Well, we've done quite a bit of touring around these past couple days. I need to get back in the swing of bloggin'.

Sunday was a rainy day to start off but it ended bright and shiny with lots of "yellow"!! Yeah, we couldn't resist the crazed 'foule' that pressed all the barricades along the Champs d'Elysees, so we joined them. Michelle, Christina and I pressed in with a wild and diverse crowd of Tour gawlkers. Hours upon hours of standing just to see him speed by in his bright yellow jersey- Lance Armstrong! We came within a couple meters of him and watched him pull out the last 10 laps of the sprints. Among the gawlkers we discovered standing near us "Rowdy Rowdy Piper"- arms as thick as trees, gazing upon the crowd and racers from his perch on the Champs. ....Lance won for the 5th time in a row.

I've taken time to see a few sights before I launch back into school. Christina and I visited the chic department store La Samaritaine and enjoyed sandwiches and juice from the upper terrace. What an incredible view!

I hit the books on Friday at 8:30am. I am reverted to the morning schedule but I think it will work out just fine. I have morning classes and then a few seminars 3 days a week. It will be nice to be in a bigger campus setting. I hope to glean from the French culture in a new way these next few months. I also hope to get to know a bit more this grand city in which I find myself.

We're saying good bye to Sophie who has a teaching post in Austrailia. I'm sad that she is leaving; I wish I could have spent more time with her. Her flight is Monday.

"its raining, its pouring, the old man is snoring..." Some days are grey and so is the case today. We feel lazy and have been hanging around. I did get my email inbox cleaned up a bit. Now I can write another newsletter and get blasted again. So to top off the day, we're taking Christina into Paris to see the Champs d'Elysées at night. I'll take my camera and finish the roll that I started the other day.

I have decided though, that I can't keep shooting film. This must come to an end! I can't afford it. So I'll be looking for a digital camera that will be more useful here on the ministry field.

Tomorrow the chasers of Lance Armstrong will cross the finish line in Paris and I plan to be there. A friend predicts that Lance has already won and followed his comments with "vive les US!"

I did get enrolled to start my next leg of language studies. From August 1 til December, I'll be studying at the Friends of the Sorbonne.

Amazingly I'm back at bloggin'. The OIKOS team has survived another summer of evangelism, the joy and tears of hard work, and, for me, what it is like to slip back into life in France. I watched a terrific team of new friends leave on airplanes from Charles de Gaulle, but I was left here in Paris to begin another chapter of life here. Instead of going "home" to rest or return to school or work- I'm here. Shopping again for bagettes, creatively slapping together my best salsa, and considering the fall.

To be honest, the outreach was very tiring and I've decided to stay in hot Paris for the month of August. Today I go to enroll at an affiliate school to the Sorbonne to begin my studies again on the 1st. This means I will be back in school, but like I have never been in my entire life. The Sorbonne is huge. It is ancient and renown and I am a pitily american trying to learn the language they will teach in. I am so glad that I am not to be enrolled in Paris IV, but that I will occasionally receive the lectures of those profs. My courses will be advanced language learning, phonetics- lab and all, and culture and civilization lectures. August will be my running start for September. It all starts on the 11th and will culminate mid-December with exams.

So I'm going to get to experience August in Paris- and I'm grateful that today and the next couple days are cooling down. There are places to explore, classes every morning and La Rentrée to experience. I have also enlisted myself in an exercise discipline. We can pray that I will be faithful to my commitments and that I will physically benefit from the blood-pumping. Yippee!! I certainly would love to find a program a little more interesting than a morning jog, though.

So I survived my second Bastille Day in the heart of Paris. 2000 was pretty spectacular. We were seated in the front row, if there is such a thing: right up under the Eiffel Tower and just before the bridge over the Seine. We were sprinkled with the cinders of the artificial fire accompanied by a very powerful sound system that stretched the entire length of the Champs de Mars.

This year, 2003, we were again joined by the masses to view the light and smoke display. My perspective was a little different, though. I sat nearly at the end of the Champs, out of earshot of the powerful speakers and my view was blocked by that large pointy monument known as the Eiffel Tower. The show took on a new nuance as the Tower lights were exstinguished and the smoke and lights backlit the scene. They used similar plumes of sparkes as in 2000 and even the same twirly white ones that I had so admired. Our little clan was fortuante enough to take the 3rd to the last train home from the city, while our other half was separated and took the scenic route home..., at 8am. In some ways I'm jealous of the grassy sleep-over they had and the moonrise silhouetted Tower they witnessed.

