Hello Westminster family! We appreciate the chance to update y’all on our life abroad through the blog posts.

Since schools start much later in France, we are just now preparing to begin teaching again. Alicia will continue working as an English language assistant in two middle schools and leading small group English immersion classes at a language center for kids. Austin will begin a new job at a private school as an English language assistant. As he had to complete the interview all in French and will be surrounded by staff members who only speak French, this is a huge opportunity for him to progress his speaking skills! He will continue taking French classes at the university and leading English immersion classes at an adult language center. We are extremely thankful for the ample job opportunities that God has provided throughout this year.

Outside of work, we have had the chance to make quite a few friends, both local and international. We’ve made friends from England, Brazil, Nigeria, Syria, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, the States, and other places. It has been so much fun learning about and discussing differing cultural experiences from the people we have met. Our prayer is to establish good friendships where we can talk about real things and model Jesus through our marriage and treating others with kindness and humility.

We would like to share a prayer request as well:
It has been difficult to find a church community here. There seems to be only one protestant church, which we have visited a few times, but found it difficult to connect with the people and the sermon due to the language barrier. We recently discovered there is a Tim Keller/Redeemer church plant in Paris, so we plan to make a trip there soon. Our prayer request is for direction and grace

With each blog post, we will also try to share a cultural fact/tip that we have learned since living here.

Fun France fact: Tipping at a restaurant, at the hairdresser, or for pizza delivery is not a thing here. Tipping is not built into the French wage like it is in the US, so it’s not a cultural norm to leave a tip at the end of a meal. The only time it is ever really done is when only ordering drinks at a restaurant, and even then, it is no more than 10%.