Birthday speech at Daejin Girls' HS (2022-09-05)

 

Today September 5th is my birthday! I celebrated by giving a speech at the Daejin Girls' School in Seoul. They cheered my every word and made me feel like the celebrity they think I am. If I had fallen off the stage then they would have blamed school staff for not properly preparing the stage.

They engaged with me by asking questions based on what I said during my 90-minute speech (with interpretation by FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee). A few years ago when I gave speeches to South Korean students I could expect them to be too shy to ask questions or for them to read questions written by their teachers. But not tonight!

I was introduced by one of the teachers at the school. She told them that it was my birthday. They sang happy birthday to me.

After the speech, it was photo time! They had already looked me up in the world of the Internet so they think I am a celebrity.

We met with one of the school leaders. He had joined the speech and said he was impressed and had learned a lot.

FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee pointed out that they were asking questions even though Q&A started at 7:30 p.m. They were active and alert.

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Over the years I have worked on my birthday on weekends, such as having two (or was it three?) orientation sessions in one day. I have had other working birthdays, which is quite a change because when I was in the USA I rarely worked on my birthday.

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The day started with FSI staff treating me to lunch, cake, and their singing of Happy Birthday.

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By the way, you can support my organization's activities with a donation on Facebook, PayPal or the 5-2 Foundation or by purchasing Greenlight to Freedom for yourself or a friend.

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2022-09-06 speech at Daejin