Five days left...

So, i am not the greatest at keeping up with blogs. Probably not a surprise to most. I am coming home in five days, so hopefully i will see each of you at some point to catch up on our summers! Love and miss everyone!

I love gelato!

Bonjour mes amies!

It has already been 3 weeks, and it has been a blessing to have this opportunity to be here in Paris! Just quick updates tonight-- pictures to come later!

1. The gospel was share in french class this past week! Definitely divinely appointed (all those who were there), and definitely all God how we were all able do discuss each of our beliefs; thus i, along with others, were able to share our faith in Christ to those who believed in everything from buddha to nothing at all. What was awesome was that this discussion happened in french...not in english!-- def. God right there to give us the right words to speak!

2. I have been blessed with sweet fellowship here with amazing gals who love the Lord! I never knew that i would find friends that all click so well with each other here and in life, but God is good! I'm going to miss them when the first half is over because all of them are here for five weeks and i am here for 10 weeks. To be honest, i was sad thinking about it today because we are all from different states, and because of that, it will be more difficult to hang out with them! i also felt like i would be more lonely next month. However, I pray and trust that God will handle my life here in Paris for the month of July. I am also certain that "friends are friends forever if the Lord is the Lord of them"... :) ... Prayers are welcome and needed in this area.

3. I found a baptist church near my house! I called and confirmed service times, and found that they have services Sunday mornings at 10:30 AM and a bible study on Wed. at 7 PM. I am excited to check it out considering every weekend starting this one coming up will be free until i leave Paris 31-july.

4. Like the title says-- "i love gelato". I've never really L.O.V.E. LOVED ice-cream as much as i do here! I not only think about it, but get it when i can. It is just soooo soooo delicious-- i wish i could mail everyone some gelato (my fav flavor of this month is "cookies") I am most def. going to start running tomorrow.

5. World Cup began Friday!!!! WHOOP! Friday night a group of us went out to a sports bar type place to watch France vs. Uruguay together. It took us awhile to find a good place because it was def. crowded everywhere, so we were only able to catch the end of the game. On Saturday, however, we got really good seats at this Australian pub, and watched the USA vs. England match!!! It was a good game, and super fun because we shared a table with a couple from England. Some of my friends had friends from their hometowns visiting, so that was exciting as well!

I hope everyone is doing well, and I can't wait to see you all again! :)

Love,

Grace

Pictures! Praises! Prayer Requests!

Bonjour tout le monde!

Below are some pictures, and below the pictures are praises and prayer requests!

At the castle Chambord. This building of this massive castles with hundreds of rooms and such was directed by Francois Premier, and this was one of the rooms with the dancing ladies. All of the castles that we visited this weekend are a part of the Loire Valley, which is where royalty (in the old days) would go to vacation/relax on weekends, etc. I can't believe that these massive works of beautiful architecture were only used a few times a year. The Chambord, which is the largest, may not have even been used as many as a few times a year. In my opinion it should be turned into a massive dance studio :) P.S. I thought it would be a cool pic to strike a dance pose among the dancing ladies in the room!
The Chambord. Gorgeous.
INTERESTING: At the Chambord they have what is called a double helix staircase (like DNA), so if you are going up on side and someone is coming down the other, they wouldn't meet. Rumor has it that it was built this way because Kings would have mistresses (more than one) that would come up one way and leave the other, so they would never run into each other. How scandalous!
Double Helix Staircase again.
Chambord.
This is in the town of Tours. This picture shows a house not on the ground floor that has built an extension to their house so that it sticks out on the side of the building. People used to do this because how much a household paid for taxes was determined by square footage of the house, so the part sticking out of the building would not count in raising someone's tax obligations. It was fascinating to learn about this, and i would've done the same if i were them, lol.
The secret passage way that we went through to see the pic above this one.
Beautiful work! Joan of Arc lived in the one on the left with the brown stained lines (which was stained using cows blood).
Wine tasting definitely happened while visiting chateaux after chateaux. We were walked through the cellar where the wine is stored and the process of wine making and bottle labeling.
View while at Leonardo da Vinci's place.
Same as above.
Inside of da Vinci's castle. "Love conquers all"
Again.While taking the boat ride on the Seine river around Paris with les bateaux mouches. Friends, love them!
Sacre Couer/ Montmatre. Square where legit painters sit and do their work.
Sacre Couer. Oh, hey Laurel.

Praise God for my transfer credit situation being resolved!

Praise God for beautiful weather and creation!

Praise God for the rain!

