On the road

Hi everyone! I know it has been SO long since I've updated but I don't think I can even explain to you guys how INSANE my last two weeks have been.

I feel like I just went through North Korea boot camp. We have worked over 200 hours in the last 2 1/2 weeks learning about the crisis, learning how to host screenings, watching media, practicing our speaking parts, learning about software, making thousands of cold calls, booking places to go. And finally we are on the road. Since yesterday morning at 9 am, we have driven from Los Angeles, CA to Oklahoma City, OK. It has been so fun but leaving was really hard. The same as saying goodbye to everyone in Pines was bittersweet, leaving LA was bittersweet. It's so crazy to think in the month I was there, it began to feel like home. I know come the end of tour, I am NOT going to want to go back home. In some capacity, I need to continue my work with LiNK. Maybe intern for them in the future, maybe fundraise tons in Tampa...I'm not sure. All I know, is that learning about this issue and spending the time I have at LiNK HQ has changed me as a person, and therefore has changed my life.

I have met absolutely incredible people and had so much fun. I have felt challenged, I have felt scared, I have felt elated. Two nights in particular were absolutely incredible. First, we went to Korean karaoke. It was SO MUCH FUN. Basically, your group gets its own room with couches and strobe lights and a karaoke machine. We had so much. Everyone felt so comfortable and so open and it was a bonding experience that really made everyone more comfortable. Secondly, one night we decided we wanted to watch the South Korea-Argentina game for the world cup. So myself, and a few other people, including one staff member, hung out at a Korean restaraunt until 2 am then went back to the LiNK Office and stayed up all night having a slumber party to watch the game. The game was only at 430 am so we watched it, got ready and stayed in the office for a full day of work. It was so fun. Though I was exhausted the entire day, it was totally worth it.

Speaking of Korean culture, I have fallen in love. We have had Korean food, I've learned how to speak some Korean, I've learned about tradition and listened to music. Seriously, I find it so interesting and so much fun. I need to go to South Korea, soon. And I want to continue to practice the language. It's hard though. Danny, the North Korean refugee we live with, who has become my really good friend, has been teaching me.

We also got to meet Joseph, another refugee rescued by LiNK's first mission. Meeting him really reminded me of why I am here. When he spoke, my eyes filled with tears. I could not believe what he was saying. Hearing someone describe themselves as "an animal living in the streets" broke my heart. I know people are not heartless and I know the awareness tour we are doing will help to bring light to this issue. I need to do something, and I am so glad I have been given this opportunity to ignite change.

OH -- on a fun and more shallow note. We were invited to Helie Lee's house for a BBQ. She is a very well known author who writes about the North Korean situation and some of her family members who had to escape the country. Her husband is the producer of America's Next Top Modeal. SO, not only did we walk in to the most delicious Korean bar-b-que waiting for us (we all need to eat this together, it's SO delish) in the most gorgeous house in west LA with a pool and three-stories, we also walked in to see Nigel Baker (world-renound photographer and judge on ANTM). It was so much fun. We all hung out with Helie's family and Nigel's family. Both of their children was so adorable. It was crazy, I couldn't believe it existed. We were also invited back when we're done with tour. (Maybe Tyra will be there?! ahaha) But for real, Nigel said he would have taken us to the ANTM fashion show if there had been a few less of us.

Seriously though, I am so excited. Our first screening is on Sunday. So tomorrow, we will drive from OK to Little Rock. We will spend the night there, wake up and do a screening (OUR FIRST! AHH) and then drive to Nashville for a night. I am so excited and so nervous at the same time. I know everything will fall into place but I also know we will make some huge mistakes.

This is incredible. Thank you all so much for helping to make this a possibility for me <3 Here are just a couple pictures of us in Cali:

This is my teammate Elyssa and I, with one of the office puppies, Mr. Happy Song. He is adorable and wheezy and only has one lung and poops everyone...but we all love him.

This is my friend Danny. He is silly and pretends not to want to be in the picture, but totally does.

This is almost everyone. I think we are missing only two interns, and one regional manager. We had mock screenings outside and took this picture. Love them all <3

The girl on the far right and the girl on the far left are my teammates, Elyssa and Bridget. Beside me, Esther, is a Northeast nomad and the girl in front is Liz, a movement intern. We were just taking pictures while waiting for our "intern/nomad" photoshoot to start!

