I joined a wonderful event hosted by Database Centre For North Korean Human Rights (NKDB). But as often happens at events, I spent more time talking OUTSIDE rather than participating in the event. That is only a problem when I'm the host, and people are looking for me. :-)
Tonight, I was a free agent, meeting, talking. I was surprised by the number of people who said they follow my Facebook posts. And a few, yes, I felt like I was a star/someone important because of the way they treated me, were so happy to meet me.
Yeonmi Park, February 14, 2014, making her debut! Yesterday I was one of the speakers at a special session on North Korean refugees at the Canadian Maple International School. Wow, it was a wonderful time! * Yeon-Mi Park delivered her first major speech in English. She was wonderful! She told her story (35 minute speech without notes), discussed different aspects of North Korea, and then handled questions from students for more than an hour. She did seem to be nervous at the beginning-she took a deep breath just as she started, looked at me, then told her story from her heart. * Returning from the speech, I told Yeonmi that she had star potential. She told me that she didn't believe it, but I told her that the way she handled Q&A and told her story, I would be lucky to have her still returning my phone calls within a year. * The students had many questions. They have been learning about North Korea. They are now reading "Escape from Camp 14" featuring Shin Dong-h