you finally get inside. At the door you have to take off and carry your shoes while you go through the inside (don’t worry if they are dirty, they give you a plastic bag.) This is where the climbing starts… and keeps going… and going up several flights of stairs all the way to the top of the castle and then all the way back down. Don’t worry, the view is worth it even if your camera doesn’t seem to take the same pictures you see in your head. I would even tell you to still try and take pictures through the thick stone window openings. Who knows, it may come out.

So a little about this beautiful spectacle, Himeji-jo. This beautiful castle's construction happened sometime around 1330, actually starting as a fort. OMG that’s old. Maybe ten times older than my grandparents. Were there still dinosaurs around then? So yeah, I said "fort" because there was some fort there, but then some ruler's son was like "hey who needs a fort? I want a castle." Now, the part that made me feel happy. The castle wasn't completed until around 1560 (Take that you bratty kid.) One of the next owners added a three story keep in about 1580, and not long after in about 1600, it got remodeled. Why? Son one else's son (Well really son-in-law) decided to tear the whole keep down and rebuild the castle. Sadly this was built and expanded, with awesome moats and fire breathing dragon, in about 10 years (Bratty kids!) The castle stayed basically the same getting passed from one person to the next (I think a lot of people were dying.) Someone added a few new building including a tower for their daughter-in-law (These kids!) Afterwards, there were many destruction attempts on the castle's life, and yet somehow it came out mostly unscathed. Someone tried to develop the land after buying the castle for about $2,000 (heck I would buy it for that,) but fortunately couldn't destroy it because it cost way too much to destroy. Also during WWII a bomb hit the castle, but again it was blessed with a dud. Thus we have this amazing castle.

While wondering around the castle I heard the announcement that the castle would close at 4:30 (yes I was confused too.) So this is when we found out the castle actually stopped people from entering at 4:30 but didn’t kick people out until 5? And the castle grounds didn’t close until 5 (so really 5:30 because it was 5 when we left, but there were still a lot of people inside,) so people could still take pictures of the castle itself while the sun set. At this point I was starting to wear out from lack of food and a little concerned about our time because we were supposed to meet Eriko at Sakai station in Osaka. We pigged out on a source of electrolytes (I’m a little ashamed to say where) and started to head back, again riding the Shinkansen.

Remember all of the wonderful things I said about the Shinkansen? I don’t take them back, but the second trip was a little less awe-inspiring. Why? Because the first time we were riding in reserved seats. I don’t know why my seat ended up being reserved, maybe they thought I was a silly foreigner that should pay more and gave me those ones on the way from Tokyo to Himeji (I did notice that people in Himeji seemed nicer and more considerate,) but they gave me reserved ones. This time my tickets were in the not quite so shiny, looks like it might be a slightly old looking, un-reserved seats. Oh well the Shinkansen didn’t stop being amazing.

Rocketing past everything I soon arrived in Osaka where once again I played musical trains until I finally made it to the right station (give me another week and I’m sure I can tell you how to get, how to get to Sesame Street.) I exited the station out of the wrong exit, walked all the way around to the other side of the station and finally, we met up with Eriko.

Osaka At Last!

At this point all I could think about was sleep. We went back to her place and stayed up for a little while catching up but soon sleep caught up to me and I was…

Next time: Nara; Oh deer!

Feel free subscribe, and leave a comment down below. I would love to hear what you think.

Stir-Fried Tango - A Broad Side - Intro

Welcome Back to the Stir-Fried Tango

So if you were expecting the next blog on our trip around Kansai... you will be waiting another few days. That series will have it's next update on Monday. Today I will be starting my new series A Broad Side, and guess what? My first post has a video!

Hope you guess enjoyed that. I'm wanting to get better at making videos so I will be practicing a lot. Don't worry! I still plan on keeping this blog, and in fact you will probably get special stuff because you not only get to see videos I put up but also the flavorful text up put up with it.

So don't despair!