I am reminded so easily how pitiful man is. Tonight, the 15th of July, God had another light show scheduled. The french are amazing architechs, and serious pyros when it comes to their independence day. But their show only reaches so far into the heavens and their fire leaves smoke, and their sound system sounds like the cheap paper speakers that get blown on the first trip out in comparison to the light show God put on tonight.

Tonight I witnessed, for free, from my own house, viewed from any window or perch with a view of the sky, the spectacular power of a living God. I started into the dishes and a few flashes of lightning lit up the clouding sky. The wind had picked up and the humidity and heat that still clings to the cobble and pavement collided with fantastic bass and frantic white light, fingering out across the sky- 20 times the size of anything we saw at the Tower. It started slow and began to gain momentum. I dropped the dishes and ran for the windows and threw them open to have a clearer view. The storm moved around the house so I went outside and joined 10 more worshipers of our amazing God and his fire show.

I can't help but wonder if one person in Chelles asked God for a sign, or if God was just putting on the show to put us Bastille celebraters in our place, or perhaps he was throwing a rave party for the angels. One can't say; but I know this- That a sky that is lit by fire that cannot be tracked, anticipated, or predicted; accompanied by bass and percussion like no other; and can be explained through scientific means, really is authored by something much much greater than any human ever has or will be. This is my God: awesome, powerful, renown, merciful, and patient.

We stayed out until the rain began to push us in, but I recovered a perch in my kitchen widows. I had a wide angle lens view of a diving lightning bolt that split at the tail and forked into the black sky. Over and over again, but never once the same. Clouds splintered one piercing beam making the lightning remind me of fishbones. Never in my life have I been so in awe of nature powered by my God.

I came to France with anticipation of seeing these lightning storms, but never have I seen one so powerful, expansive and magnificent as was tonight. I'll quote Roy on this one, "I wish my eyes had a record button."

After more than a week of long, hot draining days, the main thrust of our evangelistic outreach is coming to a close. 10 Korean Americans joined the 4 of us OIKOS girls, Jonathan and Karen (and Sammy), a crew from the church at Claye and Lagny, and a clan of Alsacans who love Jesus and play all kinds of brass instruments. We sang love songs to our Savior, talked about our God, and prayed to Him for the select lives that we would meet in the town of Chelles.

46,000 people later, we gleaned an astounding 60 interested souls, listened to Soul music, Gospel music and shared our lunch with neighborhood kids playing in the park. We trudged from door to door in 90 degree weather, trusting the Lord to direct our steps and our tongues. I admit that I have never felt so wonderfully tired in all my life.

Everyone made amazing efforts to keep the team moving forward. We were a generally calm team with few bumps in the road except that we were forced to give up one super team member, Audrey, on Thursday. She finished strong in prayer and in ministering to her hospital roommate. (It is now official that the OIKOS apartment stairs are quite dangerous and all persons must now used the handrail without fail.)

Pictures and video are available for viewing at Michelle's blogspot and at the LA Hanmi website. You can also meet the Korean team here and see stills of people that I know like Evrard and Swanson and the Hodapp family. Enjoy!

We are swinging full speed into our mission in the city of Chelles. We have a team of about 25 people, from France and the States. Tomorrow is the big day when we walk all over the town putting invitations in mailboxes. It is a crazy day and we all get very tired, sore feet.

My responsibilities are for the worship time each morning. So far we are getting in the groove and teaching a few of the main songs in french and english. Our american team is doing wonderfully as they learn to twist their tongues around the new words and sounds. This whole project of leading my team in songs to the Lord is a curious one: I am doing my best to go ahead and struggle- grow and not be perfect. I'm also challenged by coordinating a large populous of talented musicians with differing styles. I keep reminding myself that it will all work out, not to get frustrated.

Well I finally got some pictures up in a new album.

We are full speed into a 10 day mission. I hope to keep updating my thoughts. So far, I'm stoked to be meeting 10 Korean Americans from LA. They bring honest positive attitudes and fresh reminders of why I'm here for a longer time. They have reminded me of the differences and the reasons why I am struggling with certain cultural differences for the moment. I pray that I can reestablish my heart attitude and enjoy the change of pace, even though it is faster than normal.

The gromits of suburb Paris think 'bad' equals burning cars. Today, as I approached my train station for a quick run into Paris, I noted a burned garbage can. The gray plastic mini dumpster had been melted to a meer bassin with wheels.

I'm on the upswing from my cold. Yesterday's nap and long night sleep helped quite a bit.

Its been very tiring lately. I am exhausted and the heat of the sun hasn't been too helpful. In addition, nature saw fit to strike me with a timely cold and sore throat. I'm dealing with it all as graciously as possible. I have one week to recover.

