Adjusting to living abroad

Dennis Miller famously said: "Sure, the lion is king of the jungle but airdrop him into Antarctica & he's just a penguin's bitch."

I'm having that feeling now in Korea. Just getting basic things done can be a chore.

Mailing something from the post office? First, I had to figure out where the post office is. Then, I had to figure out how to get there. Then, I had to actually find the place. Then, let the folks there know what I wanted to do.

Thankfully, there's a post office just a block away from where I'm working. That means I only got lost once. I stopped a Korean woman on the street to ask her in Korean where the post office was. I had rehearsed the lines before leaving so I sounded quite fluent when I asked. She seemed surprised that I was asking about the post office. I suspect she thought I was asking her in English so I had to repeat myself before she actually caught on that I was asking her in Korean...

She ended up walking me part of the way to make sure I didn't get lost. I got to the post office without a problem, probably with her watching from a distance to make sure I didn't get lost again.

I mailed the letter without a problem at all. At least on this occasion, Korea was my bitch...

CJL

Common Sense on North Korea (Korea Times, April 2, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. As interesting as Kookmin University professor Andrei Lankov’s writings are, there is nothing quite like attending one of his lectures. He can barely restrain himself behind the podium, often pointing and waving his arms. I also enjoy his unscripted speeches, but his answers in Q&A sessions are like the difference between watching Michael Jordan shoot baskets in warm-ups and an actual game. I have finally discovered the secret behind Lankov’s consistently solid analysis about North Korea: Use common sense. At an Asan Institute conference last summer, he argued that North Korea watchers should try to understand North Korea from its perspective. Don’t most people know that you must understand the mindset of others you are dealing with? Yet, common sense in theory gets ignored politically. From the North Korean perspective, nuclear weapons are the best thing they’ve got going. They will NOT give them up easily, even if President Obama ...

Park Jin welcoming remarks to FSI (and Casey Lartigue)

National Assembly member Park Jin makes the welcoming remarks at FSI's conference featuring North Korean diplomats. Park Jin | Greeting message to FSI and Casey Lartigue mention - YouTube

Freedom Factory Shareholder Meeting (2015-01-31)

Re: Building something out of nothing Freedom Factory is a very small company, of which I am a shareholder. Yesterday we had our annual shareholder meeting. Freedom Factory is allowing us to "incubate" TNKR until we can stand on our two own feet--or at least crawl on our four hands and feet. (Consumer Rights Watch is in the same position). I owe special thanks to FF CEO 김정호. He is a "true believer" in the cause of freedom, so he is allowing both projects to grow out of FF. That's even though Freedom Factory is a small start up with the CEO, staff and supporters wondering how we are going to achieve our dreams with such a tight budget. So when I say I am so thankful to the volunteers and donors of TNKR, it isn't just lip service. Volunteers--along with Freedom Factory, the Atlas Network, donors--are helping us to create something out of nothing, helping North Korean refugees find their own way and tell their own stories. Like the FF CEO, I also don...

2018-09-28 Not everyone at KFC cooks chickens

Most of the people who contact us at TNKR naturally want to tutor North Korean refugees. Many potential volunteers are shocked shocked shock ed to learn that they can volunteer with TNKR in other ways. I tell many of them: "Not everyone at KFC cooks chickens. There are also delivery people, accountants, marketers, personnel, and a host of other positions." Earlier this year, we began developing the TNKR Volunteer Leadership Academy. I'm still waiting for someone to take over that little project. Until then, I will continue with developing it. And be developing it, I mean telling people, "Don't write me a long business plan about what you would like to do. Just start doing it, keep me updated and in the conversations, then let's talk and update." We have had a recent influx of volunteers who want to help TNKR in other ways. Jackie Cole is now running our Instagram. She constantly surprises me with the flyers and videos she posts. I made it clear from the ...

From nothing to something super special (2023-02-10)

FSI has moved into a better institutional neighborhood where we are the poorest in the area. In August 2022, I was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) and in January 2023 FSI achieved incorporation status in South Korea. This has meant that FSI must upgrade operations and structure and I am the one, as chairman and co-president, who will be blamed if it doesn’t happen. I really should not be the chairman, for a variety of reasons, but anyway I am. Eunkoo and I are not the typical executives of a growing organization. In addition to being mainly responsible for building and fundraising for the organization, we are the hands-on leaders who are constantly in contact with North Korean refugee speakers. We look forward to the day we can afford staff to handle many tasks. Until then we can expect to continue having more days like yesterday, even on Eunkoo’s birthday. 2023-02-10 Meeting #1: planning We started Eunkoo’s birthday with a planning...

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