What’s It Like Living With 5 North Koreans?
See the girl in the center? That’s me, Danielle! And these are my new North Korean friends, Jessie, Noel, Il-Lyong, Geum-Hyok and Charles! They’re here as Advocacy Fellows, learning how to be better advocates and leaders to help their friends and family who are still trying to reach freedom.
We all live under one roof at Liberty in North Korea’s intern house and are with each other all day. And by all day, I mean really, all day. We drive to work together, eat lunch together, drive home together, and eat dinner together! All we’re missing are the cameras and we’d have an amazing reality show. But because we don’t have cameras let me take you behind the scenes!
Here’s five things I’ve learned so far living with North Koreans!
Gamers At Heart
The North Korean fellows love games. All five of them stay up past midnight playing their version of poker or JangGi, a Korean version of chess. They use Scrabble tiles for poker chips and it all happens sitting criss crossed on our coffee table! They get competitive by betting for lunch or dish dutiesat the end of the day, but Noel or Geum-Hyok always end up losing.
A Pyongyang Restaurant
Looking for a North Korean masterchef? Come on over, we have 5! Our North Korean friends don’t cook that much because they want to go out and try all of the American food that they’ve heard rumors about in South Korea. But when they do , it feels like a five-star Pyongyang restaurant. They have made us Jae-Yook Bo-Kum (a spicy pork and kimchi stir fry), Kimchi stew, and their famous Yangyumjang (spicy sauce)! We always joke about whose is better but deep down, we all know it’s Jessie’s.
They’re bookworms!
You won’t believe how many books the fellows can read! I swear I see them reading a different book everyday during and after dinner. Most of them read books like the Twilight series, Rich Dad Poor Dad and the Harry Potter series. They do this because they want to learn English, something they already learn in the office for 8 hours a day! Their dedication and hard work never fail to surprise me.
NK Fashion Week?
The fellows dress to the nines. First Jessie and Noel wear skirts and nice blouses almost everyday and the guys wear button ups and nice pants. Meanwhile I’m in jeans and a LiNK sweatshirt trying to live my best life. We thought they were just first impression outfits but the fashionista styles haven’t stopped. Seriously, it feels like a runway everyday walking into the office. But the real question is: how did all those clothes fit in one suitcase?!
Thank you, thank you and thank you!
You won’t believe how grateful the fellows are. They never fail to say a simple “thank you” for the smallest everyday things. We all know that it’s polite to say “thank you” but we tend to stop after a certain amount of time and comfortability, but the fellows have not stopped. I am so grateful to be able to be able to live and work with them during their three month journey in the States.
The fellows are currently traveling to various cities to share the stories that they have been working on for the past few weeks! If you’re walking down the street, you would never imagine the hardships that they have been through just a few years back but they are back and stronger than ever. With their united strength they are able to gain support for refugees and those still living in North Korea. Changing the narrative, one step at a time.
Check us out @linklyfe on Instagram to see more behind the scenes of their delicious dishes, poker games, and fashion!
