2014-04-21 Mulmangcho book party, award

Yesterday was incredibly hectic...work...serious meeting about canceling the rally and then having some distinguished people looking at me to make the final decision...BBC radio interview....booking a studio, unseen, and dealing with communication issue... one bad experience I won't talk about because it is ongoing...and almost everything coming together at the same time, for an incredibly hectic two hours with so many Kakao, texts, emails and phone calls that it seemed my phone might explode as I was holding it...

but there was something that was pure joy yesterday--receiving a very nice "Certificate of Appreciation" from Mulmangcho...

I was pleasantly surprised... it was such a wonderful moment that I didn't crack any jokes when I was at the microphone... and that's from a guy who would crack jokes at his own funeral...

* * *

I still remember that meeting back in October 2012 when Prof. Park asked me if I could teach English to the students at the new school.... I looked her right in the eye, and said, "No." She was stunned, asked if I wanted to think about it, pleading with me to do it. "No," I said, "but I might be able to find some teachers who can teach," but I wasn't really confident. After my first visit, I committed to help for a year.

That was 18 months ago.

Prof. Park openly calls me an angel, constantly thanks me for being a magnet to attract teachers and volunteers to the school, and for using my brain to help the school in so many ways.

Yes, I was in perpetual motion yesterday--when I tried to take a photo with Prof. Park, she was moving at twice the speed I was, as usual, with even more people calling her name...

* * *

For the BBC radio interview, when Yeon Mi Park and I finally sat down, around 8:40 p.m. or so to do the interview, we both had to stop, breathe deeply, there had been so much going on, it was almost a let-down at that point to do the interview, but we did, although that is a completely and unusual story...

"Yoegi Anjuseyo!"

* I have a short reflection in today's Korea Times about an encounter with an unfriendly looking Korean man on the subway. It was a reminder not to be too quick in judging people in Korea. 09-13-2011 16:47 'Yeogi Anjeuseyo!' By Casey Lartigue Jr. The recent incident in which an American English teacher bullied an elderly Korean man and other passengers on the bus reminded me of a more pleasing incident from years ago. I was on the subway, taking the train outside of Seoul for a work assignment. I have the habit of standing on the subway to strategically position myself near the doors in case my stop magically appears. On that particular day, there was a Korean man STARING at me. Not just looking at me, but intensely staring at me. He had an incredible frown on his face. Not just for one stop, but for several stops the guy just kept staring at me. If I had known more Korean then I would have been able to curse him ...

Rich talking back

The rich are talked about very often in negative terms, but how often do the rich respond in kind? Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, who inherited most of her money but apparently has also done very well with it, recently railed against class warfare and had some advice for the non-rich : "There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire," she writes. "If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing and more time working." She complained about politicians raising taxes, regulations that slow investment, and other anti-business policies that harm the poor. "If you want to help the poor and our next generation, make investment, reinvenstment and businesses welcome."

2020-07-24 Pandemic Tutoring

The question comes in various forms, as a request, a recommendation, a plea, an insinuation, an accusation, and sometimes (or most of the time) it is a demand and complaint at the same time. In my in-box yesterday: "And I wanted to know if TNKR also transitioned to online services as any other educational institutions globally under the pandemic." This was from a previous volunteer who is now in the USA, so I took more time to answer him, and will expand it now so I can share it with others asking. As context, TNKR started in 2013 as an informal volunteer group connecting North Korean refugees with volunteer tutors. In 2016, we became an official organization despite lacking funding. Mainly because we have limited resources we keep focused on our main mission, but try to expand based on the needs of North Korean refugee learners. We have developed a learner-centered organization that has a great reputation among North Korean refugees. That means we are not a social club or re...

2020-11-26 My basketball story

This photo was uploaded today by my aunt Annette. This was back in the day, when 1) I had a head full of hair and 2) played basketball a lot. That first year of playing organized basketball, I focused on playing defense. It seemed that everyone wanted to shoot the ball, so I passed the ball and played defense. I probably led the league in steals, rebounds and blocked shots. I enjoyed taking on the best player from the other team, I felt like I would get better, quickly. The second year, I was a different player. I will never forget the first game that second year--we lost 29 to 26, I scored 18 points. I probably led the universe in scoring that second year, although we didn't win much. One thing I learned from that experience is that one great player 9 (at least in his own mind) can't beat a team. An eye injury ended my pro career before it began, to this day I still have floaters in my eyes because of the injury. I started wearing glasses, but the problem never went away. On t...

Michael Breen discussion at 10 Magazine

Yesterday I attended a discussion with writer Michael Breen, hosted by Barry Welsh. Very often, when I attend a speech or discussion about a topic I know a lot about, I often think about ways the speaker/facilitator/discussant could have done better. But I didn't feel that way about Breen, it was one of those times that I really felt like I had a lot to learn and should listen more than talk. He's been in Korea for three decades, working as a reporter, commentator, communications specialist. He reminds me of Andrei Lankov in that his analysis seems to be based on observation of how things work rather than trying to get the world to fit his biases. I don't know him, so his friends may say he is a raging ideologue, but that's not the impression I had yesterday and based on his writings. Michael Breen (L) and Casey Lartigue I first read his book The Koreans about a decade ago. It was a delightful read, that was both warm to Koreans but also critical at times. Yes...

The Casey Lartigue Show!

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