Canadian Maple Chicken

Pecan Crusted Maple Chicken

2 whole lg. chicken breasts, halved
2 tbsp. maple flavor syrup
1 c. pecans, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour

Mix dry ingredients. Coat chicken breasts with maple syrup before coating with pecan mixture. Cook in frypan until golden brown on both sides.

Fusion Retreat

We finally left the Jimjabong with little sleep and a bad case of bed-head.
The retreat was taking place in the mountain area of SoKo. A church family, the Cho's, was hosting the retreat and were offering to put us up in their hostel.

[the hostel is in the middle of this mountain village. All of the neighbors chip in to maintain it and pay the bills. They host their friends and family members. Its a nice thing to have in your back pocket when your friends come by- *TFC PEEPS*]

The retreat incorporated spiritual reflection times with various speakers from the church as well as time to hike/chill. I came into this activity thinking I would know a good majority of people but sadly, I was on the outs. A good number of members that come on Sunday mornings don't usually attend the Fusion groups. The members that came to the retreat were either new, friends of members, or ones who attend other churches

I was able to connect with several new peeps at our BBQ that night. I was placed in charge of the grill. What luck? Ive grilled out a few times but that does not mean I've grilled in Korea. One would think they would have a propane tank or at least coal nuggets. THEY HAD COAL WOOD...BURNED WOOD. How are you supposed to use that to make a fire? TO muddy the waters just a bit more, they gave me a blow torch thing to light it. After about 5 minutes of blowing fire to the coal logs, nothing but smoke.

To give you the abridged version, one of the new girls I met had to come over and nurture the fire to make it grow. I was soon given a new job >.<
At least Im a flexible guy right?
That night, we were challenged by the pastor.
The next morning, we woke at 6 to have a prayer and praise service by the lake. It was a beautiful experience. The prayers we lifted up were modeled after the Lord's model prayer given in the Bible. It actually makes prayer more structured a[which i need] and makes you feel a tad bit on target instead of scattered.

I Leave you with this
" ...I ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy...He has delievered us from the power of darkness"

A Tale of My Tail

In celebration of Buddha's birthday, we had a three day weekend. Its no big thing over here. In the states, it would be comprable to Washington's bday or MLK Jr's bday or something. Several of our school friends were going to Seoul and [or] to Busan beach but I already committed myself to go on our young adult retreat with THE NATIONS [my SoKo church].

Rhonda and I got off from school on Thursday night and decided it wouldbe best to venture closer to the spot where we would meet up with everyone thats going on the retreat. In light of the sudden realization, we packed our bags and left for Gangnam [metro Seoul area]. It took HOURS for us to get there. Everyone and their brother decided that they would get a head start on their traveling as well. When we finally arrived to our destination, it was around 11:30 in the evening. There were few restaurants open.

We finally retreated to a Jimjabong [a korean bathhouse]. Many should not be surprised with my venturing into a place like this. I only had to pay 12,000 won [$12.00] for the bathhouse/spa and a place to sleep. The headmistress gave me a change of sleep clothes and keys to a locker where I could lock up my backpack. Once you change out of your clothes, you enter into the men's spa area. There are 2 lines of stand up showers and 2 rows of vanity showers [sit down showers]. In the center there are 3 main "spa tubs." In the far distance there are 2 sauna rooms: dry and wet sauna.

I DID IT ALL.
Once ready to sleep, I changed into my sleepclothes and headed upstairs to the sleeping quarters. Once inside, you can barely see the lines of men sleeping on their floormats. The obnoxious snoring caused me to sleep elsewhere.
What I failed to mention is that there was a common area between the men's and women's bathhouses. Nice and peaceful.

Living for the Weekend

I am coming close to my 1 month mark here in South Korea and it still feels like Ive only been here for 2 weeks. I am still pegged as the "new guy" around here and I am still lost when it comes to transportation. My memory skills have been adapting to the numerous bus numbers that I can take to varuious cities. The creative juices have been flowing here lately since Brandi sent me some teaching goodies to put up in my classroom. Some people have asked: "what can I send you Josh?" Honestly, I enjoy putting things up in my class/ enjoy coffee and tea/ commodities such as deoderant and soap rock.

Brandi sent me a pack of 365 stickers and my kids went wild. We use stickers as incentives over here in my classes. In the such case where my classroom gets messy after an arts and crafts activity- I pinpoint a kid who seems like they are in need of a little something extra- point to different areas that can use some TLC- make a public spectacle of their good behavior by giving them an "AWESOME STICKER" from Josh teacher's sister in USA. Kudos Brand-o.

I printed out pictures of some of my toccoa fam and real fam to post in my classroom and my 8-year olds think its awesome that I have such a big family. The enjoy seeing Luke, Brandi, and Garrett. Luke is always acting like a fool. Brandi has big hair. Garrett is my nephew and is a teenager.

"JOSH TEACHER IS AN UNCLE, YES?"

I am starting to get the teachers and some of my church friends together on weekdays to start enjoying company outside of tjust the weekends. People around here dont believe in hanging out on weekdays and just enjoy work. working out. eating. and sitting in their room. I am venturing to bring them out by having parties. Ali taught me that mediums like coffee/tea/food being people together and can serve as a common bond between different peeps. SO TRUE.

