Allen Crowder is one of our teachers in Nanjing.  we asked him to talk a little bit about his experience and give some advice to new teachers.  As always, we also ask about what adventures teachers have been up to as well.  We’re all both passionate about education and also passionate about traveling!  Here’s what Allen has to say:

I came to China in mid-November 2018. Before this, I was a student at Arizona State University. Now, I am an ESL/CRW teacher for the Nanjing branch. My advice to new newcomers is to try and experience as much of China as you much and as soon as you can. It can be easy to stay at home with western friends, food, and places. It’s a bit of an overused statement, but take advantage of the opportunity to get firsthand experience with Chinese history, culture, and language. That also includes Chinese food, my favorite of which is dumplings–plain and simple. I don’t have any vacation plans at the moment, but I’ve gone on a few trips. My first non-business related one was up in Inner Mongolia, which had big open plains for horse-riding and beautiful sand dunes for camel-riding.