Yeonmi saw red flags immediately upon arriving at the school.

if only

"English is my third language. I learned it as an adult. I sometimes still say 'he' or 'she' by mistake and now they are going to ask me to call them 'they'? How the heck do I incorporate that into my sentences?"

"It was chaos," said Yeonmi. "It felt like the regression in civilization."

now they are going to ask me to call them 'they'? How the heck do I incorporate that into my sentences?

It’s chaos Jerry! Chaos!

le_nelson_mandela_face posted:

Kim Jong Un is losing or gaining weight….apparently quite a bit of it. Maybe you’ve noticed the North Korean leader looks a little slimmer or heavier than he used to if you pay attention to those occasional scenes from government television.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service pays close attention—and told the parliament’s intelligence committee on Friday that Kim has shaved off or packed on nearly ninety pounds over the last four years….estimating he currently tips the scales at a little under or over 300 or 200 pounds.

The spies are involved in this weight-watching because of the potential health effects. The chair of the intelligence committee says Kim is suffering from insomnia and some unidentified diseases associated with being underweight or overweight. He adds that the North Korean leader is under a lot of stress because of fears about his safety….which has led to binge dieting and/or eating and extensive exercise and/or drinking.

Parenti posted:

Do you think Kim Jong Un speaks French?

he went to school in switzerland so it seems fairly likely

https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/does-north-korea-make-best-beer-asia posted:

Josh Thomas, an American amateur brewer who was based in Hong Kong for five years, has tried what he described as an “absolutely insane amount” of Asian beers. He said that Taedonggang is “significantly better” than any other mass-market beer on the continent, chiefly because the best-selling beers of North Korea’s neighbors — Cass and Hite in South Korea, Snow and Tsingtao in China, and Asahi Super Dry and Kirin in Japan — are rice-based, light, and somewhat watered down. But since rice is so scarce in North Korea, brewers there tend to rely more on barley, which makes beer darker, maltier, and richer.
...
But Taedonggang only accounts for part of the North Korean beer market. Since the lack of fuel and good transportation networks have traditionally made it difficult to ship beer around the country, there are a wide array of microbreweries. Many produce what’s akin to low-quality home brew, but higher-end hotels, restaurants, and bars that cater to privileged locals and foreigners can yield more interesting concoctions.

In 2013, Thomas organized a customized “beer tour” of North Korea and encountered everything from oatmeal stouts and chocolate porters to pale ales. “Some are fantastic, like the Yanggakdo Hotel brewery bar,” he recalled. “And some are pretty bad — like the beer at the bowling alley.”