I am presently staring at the large rear end of a giant panda bear dangling from the largest shopping mall I have ever seen. Holding on for dear life with an enthusiastic grin on his face- the pudgy peeping tom is an emblem for not only the city I am currently residing but the country as a whole. He hovers over the IFS shopping mall which stands six stories high with a movie theater, bowling alley, ice skating rink, ginormous food court and every type of luxury brand your spending heart could desire inside.

Looking out my office window, I sometimes feel the need to pinch myself as I nonchalantly murmur, “Where am I?” and “How did I get here?” The answer is always the same – a gentle whisper that I am in China.

Growing up in America, China was always this extremely exotic and mysterious land. As an American, it was a country that was about as far away from me as possible – both physically and mentally. I remember as a kid helping my dad dig giant holes on the beach in my hometown of San Clemente, CA with my brother and cousins and then having my mom tell me that if we kept digging, “We would end up in China.” That was China to me. Some distant land or world that might as well have been Endor’s Moon or the planet Tatooine from Star Wars. No way to get there but through an impossible mission of digging.

But not anymore; now I am becoming well acquainted with eating frog legs, watching others eat animal brains for dinner, playing frogger every day to and fro and anything and everything that what was once considered exotic. In fact, in many ways, I find my old cultural habits and instincts as an American far more exotic in comparison as of late.

This ancestral land possesses one of the deepest of histories and is surrounded by an ever-present and distinctly palpable culture. The Sweet aroma of bubbling hot pot, scorching spices, ancestral teas and cuddly Giant Panda bears has become my home. I live in the southwest of China in a city called Chengdu. Chengdu is a bustling sprawl compared to the likes of America with over 16 million residents. It’s most famous for being the home of the furry black and white bears we all love. Chengdu people, depending who you talk to, are either the most relaxed and well-balanced denizens of China or the laziest. I tend to side with the latter even though I can see a case for both. Chengdu reminds me of California in a lot of ways. “休闲” pronounced Xiu Xian in pinyin is essentially the phrase “Hang Loose” but in Chinese and is a local trademark.

All in all, I have been living and working in Chengdu for about four months now. Before that, I was in Beijing for a little over a year and before that, I spent a year in South Korea teaching English. Many of my friends already know this, but upon graduating from college I was convinced that spending a few years teaching English abroad was not only a brilliant plan for me, but would be an unforgettable adventure. I had known during my entire senior year in college that I wanted to teach abroad. It made perfect sense – as an English major at the University of California, Santa Barbara, I had decided that I wanted to be an English teacher but before I entered graduate school to receive my credentials, I would gain valuable teaching experience, save money and travel the world.

That idea took root after a co-worker told me about his time teaching abroad in Japan. He had spent over twenty years teaching in Kyoto, Japan and I couldn’t get enough of the fairy tale like stories he was telling me. I was amazed at how realistic he made it all sound.

So instead of lingering over the normal college senior worry about what to do and where to work after college that most my peers were going through and myself included, I had made up my mind in an abundantly clear way; I was going to do what my co-worker had done (but not for twenty years).

Originally I targeted Japan and aimed at the prestigious JET teaching program. When that fell through, I began searching for secondary options. That’s when I stumbled upon the International TEFL Academy program and received my TEFL/TESOL certificate in the spring of 2014 – the same year of my graduation. They were the ones that directed me towards South Korea.

I didn’t know anything about South Korea besides the fact that they were located near a crazy guy. But I quickly learned that they were the most willing to offer me a good and stable job without much teaching experience and so I decided to do some investigating. The more research I did on South Korea, the more I began to admire the culture and saw it as the perfect place to jump start my adventure.

Life is a funny thing. One second you are discussing Japanese anime with a co-worker while serving popcorn at a movie theater and the next you are speaking Chinese underneath a giant hanging panda amongst a sea of Asian people.

This is my story and adventure. I am fortunate and blessed enough to have traveled to 21 countries and counting over the span of 3 years. To be honest, as someone who loves to write for fun, I never really considered writing a blog. I didn’t want to assume the position of being an expert at my blog topic of choice because I’m not. I’m just a guy that one day decided that he would do something and that something was travel and live abroad. But over the years I have had numerous friends and even strangers ask me to share how I ended up where I am and what it took to live in China and to have traveled to as many countries that I have. And so although I am no expert and there are many others that most likely have far more interesting and traveling stories to tell, I’ve decided to give the blog thing a go. Christopher McCandless from the book and film, Into the Wild written by Jon Krakauer, once said, “HAPPINESS IS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED”. And so that is my intention – to simply share. This blog is for anyone that has ever considered either living abroad or simply desired to travel. By all means, go for it. I can’t stress enough the fact; that literally most all Americans are capable of doing so. If you fall under that American category and you have the same dark blue passport that I do, then congratulations! Your birthright has given you one of the strongest passports in the world and a substantial amount of opportunities and skills to work abroad. It’s amazing how sought after English-speaking natives are and as a result its incredibly reasonable to find a job abroad in education or business, especially in Asia. In return, it’s not hard at all to save a decent amount of money to not only live but to travel the world. My goal for this blog is that if you find yourself on the fence and with a little bit of trepidation about whether or not to travel or work abroad, that these articles will have some hand of giving you at least a little bit of wind in your sail. I am a huge proponent for traveling. I believe it’s the greatest teacher and class that one can have the privilege of attending. We live in a world so beautifully connected, yet so many are hell bent at pulling apart these connections by ignorantly targeting “the other”. I see no better way to combat these unfortunate forces with the truth about the world around us and the people we share it with. It’s far too easy to notice the differences we possess, but I think it takes courage, strength, and wisdom to look beyond and see that we are more alike than we think.

I certainly don’t have all the answers to today’s most pressing questions, I’m not the world’s greatest writer (In fact, I apologize for all the grammar mistakes this blog will surely have – Chinese is pushing out what English grammar and vocabulary skillsets I may have once possessed) nor richest man, and I haven’t accomplished anywhere close to what I aspire to, but I have seen the sun rise and fall over the sublime temples of Angkor Wat, have selfied myself supreme on top of the Great Wall of China, proposed to the love of my life on top of Mt. Fuji, drank some of the cheapest and finest wine while staring at a sparkling Eiffel tower looming over me and my friends, battled imaginary gladiators inside the Coliseum of Rome, gone diving in the pristine waters of the Philippines with a succulent mango smoothing waiting for me on the surface, have blacked out in the mean streets of Bangkok and Seoul and have pondered life’s deepest questions within some of the oldest temples alongside some of the wisest bald men and women (monks) on the planet. If any of that appeals to you, or if you wonder what it is like living in China, starting a company in China, struggling to learn Mandarin, marrying a Chinse gal and her family and teaching/working abroad, I hope that you stick around and follow the blog. Cheers. 一会见 (See you soon).