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.

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#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.

Helping North Koreans 'strike the blow' (Korea Times)

H ave you ever engaged in action not because you were sure it would change the world, but to satisfy your own heart? That, I emailed to an American friend, is why I have joined the effort to help North Koreans who are trying to escape from their homeland. I can’t change the direction of policy in North Korea or China but I can row the boat I am sitting in rather than lamenting that I can’t steer the yachts somewhere else. So I have tried to do what I can: Attending protests in front of the Chinese embassy in Seoul (and I plan to do so when I visit America in April); donating money to the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights ( www.nkhumanrights.or.kr ); educating myself, writing articles and emailing friends; and, as a member of the board of trustees, I recently submitted a resolution to the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association (FDMHA) in Washington, D.C., to try to call attention to the plight of North Koreans. Our organization’s missi...

Chang Ha-Joon's foolish consistency (Korea Times, January 1, 2013)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. Is the sky blue? Is the ocean water? If you suspect those are trick questions, you are right. The sky isn’t always blue ― it is reddish at sunset, dark at midnight, gray on an overcast day. The ocean isn’t water ― there’s also fish, plant life, submarines, dissolved minerals, surfboards, sunken ships, even people swimming in it sometimes. As Hoover Institution scholar Thomas Sowell wrote in his 1996 book ``The Vision of the Anointed,” people who use “all-or-nothing” reasoning can deny a statement because it is not 100 percent true in every circumstance. Such word games might be fun for college students or debaters, but there are some distinguished people who are respected for making such childish arguments about serious issues. In his book ``23 Things They Don’t Tell you About Capitalism,” Cambridge University economist Chang Ha-Joon argues that 1) “[T]here is really no such thing as a free market” and 2) “The free market doesn’t exis...

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...

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.

"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 ...

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