On Friday, I shared the stage with North Korean refugee Eunhee Park.
Yesterday, I shared the stage with North Korean refugee author Eunsun Kim. She told her story and talked about numerous issues related to North Korea.
Her story is moving. Just using a few notes, she talked for almost an hour. It was a mix of shocking incidents in North Korea along with humor.
Of course, everyone was there to hear from her, but one thing that I loved is that the audience was with her. It is a great thing as a speaker to get an audience on your side. When she would forget a word in English, Youngmin Kwon or Eunkoo Lee were ready to translate. And the audience was helping out by trying to finish her sentences. It was a beautiful sight, to see an audience so involved with a speaker. It was even better than a call-and-response from a minister to his flock. In Eunsun's case, she was telling her story, the audience was hanging on every detail.
Eunsun first joined TNKR in mid-2014. She has spoken at many of our events, always delightful. She was the winner of our third English speech contest, back in February 2016 when TNKR was a fledgling fly-by-night crew.
I go out of my way to make sure people know that her English was already very good before she joined us. I have had to make this point because some stupid people have suggested we were trying to take credit for the accomplishments of refugees. We meet refugees at their level--ABC level, intermediate, speaker, whatever. Then give them the opportunity to improve their English, "finding their own way and telling their own stories."
It was an honor when Eunsun joined us and when she has returned to us more than once. I look forward to every meeting with her and wish her continued success.
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