Don's ESL Adventure

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Don's ESL Adventure Follow my incredible journey teaching English abroad, living in China, and traveling the world! Welcome to Don's ESL Adventure!

I had the chance to play an extra in a local tv series about IP Man’s master during my first year as an ESL teacher in C...
23/11/2025

I had the chance to play an extra in a local tv series about IP Man’s master during my first year as an ESL teacher in China!

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One of my proudest experiences as a son was to have my mother come and visit me in China. I had a chance to not only tra...
10/11/2025

One of my proudest experiences as a son was to have my mother come and visit me in China. I had a chance to not only traverse the region with her and expose her the culture, but also the opportunity to showcase that I had made a good life for myself, on my own, on the other side of the world. What a wonderful experience! 👊🏽

05/11/2025

Truly one of my favorite videos. My last few final days in China, and we did a Capoeira presentation at a local primary school.

Practicing Capoeira has truly been a blessing in my life!

👆🏽Capoeira Brasil Shanghai

04/11/2025

So much fun to be on the other side of the world teaching and having fun with the youth!

02/11/2025

I started blogging around 2012-13. It was my first year in China and I started exploring like crazy. Plus, I was having a blast teaching ESL, immersing myself into the culture, meeting and making friends from across the world, eating exotic cuisine, you name it.

I gained a passion for telling people my story through articles and visuals. I loved showcasing my adventures and exposing to the world how life was in places people may not know.

I aimed to inspire, provide insight, point to valuable resources… Since moving to the KC area, my passion has remained the same.

Welcome to and !

Halloween in China as an ESL Teacher! Halloween isn’t celebrated in China, but as an ESL teacher at an English training ...
31/10/2025

Halloween in China as an ESL Teacher! Halloween isn’t celebrated in China, but as an ESL teacher at an English training center, we celebrated Halloween with fun themed activities every year. Plus, us foreigners in big cities like Shanghai would go out and hit themed events at bars and clubs that catered to the international audiences 💪🏽

23/10/2025

Check out my 1st apartment when I moved to Shanghai, China! What you think?





16/10/2025

It was 2014 and my 2nd year teaching English in China. I was taking a hip-hop dance class at my gym in Kunshan, and my instructor (the 1st woman I fell in love with in China but that’s another story lol) had asked if I wanted to perform at their annual show, which had multiple acts (staff choreographed dancing, Tai-Chi display, plank competition, etc.).

Tupac’s “How Do You Want It” was on heavy rotation at the time in my playlist, so why not!?



09/10/2025

I was less than a year into teaching English abroad in China when I lost my wallet in a city called Kunshan.

I withdrew 1,000RMB (About $160) from an ATM, rode my bike home, locked it, reached into my pocket and realized that my wallet was gone. Womp.

A few days later I entered my gym and a front desk attendant explained, to my surprise, that there was a phone call for me.

On the other end of the line was a local journalist. She had been contacted by a factory worker that found my wallet. Because he couldn’t read English, he contacted a news station for assistance in tracking me down.

The journalist recognized my gym membership card, notified the gym, and they had notified me. Whew!

The journalist also requested a meeting between the worker and I the next day and politely asked to bring a news camera to capture the caring side of Kunshan citizens. I happily obliged.

After meeting the worker I thanked him and even offered 200RMB (the 1000RMB was still there), but he refused.

Following the video’s release onto local news, my ESL students and several strangers around Kunshan shared that they had seen me on TV.

Not bad for my 1st 8 months in China!





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What Can You Expect From Don’s ESL Adventure?

So, you want to travel—you want to see the world, live in another country, and experience other cultures, and you wouldn’t mind getting paid while doing it. But where does this kind of life-changing opportunity lie? Well, welcome to the wonderful world of teaching English abroad. Becoming an English as a second language teacher, or ESL teacher, is the gateway to achieving your dream. Move across the globe, teach English to kids or adults, immerse yourself in a foreign culture, make international friends, and earn a decent paycheck. Sounds like it’s exactly what you’d like, right? Unfortunately, most people have never even heard of this ESL world or let alone actually met someone that’s’ taught English overseas. Someone that’s been there, done that, and could act as a guide and provide valuable insight into their own experience. That’s where Don’s ESL Adventure comes into play. A personal blog created by an experienced ESL teacher of 7+ years in China and South Korea, Don’s ESL Adventure provides a resourceful, insightful, comprehensive, entertaining, inspiring, and visually captivating look at the ins-and-outs of not only teaching English abroad, but also the life-changing experiences and opportunities it can bring.

At Don’s ESL Adventure, you can expect 3 primary areas of focus: (1) Learn about teaching English abroad, (2) encourage people to explore China, and (3) inspire people to travel.


  • Learn about teaching English abroad: Uncover any and everything about the world of ESL teaching. Discover what it is, learn about its benefits, find out who can teach, how to teach, what to expect, and unearth useful resources. Best of all, check out how actual teachers have used ESL to travel, party, fall in love, become entrepreneurs, and live out their wildest dreams.

  • Get an in-depth look at living and working in China as an ESL teacher: Follow Don’s journey of 7.5 years as an expat in the Hermit Kingdom. Discover how he got started and survived teaching ESL in China. Check out his numerous travel adventures to popular and off-beaten destinations across China, and unlock everything from top things to do in the region, popular foods, and local wedding traditions, to tales of eye-opening experiences and changes in perspective from living overseas.