This past weekend, a couple of friends and I went to the fortress in Hwaseong City and were able to hike arounnd its outer wall, scale parts of the moutain, and participate in various activities within the fortress walls. We lucked up when we entered the fortress because we got set up with an English speaking tour guide. Him and his friend showed us around the fortress and shared tales. The king who lived in the fortress imagined a city being built within the city walls. There is a big chunk of Suwon [the city I hang out in] that is guarded by the fortress walls.
It was awesome walking in the paths of royalty.
THe fortress offered various activities for the tourists to participate in. Paul and I dressed up as members of military while Toni and Rhonda dress up as queens [they wore headpieces that must have weighed 20 pounds].
More pictures are available on my facebook

Daily Routine

Things around here have gotten pretty much how I like them. During the past several years- I have realized that I enjoy being busy. My dad told me to set up a routine as quickly as possible and it has been successful so far. Mornings have been enjoyable here lately. I have learned from Ali and my folks on this one. Usually when you get up an extra 15 minutes ahead of your schedule, you are able to not feel so rushed throughout your day. Mornings allow time to just sit and read the book of 1 Samuel with a cup of coffee and breakfast. I clean up around the apartment and get caught up on some phone calls. I set up an Augusta number last night so that people can call me free of charge. Hopefully people catch on to how to use skype.

I have come to live for the weekends where you can just explore and have adventures. This weekend was def. like that. Friday proved to be an early night for me because of the weekend plans coming up.

The Nations

Many have asked if I have found a ood church to attend. The typical response I have heard from people who have been over in SoKo, it takes several months to find a good church taht you can just "be a part of" and feel
connected" with. Being back home in Augusta or even Toccoa, I had grown accustomed to the southern hospitality and welcoming spirit that goes along with Providence Baptist and Ebeneezer Baptist [Toccoa]. My family and I have been members of our church in Augusta for 14+ years and have seen our share of people come and go from the church. One of the top reasons people are drawn to Providence is that the people are very friendly and are always welcoming. I, for one, have taken it for granted up until this point.

Being a westerner/foreigner from America- you get stared at often and there are very few people you can have an actual conversation with. Many Koreans here speak very little English. In fact, the prominant members in Korea that speak English are the younger generations.

When I came over, my friend Kristin [bubbly red-head that I went to college with and lives in Daejeong Korea] invited me to come to her church, Jubilee Church. This church would be about a 1.5 hour ride for me with the connecting buses/subways. I would gladly make the commute if it was a good church that I felt lead to be a part of. Recently- Rhonda has been going to a church [the Nations church] in the neighboring town of Suwon. All of her stories really had me curious and loving the closer distance.

Walking through the doors to the church, I was automatically introduced to five church members. Rhonda must have introduced me to the whole church congregation. Because she is so heavily involved with the Nations, I was along for the ride and gladly helped out where I was needed. The church runs like it has been around for years- when- infact- it has only been open for about 4-ish years. Roughly, there are 6 members attending that are predominantly foreign english speakers. The reason the church got its name is merely because the church is representative of Jesus' global ministry. The Nations church has members from UK, USA, Canada, India, Rwanda, Austrailia, SoKorea, and Japan. What a blessing to see believers from all cultures come together in the bonds of Christ and worship. Beautiful.

ps- theyve already talked to me about being a part of the young adult ministry and possibly being a part of the welcome team ^_^

Potluck

Its been my first full week with my loaded schedule and you know, it wasnt half bad. LASt week, I was only repsonsible for teaching my englsih classes in the afternoon but now, I am a sub teacher for misc subjects: science, math, pe, organizational skills, and manners. I teach them in full english and they last anywhere from 20-40 minutes. I can handle that. I am getting to the point where I realize that I might perhaps be being too flippant with my money here. There are so many places to go to visit and eat at that I forget that I should be saving. Some of the teachers here go out to eat frequently and I cannot turn down an invitation to go off and eat something delicious!

Wednesday I went out with Amy and her buddy Chet to go and eat Vietnamese noodles. Those things were so incredibly spicy. I believe I am starting to get the hang of ordering things at a restaurant. You just point, smile, and speak in broken english.

Thursday, Tonita and I went to the movies close to Suwon. We got the chance to see Iron Man2! Over in Korea, you order your movie tickets online and there is assigned seating. Our seats were in the top left. I am amazed at the concession stand prices over here: Toni and I got a medium popcorn, 2 medium drinks for 7 bucks. Cant beat that with a stick. Our tickets were 8.00 a piece. Cheap movie night!
The next day, all of the English teachers were excited to get together and have a potluck at Amy's apartment. We made invitations and everything. Originally, we were all going to eat out on the roof, but dince the weather had not gotten that much warmer, we kept it indoors. So many laughs and good memories made that night.

Saturday we went to Hwaseong city to tour around but got a late start for all the festivities that go on within the fortress. At best, we got to go to the museum to learn more about the history of the kings that ruled and the city they governed. Next week, we are going to get an earlier start and go on the full on hike around the fortress. I cannot wait for SUNDAY!