These are the photos from my last 24 hours in North Korea.
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Beer and Peace
In April 2016, I visited North Korea with a group tour organized by Koryo Tours.
Visiting North Korea was controversial decision for me to make. I knew there was a serious downside to it; I would indirectly be financing the world’s most dystopian, orwellian state and the crimes they commit.
But the same could be said for visiting many nations with corrupt governments, or even for patronizing immoral corporations.
Lost in the discussion are the North Korean people – in visiting, I’d also be interacting with average people, supporting them in their livelihoods, and exchanging culturally with them. I knew, when I visited this troubled country, that I could use my trip for good, and provide the North Koreans I met with a positive experience with me, perhaps the only American they will meet for the foreseeable future. On this charge, I believe I succeeded.
The first North Koreans I met and the only ones I got to know well were our tour guides. And they were lovely people. They took a lot of our increasingly invasive questions politely and calmly, never leaving the party line, but also never showing impatience as we tried to push them over it. On our last evening in the country, we even got a semi-professional singing performance from one of them, as the elegant Ms. Jeon gave a beautiful, regal rendition of Pangapsumnida, one of the national songs, on our tour bus. And as it turned out, they had one more surprise for us before taking us back to the hotel, that last night in Pyongyang.
We were going to a real bar.
Continue readingNorth Korea in Photos: On-The-Spot Guidance
Day Four
At nearly every single visit for our last two days in North Korea, various tour guides attempted to impress upon us the extent of leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il’s “on-the-spot guidance” in moving North Korea forward.
The first journey of day four would be by subway.
Transitioning out of Japanese Kindergarten
Editor’s note: Names in this blog post do not reflect reality.
My profession of teaching English to Japanese kindergarteners is coming to a close. Before it does, a brief reflection on the honor and privilege I’ve had to teach kindergarteners in this country.
In the past few months, my Japanese listening skills improved. Students are required to only speak English in my lessons. But they are kids, and kids usually say what’s on their mind, the way they like to say it. In my role as teacher in these closing months I could understand not just what the students said to me in Japanese, but also what they said to each other, and to themselves. Today I share those moments with you.
Coming Soon…
I just took an abnormal vacation.
This, according to my tour guide, is the home of the North Korean Parliament:
“What does the Parliament do in [North] Korea?” I asked her.
She looked befuddled. “I think the same as in your country,” she responded.
Touché, tour guide.
More blog posts are coming soon.
Photos property of Gregory A Nasif