2020-09-26 Welcome back to TNKR!

TNKR started in March 2013 with researchers Casey Lartigue and Eunkoo Lee introducing a few North Korean refugees to a few volunteer tutors.

Yesterday TNKR held Language Matching session number 108. We have now had more than 460 North Korean refugees and 1,060 volunteer tutors, coaches and mentors participate together in TNKR's three education tracks. Our Academic Team of Jade Kim (Academic Coordinator), India Meyers (Assistant Academic Coordinator) and Daniel Cashmar (Volunteer Advisor) along with TNKR's co-founders organized the session for six North Korean refugees and 10 volunteer tutors.

A bit about the six students:

* All previously studied in TNKR.

* They arrived in South Korea in

2012 (1)

2013 (2)

2016 (2)

2017 (1)

They joined TNKR in:

2014 (1)

2016 (2)

2017 (1)

2018 (1)

2019 (1)

On average yesterday, they chose 3.8 tutors (they can study minimum twice a month with each tutor)

5 (2)

4 (2)

Of the six students, only one expressed preference for online tutoring.

* * *

The 10 tutors were chosen on average 2.3 times.

7 tutors were each chosen by two refugees.

3 tutors were each chosen by three refugees.

All 10 tutors engaged in some type of fundraising for TNKR, either as donors or fundraisers. Four of them set up fundraisers.

https://www.facebook.com/donate/1604536383059766/

https://www.facebook.com/donate/1239038899771051/

https://www.facebook.com/carl.phillips.1232/posts/10158822262571543

https://www.facebook.com/donate/799986174147235/

TNKR's Fan Club is now raising money to buy school supplies for TNKR students joining a Language Matching session. The school supplies given to the students yesterday were donated by TNKR Fan Club Vice President Shannon Galloway.

You can donate for future Matching sessions at a fundraiser set up by Shannon and TNKR Fan Club President Eben Appleton. https://www.gofundme.com/f/tnkr-school-supplies

After yesterday's Matching session, TNKR's Academic Team got TNKR's next tutor orientation sessions will be held October 17 and 18 (noon both days), the Matching session will be held October 31st. www.lovetnkr.org/tutor

Get rid of that watermelon!

Part 1: When I was a youngster I used to collect Confederate money, posters and photographs with caricatures of blacks, and "No blacks allowed signs." I loved the money because it was a reminder of how far the sorry Confederacy had fallen. I had one poster of a dark-skinned black boy munching on a watermelon. I would look at that small poster and wonder, "What in the world is wrong with anyone wanting to eat watermelon?" Yes, white people, I'm talking to you. Your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors who thought making fun of blacks for eating watermelon were crazy ! Even people who say that nothing has changed in race relations must acknowledge that the many stereotypes of blacks are no longer prevalent. But then, there are also some ready to remind us of days-gone-by by debunking stuff that doesn't need to be debunked today. According to the Washington Post: The sound you just heard was yet another racial stereotype going kersplat ! Some ...

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."

Last weekend: Suicide, Kim Young Ha, NK

Credit: Joanne Cho Event 1: Friday night I went to a talk given by Fulbright junior researcher Joanne Cho. She did a great job putting together statistics about some of the most commonly cited reasons that so many Koreans commit suicide. Probably the most provocative tidbit: Cho watched 86 dramas from the spring of 2012 to now, she says that 63 had "scenes depicting or discussing suicide" in a favorable light (as a way to solve problems, that troubled people can be forgiven for their sins and are even seen as sympathetic). Another interesting tidbit: While it is often cited that Korea is number one in the world in suicide (among countries reporting reliable statistics), what I had not realized or had forgotten is that Korean men are number 8 in the world compared to men in other countries with reliable statistics, Korean women are #1 in the world when compared to women in other countries. My questions for the speaker: 1) What was a finding in your research th...

Why I won't go to North Korea (Korea Times, December 27, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. “Have you ever been to North Korea?” This is the question I am almost always asked here in South Korea when people learn that I have become an activist for North Korean escapees. My response is curt: “No.” “Do you plan on going?” they ask next. My answer remains the same: “No.” When they start to ask a follow-up question, I cut them off: "No." People are often just trying to make conversation, I know, but I am blunt for a reason: I am not interested in going to North Korea as long as North Koreans are held captive. I could go one day, but for now, I can do without a government-guided tour by " men-stealers and women-whippers ," to borrow a phrase from American abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. I don’t mean to criticize people who have gone to North Korea for political, educational, business, religious reasons or just plain curiosity. However, some people push me on the issue, ― and I push back. A good friend wh...

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 ...

The Casey Lartigue Show!

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