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Showing posts from October, 2013

2013-10-24 speech at a high school in Nowon

There is an old saying: "The threat of execution sharpens the mind." The students at a high school I spoke at today proved that. I had been wondering why they were paying such close attention to my speech. I think I found the answer: Their teachers closely listened to my speech, took notes, and let the students know there would be a quiz! All 150+ of the students there were focused. My speech lasted more than an hour, but it seemed to be engaging enough to keep them interested. I think I am getting better at mixing humor, information, and lessons into my talks. I got very good feedback from the teachers. They were all shocked that the students were asking questions, they said they NEVER ask questions in class and that they have remained silent when they have had other guest speakers. So the teachers will study my speech to get tips to figure out how they can get the students to ask questions in the future!

2013-10-20 Documentary recording

Thanks to the ever-alert Aaron McKenzie, I know that I am in a PBS documentary. “Economic Freedom in Action: Changing Lives.” It is always nice to be on TV or on movie theater screens, although I rarely watch TV or frequent movie theaters. But what I am most proud of us is not the handful of seconds that I am on screen. Rather, it is that I am the one who guided the documentary directors in the direction of focusing on North Korea. They had asked me to give them advice for a 15 minute segment on economic freedom in South Korea that was going to be part of a larger documentary. In my response, I told them that I could help them with that, but that I had a better idea: North Koreans! I had enough contacts here that I could them find some interesting stories to choose from. They weren’t immediately convinced, I’m sure the projects had been in works for a while (raising the financing or funding, getting approval from PBS or other decision-makers). They got back to me, but it was clear that

2013-10-12 CtyNet Panel Chair

  I'm not young, not sure what I'm a professional at, will never run for Congress, and I'm not North Korean. Nevertheless, I was the Chair of a panel discussion about North Korean refugees yesterday at the CITYNET Young Professionals Congress. I introduced the Mulmangcho School and talked about my experience volunteering for North Korean refugees. Some random thoughts: * I forgot to introduce what Mulmangcho means! It was an oversight, I guess I talk about the school so often that I forget to mention that. I guess I need a checklist of things to say. * One funny thing about forgetting: A distinguished speaker at the event who is a fluent Korean speaker asked me what Mulmangcho meant. He hesitated to ask me during the panel discussion because he didn't want to embarrass me, in case I didn't know. My response: "You should have asked me when I was on stage! If I didn't know what it meant then I would deserve to be embarrassed publicly." * A few people at

2013-10-10--speech at international school

Yesterday I gave a talk at an international school just outside of Seoul. The organizer asked me to briefly introduce Mulmangcho. Haha! They should have been more specific what they meant by "briefly." My "brief" remarks turned into a 30 minute speech, then with actual questions during Q&A! * It was like "The Best of Casey Lartigue Talking," as I quickly updated and combined my PPTs to include three different talks once I realized I had up to 45 minutes. Best of all, I magica lly connected the themes to wrap it all up like I had planned it in advance.. * Anyone who has taught English in Korea knows that one of the common reminders you will give to students is "speak English." But not with at the international school. The teachers, students and staff all spoke English 99% of the time I was there. * Thanks to Mr. Allen Sanchez for connecting me with them. He is a former volunteer at the Mulmangcho school and also a friend to Nort

2013-10-08 A woman is a flower

  * What happens when people RSVP for a Facebook event--and they actually show up?!? You need to get more seats!  * This event was speech prep for one of the speakers. I had been invited to go to New Delhi, India, to give a speech. I had mentioned that I was doing some work with North Korean refugees, the hosts then asked if a North Korean refugee could join me. After selecting a speaker, I then organized this event to give her a chance to get prepared for India. www.lovetnkr.org/donate * The speakers last night...Wow! They both escaped from North Korea. So it was a poignant reminder of how precious freedom is. It is humbling, realizing that they had to risk their lives to escape to freedom that so many of us take for granted. For most of us, we just buy a ticket (airplane, train, bus) and process government paperwork to move to a new country. But North Korean refugees must evade kidnappers, border guards, police, traffickers and others who prey on them, taking advantage of governments