Overloaded

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't updated. I've barely spoke to my dad or grandma or anyone because things have been insane! We picked people up from the airport the entire weekend...and it has been insane.

Meeting people has been fun but stressful. I never realized how hard of a time I have with figuring out how to deal with everyone's personality. I think it's a bit more stressful because I'm 1 of only 2 drivers and I hate being the one who has to tell people where to go and when to be ready and whatnot. But it's okay, it will all be worked out soon. And I've already met some people I really get along with. Oh, and my team is awesome.

Yesterday, we began training. Right now, actually, I'm working on cold calls because it's a training I don't need to sit through (thanks to being here 2 weeks early! haha). Seriously though, I feel like I am going to learn so much. Yesterday alone, I found out more than I ever knew about North Korea. I can't wait to spread this information and educate people about the travesties. I love seeing the faces of the refugees and knowing who they are and knowing how what we are doing is truly powerful.

Honestly -- North Korea has PRISON CAMPS. TOTAL CONTROL PRISON CAMPS! Hello, how can we all sit around and say that we learned from the Holocaust and that we will never let it happen again but IT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. Seriously, I'm so happy to know that I doing the most I can to bring an end to this travesty. It breaks my heart and honestly tears me apart inside.

I can't wait for tour to start.

Mid-week Update

So, apparently my dad thinks I should update every day! Haha, I would but I feel like I am going to get repetitive in what I say.

Since Monday morning, I've been working at the office. The hours are 9-5 for right now but are probably going to be increasing to 9-9 because it's getting close to the launch of tour. What we are doing right now is just trying to set up screenings around the nation. (SO IF ANYONE KNOWS OF ANY CHURCHES, COMMUNITY GROUPS, ETC INTERESTED IN HOSTING...PAST THAT INFORMATION MY WAY!). I've been working on booking North Carolina and tomorrow I will move on to South Carolina. Booking is not easy...lots of phone calls, lots of e-mails, lots of rejection. It's frustrating because people are just so clueless about what is happening in North Korea so when you begin to explain it to them, they act as though you're lying. But it will all work out, and as soon as more nomads arrive it will be better because we'll have more people working. Also, when the nomads get here we'll start with some training and classes about the North Korean crisis. I'm excited about that because I feel like I will be much better prepared to go on the road and answer people's questions.

As of today, I am officially driving the LiNK van. I am on insurance and I've practiced. Today, Andy, taught me how to parallel park. Not going to lie...it was SO hard. But I think I will get better as I practice more and more. Or...I'll just find huge spots so it's easy for me to get in and out of.

I've spending a lot of time with Kyo. She's here from South Korea to volunteer for a week and a half. She's super nice and only 18. She somehow convinced her parents to let her fly to LA, alone. I love learning about South Korean culture and teaching her about US culture. She was translating something and it talked about a "chill spot" and she asked me why people would choose to go to a cold spot. Ahahahahahaaaa. Tonight she made me Korean food her mom sent her. It was rice, tuna, pork (none for me), seaweed paper, and some kind of leaves. It was all good..loved the seaweed paper wrapped around rice. Also, I watched the Glee Gaga episode with her last night and may have gotten her addicted to Glee. I think we're going to watch another episode tonight.

Overall, things are going really well. I need to find someway to fill my weekend...I have the van so I can go wherever but I dont know what to do in LA, or what's around! I'm a little nervous of driving so hopefully I can find places that are in walking distance. Cant wait for more nomads so we can go out and figure out the area together (mostly I just need someone to get out of the car while I parallel to make sure I dont hit any cars). But ya, all is well. And I'm in love with California weather <3

Hello Los Angeles!

So, I just arrived in LA. For my first time flying alone I think I did very well. The flight was easy, no turbulence and I even managed to keep my ears from popping without chewing gum. The only problem was that I forgot my iPod in the car and didn't realize until Brianna was all the way back at our apartment and until after I gone through security and was sitting at my gate. Luckily, because I got there so early (6 am...vomit!) I had time to go out, meet Bri, and get back through security in time to board the plane.

