2018-11-03 TNKR in multiple time zones

* Yesterday I was one of the judges at an English Speech Contest for North Korean refugee youngsters hosted by the Hana Foundation. 11 TNKR volunteers helped with the preparation of the contest by coaching refugees. We were joined yesterday by other TNKR volunteers, donors and fundraisers.

* A few subway stops away, TNKR was managing another session of a Leadership Workshop for South Korean natives and North Korean refugees. With the TNKR co-directors busy, Youngmin Kwon was TNKR's representative. The participants are getting prepared for a trip to Germany, again hosted by the Hana Foundation.

* TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee has been in the USA the last few weeks, at the invitation of the US State Department. In addition to learning a lot about American history, and learning that I haven't been lying to her, she met with TNKR Super Crazy Love Us All the Time Eben Appleton, Charlie Appleton and Pam Davidson in South Carolina.

* TNKR Ambassador Eunsun Kim spoke at the TNKR office on October 6, quotes from her speech and interview were quoted at length this morning by NBC News.com
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/south-koreans-see-gamble-trusting-kim-jong-un-over-nuclear-n924816

* TNKR volunteer Eden Yeon was quoted by Radio Free Asia for an event she participated in the UK with @Connect Korea.
https://www.rfa.org/korean/weekly_program/eu_defector/eudefectors-11022018095210.html

Support TNKR:
https://www.paypal.me/loveTNKR

Fundraise for TNKR: https://give.lovetnkr.com/en/fundraisers

Three years ago when TNKR began growing beyond my desk at Freedom Factory, one of the volunteers politely suggested that I should not and that it would be possible for me to be involved in every aspect of TNKR. And then there are the usual Internet smart-alecks concerned that I'm in every photo.

I told her (as well as the smart-alecks) not to worry. TNKR was still small enough that I could be involved in every activity. If TNKR really did grow, that the day would come that I would be begging people to stop bothering me with every message. That day hasn't come, but we are getting closer!

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Hana Foundation Leadership Seminar

* A few subway stops away, TNKR was managing another session of a Leadership Workshop for South Korean natives and North Korean refugees. With the TNKR co-directors busy, Youngmin Kwon was TNKR's representative. The participants are getting prepared for a trip to Germany, again hosted by the Hana Foundation.

***

Eunkoo's Trip to the USA

* TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee has been in the USA the last few weeks, at the invitation of the US State Department. In addition to learning a lot about American history, and learning that I haven't been lying to her, she met with TNKR Super Crazy Love Us All the Time Eben Appleton, Charlie Appleton and Pam Davidson in South Carolina.

Tutoring

We had a skeleton staff at the office, but still had tutoring going on.

TNKR is growing, partnerships with more organizations around the world. We are getting busy enough that I can't be at every activity or in every photo. Thanks so much to TNKR donors, fundraisers and volunteers who have helped us grow.

Support TNKR:
https://www.paypal.me/loveTNKR

Fundraise for TNKR: https://give.lovetnkr.com/en/fundraisers

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

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...

2020-04-26 "May I choose more teachers?" TNKR Matching session #102

2020-04-26, TNKR Matching session #102 The Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR) humbly began in March 2013 with 5 tutors and 5 NK refugees being matched together. We held that first session at a TOZ business center in Gangnam. Seven years later, TNKR has now matched 455 North Korean refugees with 1,027 tutors, coaches, and mentors. Today we held our 102nd Language Matching session at our slightly expanded office near the Sangsu Subway Station. Instead of just being something that Casey and Eunkoo did short-term, TNKR is now an official organization in both South Korea and the USA, we have been featured in media and by other organizations (just yesterday, we were featured by KOTESOL), and we have fans and donors from around the world.

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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