joyeux noël
Photo by Becky Stonehocker
A very, Merry Christmas from the Tan clan in Paris! Here is a little summary of our year as per Christmas card tradition.
Maryn: Student taught photography at Maple Mountain High School and engineering at South Jordan Middle School and lived to tell the tale! Graduated with a degree in Technology and Engineering Education from BYU and began working for My Tech High, an online homeschool program that specializes in technology and entrepreneurship. Works as an instructional designer, course instructor, and mentor from home. In love with meeting new people in Paris and credits reading the Book of Mormon in French for making any progress in learning the language.
Freddy: Was accepted to three different incredible graduate schools in Europe and finally decided to accept the offer to attend the International Security program at Sciences Po in Paris. Graduated with a degree in Political Science from BYU and worked as a research assistant for a big wig professor, which led him to an opportunity to be a panelist at the Romney/Kennedy Republican Senate debate. Made it through his first semester of graduate school all while making beautiful culinary masterpieces in his spare time (see his blog here)—he even spent a day cooking in a Michelin-starred restaurant in London just for kicks.
Both: Celebrated two years of marriage in June. Packed up and moved to Paris, France for two years and fell in love with the City of Lights. Besides the food and the magical sights, our favorite part of Paris is the people—especially our ward. We've loved getting involved and attempting to serve in whatever ways we can.
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For me, this is the first Christmas in a long time where most of December won't be consumed by finishing up the semester and trying to survive finals. I loved school, but... It's so nice to feel like I can be totally present and make the most of the Christmas season. I'm trying extra hard to focus our Christmas on Christ and loving and serving as He would. Today we went caroling with the missionaries and some ward members outside the Pompidou, a modern art museum on a street that gets a lot of foot traffic. It was amazing to see peoples' faces light up as they walked past—several paused to listen for a while and some even took pictures and videos of us. The spirit and joy of Christmas are universal and it was powerful to feel it in full force today (see video below).
Love,
The Tans
P.S. I'm going to be better at blogging this month.
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