I am beginning to anticipate our 10 day stint in Chelles. There is always an extra bit of energy that surges through the team when we work to invite an entire city to a Gospel concert. This time round, I am more excited to see how things have changed in the world of evangelism since I was last involved in a summer mission. We've been working hard on organization of the music, and others, like my roommate are planning the training of the entire team of 40 people.

Even with this new adrenaline pumping, I feel a personal frustration with language. I don't hear it much at home and only seem to speak it when I am outside the house which is considerably less in the last month. They say learning a language is like climbing a mountain: first, you go up and its super tough but exciting cuz you can see your progress. Then you climb along a flat place that is so dry and hot and, in my case, sun scorched; you can't see too well where you've been nor where you are going; in fact- you feel more like you're doing worse than you were a few steps previous.

Add a few wet tears to the already running nose, a homesick lump in the throat and cracked dry lips and you've got a pretty clear picture of life for the moment...and thank God, its just for the moment.

The much needed vacation behind me, I was greeted by a swift sore throat and cold this morning. There is much work to do in preparation for the week in Chelles but I need to rest.

One highlight from the trip to Nice: Adrienne and I spent the first day in a town called Juan Les Pins, just one stop east of Cannes. We shopped and found our very own spot on a sandy beach, swam in the Mediteranean, dried off, swam again and dried off again. Then for dinner at about 8pm, we targeted a pizzeria on the beach. We sat about 20 feet from the waves, wiggled our toes in the sand and ate amazing pizza's in the "palm tree and sunset sky". This town is my recommendation to any person desirous of a little 'repos'.

A little work, a little play. Every summer that was the theme. I had to weed one row of the garden and I could play the afternoon. Its been a busy spring time with language learning, church ministry and summer ministry preparation. Tomorrow I get to take off and rest for a couple days. I'll be back on Thursday. The sun of the riviera is calling and heaven knows, I need it! This will be my first visit to Nice.

there's a first time for everything

I don't remember my first word, or my first step, but I do remember my first piano recital on that clanky piano at Elk Plain so many years ago with Wanda Fisher so proud of us students. My hands sweat so hard that I thought the piano would melt.

I had my first solo flight into Paris back in February. It was freezing cold and because the Russian president was in town they had closed half of the métro line I needed and so I ended up walking the Champs d'Elysées. Yesterday I experienced my first Fête de la Musique. I have been rehearsing with a group from Noisy Champs for over a month. We took to the stage and played our best renditions of Negro Spirituals. It was quite an experience and I did enjoy myself although I never thought of myself as a gospel accompanist. We took to the city after our little show and I joined thousands of Parisiens and tourists at République for a fantastic show of live music and people. There was a sea of people pouring out of the streets, from the main square, and the métros.

This morning I set out on my next first time adventure. Katie and I jumped in the bus to head for church, my first solo flight. I was able to sucessfully manoeuver the desiel manual transmission, 9 passanger van from our "hill" driveway and out the gate. We then discovered we needed to buy fuel. So I bought desiel for the first time here in France- no problem! We headed off and took the scenic route to church. This means that I missed our exit for one freeway and ended up on another where I had to pay a toll to get myself turned back around. The freeways in Paris run in circles and I've been all mixed up since arriving here but I think, after the solo flight today, I have it straightened out- at least in my head.

We were only 45 minutes late for the practice! It was Katie's first day to play at church with us. She did great.

This weekend will be one of the busiest I've seen in a long time. I've been recruited to be a part of a group that will perform with so many other groups across France during their National Fête de Musique. It should be interesting. I do have a long day ahead of me. Thus, beauty sleep is a must.

I'm not an English teacher but I am considered a native speaker here by some. Tuesday I went to work with my roommate, Audrey. Audrey is an English teacher and I was her "show and tell" all day long. I met approximately 100 kids, told them all my name, where I was from, about my family and about Portland. I showed a little flick prepared by my talented friends in Portland, footage of the Pharmacy guys and Dept of Sk8boarding.

The toughest part of the whole day was speaking English only and not letting on that I understood any french. So many times I just wanted to break out in French, answer questions that were constantly being syphoned through Audrey. Amongst these restless Jr. Highers I discovered a few skaters. One moment in particular was tough for me. I hear a little dude say he wished those guys would come to France and skate with him and his friends. I wanted to say, "Yeah, that's a great idea. I'll call them up and ask them if they'd do that." Each class time I saw so many eyes looking at me wondering what I was, excited to tell me what little English they could. Many talked about musicians and had picked photos of their heros to show me. I saw huge trends toward popular music and musicians who were my own age: one woman killed a few years back in a plane accident- the girl said that she would live on in her heart.