Praise God for fellowship!

Praise God for being our Father!

Prayer Requests:

1. Courage to embrace change and step outside of comfort zone daily.

2. Relationship with my host family (that I would be able to share the gospel with them at some point even just through actions without having to say a word-- though this shouldn't be a problem since the level of my french keeps me more quiet than talkative)

3. That His will be done.

4. Wisdom and Discernment this summer as more often than not, summer brings change.

I love and miss y'all! Also, I do have a french cell phone if anyone needs to call for anything. Feel free to call if you need anything (urgent prayer requests, etc.)!

To call from the U.S., dial 011, then dial 33 (code for France), then my number without the first zero 6 75 42 82 04.

Love,

Grace

Recap of Past Week!

Howdy Friends!

I apologize for not being able to update this blog as often because i know that all of y'all are on the edge of your seats waiting for the next post ;)! All two of you, lol, oh wait and my mom. :)

Main points from this past week:

1. Praise God for divinely appointing a time for the gospel to be shared! I was able to share my faith, and the gospel for what it is with a new friend on the long bus ride last weekend when we had an excursion! If this was God's reason for sending me all the way to France this summer, to share the gospel with this one person, i'm am more than joyful with that! I pray that He continues to use me while i am here.

2. Last week, I cried at the dinner table in front of my host family. I was still experiencing culture shock to an extent, and i was frustrated with the language barrier (this was before school started to be able to brush up). I couldn't really explain to them though why i was crying, so i started cleaning up the dinner table. Me crying probably isn't too shocking for any KDs reading this ;) I miss y'all so much, but I can now say with certainty that I am moving out of culture shock and into L.O.V.E. LOVE! I am falling in love with this city, and i hope it stays this way!

3. My host family baked me a cake for my birthday and gave me a present during dinner the day after my birthday! It was very thoughtful, and it was a wonderful surprise! The present was a bilingual book. There is french on one side (duh)..and german on the other..lol

4. Classes started this past week. I love having a routine, and I am enjoying my classes! Lots of laughter (well most times..as in 2 of the 4 times we've had class) and I am improving in the french language. In the workshop part of class, we get to research a topic that we are interested in and make a 15 min. presentation all in french! Intimidating, but i'm so excited because i am getting to do research on the history of Christianity and how culture is associated with it when you think of division. My prof is super cool and doesn't speak any english.

5. Last weekend we went to the Normandy and Omaha Beaches and Mont St. Michel. It was awesome! Thursday night we took a boat ride on the Seine River. This weekend we are headed to Chateaux de la Loire, and I am pumped!

6. Pictures of all of this will be posted soon!

7. Prayer Requests: relationship with my host family (I pray that I would be able to share Christ with them at some point or even without words just through my actions during the 10 weeks that i am here), confusing situation with receiving credit for my class when it transfers over to A&M, safety and that His will be done here and everywhere else (Haiti, Bryan, South America, etc.) this summer.

Glory be to God!

Grace Hwang

First Week

Bonsoir! Here are some more pictures from the first week. This weekend (Sat & Sun) i am off to Normandy and Mont St. Michel-- i'm excited! I'm not as excited however about this bird outside of my window who is being obnoxiously loud at 12:06 AM. It is gawking, and sounds like it/he/she is in need of dayquil. Just fyi... incase anyone wanted to know.

Statues at this beautiful park (parc de bercy). to the left of the statue on the far right you will see a couple. PDA is apparently NBD (no big deal) in Paris. Today i watched two couples make out for long periods of time-- again not voluntarily or by will but these couples keep choosing to stand right in front of me (especially on the metro), which forces me to look around them in circles constantly (for ~ four minutes). People probably think i'm the crazy one considering i look like a bobble head every time i encounter this.
The Seine River. Hopefully I don't take too much away from the beauty of the river.
The Seine again from the top floor of the National library of France!
Inside of the Library!

Arc de Triomphe!
Shopping!
Still inside the library. the homestay mothers of some of the other girls work at the national library, and they showed us around different exhibits and areas. it was fantastic!!! I was able to see the Qumran exhibit with the dead sea scrolls!!!! The French National Library owns some of these fragments that have survived from biblical times, and it was so fascinating to see them!! I can tell you more about this in greater detail if anyone is interested!! Wish i took pics of it, but i couldn't take pics inside of the exhibit. :(
The National Library of France!
Opera
Laurel and I made a new friend Anthony! It was very rainy on this day. Some days it'll rain for 10 min. then stop and become sunny, etc. I thought i was in College Station for a second.
More updates to come! Probably more stories and reflecting after le week-end! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

Love,

Grace

Bonjour Paris!

