Skip to main content

2019-12-01 Harvard annual alumni dinner

It was great, as usual, I have attended several years in a row. Some of the usual dignitaries were there, I renewed acquaintances with some Harvard grads I only see at the dinner.




















They are all fans of TNKR, including Songmi, a new student joining TNKR! She will probably be in both Tracks 1 and 3.

Update: Songmi and I wrote a book together, she talked about how incredible the night was for her. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2022/09/137_336202.html


Mr. Kwon of Goldman Sachs delivered the keynote address.


"You can always tell a Harvard man but you can't tell him much." 

Mr. Kwon, the keynote speaker who I'm sure has forgotten more about economics than I have ever known, was a bit surprised I knew some specific things about trade issues. Once upon a time, I did have a life before co-founding TNKR.



Prof. Park has also had some interactions with North Korean refugees, especially youngsters.


They were showing previous activities, one of the other attendees mentioned, "It seems that you are in many of the photos."



President of the Harvard Club of Korea.


The Harvard Club of Korea was more active in 2019 than it has been in recent years. Any ideas for events? They are listening!



The MCs for the night!


Photo time! They are also on my TNKR email list!


Charles is also on my TNKR email list!


Mr. Dr. Prof. Congressman Jin Park, former president of the Harvard Club, giving a toast. His resume is probably as long as chapters in books. He has had so many titles, been affiliated with so many organizations. And he is a TNKR fan.



High school students from an international school performed opera.



I won a prize and also helped a North Korean student win a prize when I whispered the answer to her. I also won a prize last year--I used to give tours about Harvard's history.


 The host of the quiz was hilarious, politely letting those Harvard graduates know that they don't know much about Harvard's history. But she didn't look in my direction after I answered a question, although I put my hand up to answer about 10 of the questions. I won some nice Maxim coffee, which I donated to TNKR. But I barely lost out on the airplane ticket, my raffle ticket was six, the winner had number 5. But then, I am not much of a traveler, so I would have donated it unless I could have also set up a speech opportunity on the West Coast.

 

With Mr. Dr. Prof. Congressman Jin Park. He always has warm words for TNKR and encourages us to keep up the good work.



The photos below are for the food porn addicts.




*******************************************

#harvardalumni #loveTNKR #teachnorthkoreanrefugees #caseylartigue #HarvardUniversity

It was clear that TNKR was well-known, some of the Harvard graduates are even on my mailing list. Not many are on the TNKR donor list, so I still have some work to do.
I usually say I am not busy, but the past few days, I have really been busy. It was a busy part of a busy weekend.

* Saturday morning, 4 hour TV interview
(NAP time)
* Saturday afternoon, moderated a TNKR Global Leadership Forum with four TV personalities.
* Sunday morning, greeted TNKR students arriving for Matching session
* Sunday afternoon, helped lead TNKR Language Matching session #98
* Sunday evening, Harvard alumni dinner
* Monday morning, speech to a tour group
* Monday afternoon, TV interview
(NAP time)
* Monday afternoon, shooting footage for TV interview
* Tuesday, six hours of teaching public speaking at Seoul University of Foreign Studies.
* Interview with a North Korean refugee as part of prep for Track 3 being launched in 2020.

If you sent me a message over the weekend, I probably didn't check it, I got over 1,000 unread messages again.

Popular posts from this blog

Radio, Harvard

I'll be a guest on XM 169 The Power this morning from 10:15 a.m. EST. I'll be talking about teaching English abroad. I'll be interviewed by Brian Higgins of MYB Talk . I sang last night for about five hours with friends but I'm sure my voice will be fine. Tuesday, I'll be interviewed by a Harvard University representative who wants my input on a new doctoral program for education leaders . It is a collaboration between the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School. Some folks at the Booker Rising site are (again) reminding me that I'm not as smart as I think I am. CJL

Scam? Yo Momma!

Note: This was originally posted shortly after Jesse Lee Peterson's book was published, reposted in 2005, and now because of a fight between black customers and a Korean merchant in Dallas, Texas. Scam? Yo Momma! During the summer of 2002 I was an observer to a dispute between the Asian owners of a Chinese takeout and some of their black customers in Washington, D.C. The month-long boycott began when a local activist accused a cook at a Chinese takeout of attempting to cook a piece of chicken he had allegedly dropped on the floor. Despite the best efforts of human rights activist Dick Gregory, popular talk-show host Joe Madison, and Rev. Walter Fauntroy, the protestors were unable to coax any media to report on the protest. On some days there were, by my unofficial count, as many as 100 people chanting songs and marching. But one key person was missing: Rev. Jesse Jackson. It was important to the foot soldiers at the boycott that someone from the media report on...

Get rid of that watermelon!

Part 1: When I was a youngster I used to collect Confederate money, posters and photographs with caricatures of blacks, and "No blacks allowed signs." I loved the money because it was a reminder of how far the sorry Confederacy had fallen. I had one poster of a dark-skinned black boy munching on a watermelon. I would look at that small poster and wonder, "What in the world is wrong with anyone wanting to eat watermelon?" Yes, white people, I'm talking to you. Your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors who thought making fun of blacks for eating watermelon were crazy ! Even people who say that nothing has changed in race relations must acknowledge that the many stereotypes of blacks are no longer prevalent. But then, there are also some ready to remind us of days-gone-by by debunking stuff that doesn't need to be debunked today. According to the Washington Post: The sound you just heard was yet another racial stereotype going kersplat ! Some ...

How long until they get arrested? Not long enough!!!

As I recently noted, some executives were arrested for putting industrial ethanol in food they sold. I noted: "Of course, it seems that NO ONE checks on the stuff sold on the streets of Seoul..." I haven't been this wrong since 1982! What will happen to these folks? The Korea Times reports: 24 Percent of Ice Cream Contaminated With Germs About a quarter of ice cream and ice at restaurants and drink shops in Seoul is contaminated with high levels of bacteria that can cause food poisoning, according to Seoul City, Monday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) inspected 74 ice cream shops, fast food franchises, coffee houses and bakeries. Among the shops selling ice cream and ice, 18 shops sold products that contained more than the permitted levels of bacteria such as colon bacillus and staphylococcus aureus that can cause food poisoning. I love 팥빙수 (patbingsu) so I would support the death penalty for anyone selling contaminated stuff in it. The city government also inspec...

Mentoring while Black (Korea Times 2/16/2023)

  Mentoring while Black by Casey Lartigue Jr. February 16, 2023 www.patreon.com/caseylartigue