Crazy that girls my age are making millions singing and dressing in hardly anything and changing the lives of some Jr highers all over the world. I ask what kind of impact I make. These women and men may pass just as quickly as the New Kids on the Block, but can I keep going and leave even a bigger legacy? I guess its not so much me who wants the legacy- but I desire a life that counts for more than just a pile of money or fame. My life is filled right now with the hunt for where I can continue to discover a life that is counting for something on this earth.

Ok. I have much to say but it will have to wait til tomorrow. I did update my photo albums at ImageStation. Make sure to look toward the bottom of the page where it offers you to look at my other albums.

Thanks Jonathan for blogging even when you wanted to protect your eyes from the harmful screen rays. I'm snagging your link to Global360. There is just too much cool stuff there.

I didn't stare blankly at the page you should click on above. Instead I pondered where I have been in relation to where I am today. Less than 6 months ago I would never have stumbled onto a blog page or a site like YWAM's and followed links around like a child chasing spilled cheerios. Today I read through people's thoughts on missions, what it is like to be a Christian in their world, be it India, China, Austrailia, UK, or good ol' US of A. Why do I so desperately want to know what they are doing?

For some reason the world seems smaller from over here in Paris. Maybe I see more cultures represented on a daily basis. I'm in a constant struggle to learn to live in another culture, speak another language, and love the people like Jesus loves them. I'm deciding that even though this country has so few Christians, it is just like the US in that Christians exist, they want to love God and worship Him with all their being, and my job is to love them, stand by that flame, and testify to its beauty- praying for its growth and all the while knowing I'm weak, a "foot washer", and leaning on Christ for grace in all the mistakes I'm bound to make.

"ÇA VA?!!!!!!" I was woken again this afternoon from my nap by the return of M. Surf. The ride is up and running again and the music has started again. I guess I'll give him a break today since its Father's Day. It feels like its been an extremely long day so far but the evening is quickly approaching...too bad I took a nap. Now I'll be up til late hours. But that works fine for me, cuz I need to call my Dad and tell him how much I love him...

For the last two nights, the citizens of Lognes have been partying in our backyard until about midnight. Loud music pulsates from little kiddy rides and bumper cars. Madonna screams out her popular hits from a ride called Miami Surf, which tosses it's crazed fanatics around in a large circle. They board the "Surf" and choose one of the 20 seats all lined up in a row. Then a large padded bar gently settles in their laps and the megga board takes off clockwise with a yell from the conductor. "Ça va?" he yells. "Ça va!" and then he sends the ride flying counterclockwise. One particular girl's hair is quite a site as it flies around in circles. It just shows how much more violent the ride is than it looks. "Laissez tout!" and all the hands go in the air! This seemed to be the popular ride for the teenagers. For now- I'm glad they turned off Madonna and the Surf conductor has turned down his lights and smoke and strobes. I will sleep in relative peace...until tomorrow night.

Love/Hate
Why do I have such a love/hate relationship with change? I love change. I think everybody should be looking for change. I think change is great. In fact, I have even taken it so far as to say that "change = learning". If I'm not changing, then I'm not really learning. Learning is a sign of growth. "The minute you stop learning, you stop growing." "Our greatest fear in life is getting 'stuck'." Its a thought of progress, movement, forward action. Its deeper than just memorizing, regurgitation on some exam; it's personalizing, transforming, making me someone I wasn't before. Some have called this developmentalism (thanks Dr. Patty). Its more than a romanticized exploration of self and environment; more than facts and memory tricks, more than discussion with people and theorizing, and more than a 'pavlovization' by culture, teachers, parents and profs. Some of the coolest stories come from people who tell how they were and how they are changed.

I hate change. It means passing from comfort to uncomfort. It means stripping me from "me" and replacing it with new. It means humiliation and an almost seemingly hypocrisy. Its saying one thing and then later, a transformation of thought that comes out saying the opposite. It feels fickle. It makes one eat humility. It means being weak when we had always thought ourselves strong. Its painful to change. It means mistakes, retries, and 'brain smoke'. It makes one tired, a forced battle with self.

I tried to imagine the world full of changing people. Everyone was focused on expanding their reservoir of knowledge from a learner's point of view. People content in their humility and weakness- seeking the better, stronger way but never flanting strength.

Today I had some RUG time with my friends Katie and MaryBeth. It was so awesome to pray together for people we know and love, for ourselves and for France. We praised God for His creation and His love. The more we prayed to Him, the more we were overcome with this Yahweh. It makes me feel small- a good place to be!

Today Audrey brought a few students over to make American Chocolate Chip Cookies with real live Americans. We had a blast. Check the photo link for a new album called Les Français, where you will see picturess from the event! They had a blast and so did we. They made some of the best cookies I have ever tasted...but they were being coached by the pros!