Keys to my room (right) and the house (left), so different from keys that you get made at Walmart!
Love the window! It is old-fashioned and makes me feel like rapunzel... i'm sure rapunzel had a window just like this one
It is necessary in France to open your window like so (above) and air out your room once a day. It typically stays open at all times when i'm at home but not at night. No A/C in France, so the cool breeze is nice.
Window when it is open and view! Feel free to imagine me as rapunzel looking out of this window.
The view-- no one to climb my hair though...





Bonjour tout le monde!

It has been three full days in Paris, and it has definitely been the experience of my life thus far! I've been going through culture shock, and I've been having to step outside of my comfort zone to live life in Paris as i face new challenges every day and every hour! If it is true that pictures are worth 1,000 words, I would rather post many pictures. So after this post i will just post pictures and narrate those! Since i forgot to take pics these first three days, below is a written entry. Praises and prayer requests will be at the bottom of every entry in separate paragraphs. Let the story of this summer begin and continue on through the next 10 weeks!

Day 1:

9 hour plane ride to London. 2 hour layover. 1 hour to Paris. 3 hour shuttle ride (i was the last one to get dropped off at my home-stay). I live in a 3 story house. The entrance is on the street level. Up one floor and there is my room. Up another floor is the living room, kitchen, and toilet. Up another floor is the sink shower and where the family lives. I share the bathroom/shower with the family. Pictures are posted below. The head of the household is a woman, Veronique, and she is a single mother with two sons and a daughter. Arnaud is 21 years (never met him, doesn't live at home), Victor is 14 years, and Lauren is 8 years old. They are kind but more reserved. My main interaction with them is during dinnertime. Meals are very important to the french and usually last minimum 1 hour. Dinner is always later in France between 8-9 PM.

Dinner the first night was good. I'm not used to hearing french, so it was difficult to understand a lot of what was being said. It was even more difficult to actually know what i was laughing about when jokes were made! This was discouraging (all a part of culture shock), and my level of french was revealed when the funniest joke and only thing i understood to it's full extent at dinner (which lasted til 10:15) was when the 8 year old girl took the baguette, which is slightly bent, and turned it ends facing upward and said "sourire (smile)" and then faced it down and said "non, sourire (no smile/frown)". I just LOVE children and sometimes i feel like i relate to them better than adults! Lauren (8 yrs) reminded me of how much i miss the children at LHBCB.

Day 2: Orientation

I woke up around 7:15AM, didn't get much sleep the night before due to jet lag and an upset stomach (more culture shock), and took the fastest shower ever with one hand-- the shower heads here are those detached things. Had orientation from 9-NOON and 2-4 PM. Took the metro, and Praise God for my other roommate in this house who has been here since September. Robin Scott is her name, and she is a year long student. It was a blessing to be able to have somebody show me the ropes of the metro. For lunch other girls and I purchased baguettes with ham and cheese, and ate outside at the Luxembourg Garden near the school. Beautiful! but it was very hot today. In the evening we had a welcome dinner at Le Baladin near the Seine river, and it was delicious! Course after course came out and dinner was 3 hours long. There was entertainment which consisted of a man who played the piano and later on in the evening a woman who sang some tunes for us! Lots of slow love songs, but she also sang the french song "Champs-Elysees". I'd learned the song a year ago in my french class at A&M, and still remembered it so i sang along. It was awesome! Before dinner, Laurel (new friend) and I got lost trying to find the metro. It definitely was an experience and lots of laughter.

Day 3:

Today I was able to sleep in because classes don't begin until next week. I met with some other girls around 12:30PM at our program provider's office, and we left there to eat lunch and visit the shops on the Champs-Elysees! Took pictures at the arc de triomphe then came home on the metro because it was raining. Dinner with my family tonight was super! I spoke some french to them and understood more of what they were saying. I am beginning to love the food here! We ate a really delicious quiche and vegetables. We watched the soccer game (france vs. Cuba), and then Veronique gave me a french novel to read while i'm here.

Praise God!

1. Safe trip over here

2. I was nervous about making friends that i could find sweet fellowship with and was in prayer about it, and God answered my prayer!!!

3. Wi-fi at my homestay

Prayer Requests:

1. Relationship with my host family

2. Boldness and courage to proclaim Christ and be the best witness i can be through actions not just words.

3. To be stretched spiritually and growth during my time here

I love and miss y'all!

Grace