The many travels of Mr. Yenshaw

While many recognize Mr. Daniel Yenshaw as a charismatic track coach or the AP Comparative Government teacher, not many people know him as a world traveler, food critic, and wildlife explorer obsessed with lemurs.

Growing up in Texas, Mr. Yenshaw always wanted to travel, but there had always been the issue of money and restrictions from his school life. All of these doubts for traveling ended in the summer of 2003 when Mr. Yenshaw’s Grandma took him on a trip to Europe as a graduation present. “She kind of gave me the push [to travel],” Mr. Yenshaw recalled.

However, despite being able to travel more after graduation, Mr. Yenshaw did not like teaching in public schools in America. Besides the “many laws that tie your hands,” Mr. Yenshaw also felt like he was constantly held accountable for everything as a teacher. These difficulties in teaching, as well as the geographic inconvenience of living in Texas brought to traveling, all prompted Mr. Yenshaw to move out of the US. Thus, he started the lifestyle of teaching abroad and traveling.

Mr. Yenshaw and his students in Akita Photo courtesy of Mr. Yenshaw

First, Mr. Yenshaw moved to Akita, a rural city of Japan surrounded by green lush hills. Mr. Yenshaw soon fell in love with the small town’s people and students. Together, he and his friends went to Samurai houses, Shinto Buddhist temples, retreats to hot baths, and of course, karaokes, what he thought was the perfect way to end the night. The Japanese culture was deeply embedded in every aspect of the small town, including their food (which, surprisingly, does not include sushis at all) and their cleanliness.

Mr. Yenshaw left Japan regretfully after one short year. But the destination was definitely a crazy one––Venezuela. Aside from dangers of being mugged, Venezuela also had a very unstable economy with high inflations, meaning that Mr. Yenshaw really had to be creative with groceries and food. Regardless of all the inconveniences, he still managed to make life comfortable there. Living in a neighborhood that had everything around him in walking distance and teaching a small class size more than made up for the dangers in Venezuela. There were also many weekend getaway activities such as pristine beaches to walk on, obscure islands to explore, and mountain villages to breathe in. Mr. Yenshaw made many friends who he traveled with. He bonded with many students there. Even now, from time to time, he still gets worried about the people in that dangerous country.

Next up, Mr. Yenshaw moved to Cairo, Egypt. He was not particularly fond of the city’s “noise, traffic, pollution, and constant disregard for trying to clean up the city”. To this, Mr. Yenshaw’s solution was to stay in his apartment as much as he can, thanks to the great delivery, which brought grocery, meals, alcohol, fresh fruit, and vegetables––basically everything––to Mr. Yenshaw’s home. In Cairo, Mr. Yenshaw’s obviously had to go to the Giza pyramids, which turned out to be disappointing due to its dirtiness and the vendors constantly bothering him to get money. However, less touristy activities like renting a Felucca with his friends to just sit upon the Nile eating and drinking suited Mr. Yenshaw well. 

Renting feluccas on the Nile 

As Mr. Yenshaw explored more and more places, he developed his own philosophy on food, people, and travel. With Greece as his favorite food destination, Vietnam coming up second and Ecuador third, Mr. Yenshaw noticed a geographic pattern for good food. He concluded that food is great in places with mountains and seas besides each other because it produces a good mixture of both the fresh vegetables from the mountains and the seafood from the ocean.

Mr. Yenshaw also saw many different people through his travels. From Ethiopia’s isolated tribal people with jewelry in their lips to 8-year-old Indian girls working as manual labor, Mr. Yenshaw all made it a point to meet the locals and listen to their stories.

Jason Kim (12A), a student of Mr. Yenshaw’s AP Comparative Government class, shared, “When we are talking about other countries, he shares his experience like from Iran, Mexico, and Nigeria that help improve our understanding of the class materials. His Instagram is full of cool wildlife photos.”

All of the good food eaten and good friends made along the way fueled Mr. Yenshaw’s undying passion for travel. Now, living in China, teaching at SMIC-I, Mr. Yenshaw expressed that he will stay in Shanghai for now. But, he said, “within time, I’ll move on, maybe back to Africa, possibly the Middle-east, maybe Eastern Europe…who knows, only time will tell.”

Want to see more?  Visit Mr. Yenshaw’s travel blog!

Feature Image – Mr. Yenshaw taking a picture with a lemur in Madagascar All photos courtesy of Mr. Yenshaw