Aujourd'hui, c'est le jour!

Aujourd'hui, c'est le jour! ...or, today is the day!

It feels like forever ago that my dreams of studying abroad began. I would hear family and friends speak of the young people that they knew who were off in different countries studying and experiencing the culture of a new and exciting place. And I always knew that someday, somehow, I would do the same. With my love of the French language throughout middle and high school, it was obvious to me that I would choose a francophone, or French-speaking, country for my semester abroad. After lots of research and meetings in the international programs office at Marietta College, I knew I had found the perfect place when I found API's program in Grenoble, France, a small city in the south-eastern portion of the country in the Alps region. It was perfect... the school, the housing arrangements, the classes, the location.

After a lot of prayer, a long application process and lots of meetings and paperwork, I was not only accepted into the program but also awarded a scholarship through API. I knew upon receipt of the news that this was it... what I had been awaiting for so long. My opportunity to follow my dreams. I am finally on my way... to the city of lights!

I leave in less than an hour for the Cleveland airport where I will be flying out at 4:45pm this afternoon. After about ten hours of flights, I land in Paris at 10am tomorrow morning (Paris time) where I will meet my resident directors and the rest of the students in my program, both those in the Paris section and the Grenoble section. We will be touring the city, sightseeing and undergoing our "orientation" process for about four days. After our time there, we will depart by train on Thursday afternoon for Grenoble. My host family will be awaiting my arrival at the train station to take me to my new home about twenty minutes outside of the city center in Meylan.

I received information about my family about two weeks ago, and could not be more excited to meet them and get to know them during my time there. They are la famille d'Oléon, consisting of a father, Thierry, who is an architect, a mother, Marie-Pierre, who stays at home and their six children, three of which still live at home. They are also currently hosting another exchange student from Mexico, Carla, who is seventeen and there for the entire year. I look forward to spending time with her, as I know it will be helpful for my language skills to speak with someone who is also learning French for their first time. I was also able to googlemaps the family's home, and it is beautiful. The Alps paint the perfect backdrop of the very Euorpean-looking home. I cannot wait to finally see it in person and to meet the people with which I will be spending the next four and a half months.

As for now, I am not so much nervous as I am excited and eager with anticipation more than anything else. I have waited so long and am anxious to finally be there. I will be so relieved when I am done traveling and settled in so I can begin learning all there is to learn and seeing all there is to see. I get butterflies every time I remember to myself that in less than 24 hours, I will be stepping foot onto European soil for the first time in my life... what an incredible opportunity He has given me! Praise God for His goodness, always.

At this point, I am not so much scared but realistically recognizing the difficulties with which the language barrier will present me. Although I have studied French for about eight years now, I know that it will be an entirely new experience speaking with natives. However, I am confident that if I am able to overcome my apprehension enough to try, without fear of failure or perhaps messing up, my language skills will increase tremendously. I've been told that total immersion is the best way to go if language proficiency is the goal, so I have to trust that as hard as it may be, this will be the absolute best possible thing for me. Living with a French family and taking all of my courses in French, I look very much forward to seeing my skills progress and learning to express myself more fluently and efficiently.

Perhaps my biggest anxiety about my time there will be finding a "faith" community. During my time at Urbana 09 in St. Louis, I attended a session on the francophone world and I was absolutely shocked at some of the statistics I was hearing. The man speaking was the IFES director of the Caribbean where he said only about 10% of people are believers. I was startled by this number, but he went on to say that this was, in fact, quite high in comparison to France where it is an estimated 0.4%. In the past century, France has undergone Laïcité. This is a widespread secularization movement that has banned anything "religion" from public facilities. It is not like here in the United States where, for instance, a school is perhaps just not affiliated with a particular religion, but any sort of religious discussion, symbols and clothing is absolutely prohibited. In fact, I will not even be allowed to wear my cross to school, as it is a public university, unless I tuck it away underneath my shirt.

After the session, I was actually able to speak with a young girl about my age who had studied in France last summer, and I was able to ask her some questions about what it will be like as a believer in their country. The first thing that she said was, "Your faith will certainly be tested, Bethany. BUT you will leave there so much stronger than when you went." She said that it is very difficult living in a place where discussion of religion, faith and beliefs is absolutely unheard of. However, she was also very encouraging because she said that people there are so curious. She said that when you approach them without any agenda and simply get to know them as friends, it is then that THEY begin to ask questions, and it is then that you have the opportunity to share your beliefs. So, although I was shocked and a bit taken aback by some of the things I was hearing, I was relieved to finally be able to talk to someone who knew, who had experienced it firsthand and who could better prepare me for what it will be like.

God never ceases to amaze me because as all of this was unfolding and my thoughts on this topic became more frequent, I was speaking with my cousin in California, Donna, who mentioned her friends living in France. She gave me their information, and, upon contacting them, I found out that they too are believers and have been doing ministry in France for many, many years now. Although they do not refer to themselves as "missionaries", as that is forbidden in France, they serve in the areas of pastoral care, discipleship training in French churches, etc. How incredible and encouraging! I have been in contact with them via email and I look forward to the possibility of maybe even meeting them while I am there.

Overall, I look forward to this trip as an adventure. An adventure to travel, to learn, to meet new people and see new places, but also an adventure in my walk with our Lord. I know that at times it will be difficult, but I also know the He is faithful, all the time. Throughout all of this, I am constantly reminded of Psalm 37:4 that says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." I am so thankful to Him for providing the way for this trip and the blessing that I know it is going to be. I am eager to see how He will use it to grow me and make me into the person that He desires for me to be.

I am anxious to share with you all at least a small piece of my experience and my time there. Please be praying for safe travels and for His hand of protection during my time in France. I am eager to learn about all that He has in store for me, and I am excited to be able to share that with the people that I love most... you all, my friends and family.

Au revoir, mes amis!