Matt, a regional manager (I think) for LiNK picked me up at the airport. He's really nice and actually knows a bunch of my friends from Current. He drove me around Torrance and showed me where the LiNK office is and some little grocery stores, Korean marts and other such things. Torrance is super cute! It's the last city within the limits of LA proper so you get the feel of a big city but with the atmosphere of a smaller town. There are amazing trees everywhere and the weather is INCREDIBLE. Apparently we are only 3 miles away from the beach and that guy Matt lives in a boat...so I should be getting to see some Pacific Ocean while I'm here.

Since I got to California earlier than most of the nomads, I get to choose my bed first. Apparently a woman named Jen and her friend are going to be here in like 2 hours so I'm excited to meet them and see what we have in store for today. Not much else to say -- just that I landed safely and can't wait for this to really get started. Matt told me that there are 12 nomads, divided into 3 teams. And they are going to try and have us each cover 1/3 of the entire country! I'm so excited but most of my nerves are gone. The only thing stressing me out is thinking about how much I am going to miss everyone.

Thank you all for reading. Here are some pictures of the nomad house, I took them before anyone else got here so they don't think I'm crazy. And I appologize for the quality...I forgot my camera cord at home so these are from my Blackberry. Dad is sending my cord asap!

This is the porch/front door.

The living room area. You can also see a little of the dining room.

The kitchen/dining room.

Another view of the living room/front door.

Hallway leading to the bedrooms.

This is the girl's room.

The bed I chose!

The boy's room/the boy's bathroom.

The other room, where 2 North Korean refugees live. I haven't met them...one is in Asia doing some speaking engagements and the other should be home sometime soon.

And so it begins!

College is a crucial time in every young person’s life. It’s when people finally learn how to live without mommy and daddy doing everything for them, when morals and principles are put to the test and when people finally discover their passion in life. For me, it has been all of these things. While being at the University of South Florida, I have realized my true passion lies in social justice and human rights. I want to spend the rest of my life making sure people treat others with dignity, while educating people about ways they can help innocent people live their lives without suffering.

One issue that have caught my attention in learning about human rights issues is the crisis in North Korea. Not only does the North Korean government limit free speech, assembly, press and religion. Wrong doers and wrong thinkers are punished in ways we could never imagine, sometimes even with death. Also, there is an insane amount of people who are malnourished because the government barely rations enough food to keep people alive. What makes this worse is when North Korean citizens try to flee their country in search of freedom, they are often not welcomed in to the neighboring countries and often killed in the process of making a better life for themselves and their family.

In beginning my journey to help end human suffering and educating my peers about social justice infringements, I have decided to spend my summer doing an internship with Liberty in North Korea. On May 22nd, I will be flying into the Los Angeles and will be moving into a house with the rest of LiNK’s interns. We are all called “nomads,” because after spending a couple weeks in L.A., learning more about the crisis in North Korea, we will be divided into teams and sent in vans around different regions around the United States. We will spend the rest of the summer couch surfing and living out of our van, traveling from churches to summer camps and college campuses to temples, screening documentaries and speaking to various groups about the North Korean dilemma, encouraging them to help ignite the change we need.

LiNK is a non-profit and all of their interns are volunteers, so I will not being getting paid over the summer. I still have to pay for my food, toiletries, outings, bills back home and other necessities throughout my three-month adventure. This is why I am writing you this letter: to ask for your help in making this summer a possibility. I know money is tight for everyone right now, and I would not be asking if I didn’t think this was an infinitely valuable way to spend my summer. Anything helps—even $10 dollars would be appreciated. If you can’t help monetarily, please just keep me in your thoughts and send me some good vibes throughout my journey. If you would like to donate, please make a check payable to Liberty in North Korea and send it to:

LiNK
1751 Torrance Blvd. Ste L
Torrance, CA 90501.

Remember to write my name in the memo portion of the check so they can put it in my account, rather than the general nomad account that is used to buy gas and pay for the housing in L.A. If you would rather send cash, you can, just put a note in the envelope letting them know your donation is meant for me. Also, all donations are tax deductable.

Thank you so much. While on the road, I am planning on keeping up with this blog so everyone can see what I am up to and where I am every step of the way. I’d love if you would read along and comment. If you would like to learn more about LiNK and the North Korean crisis, visit their website, www.linkglobal.org.