Being Interviewed for a Korean Documentary

(This isn't horsey at all, but it was an exciting opportunity for me so I wanted to document it in my blog.)

A month or so ago I was asked to participate in a documentary being done by Busan eFM, a Korean radio station. The purpose was to raise awareness of the abilities of people with disabilities; in Korean culture, those people are not valued or considered able to join the work force. The two women making the documentary are looking at exploring what people with disabilities can do, and since the United States has many disabled people in the work force, they flew here to interview some of them.

Kathy Nimmer was one of the people with whom they wished to visit, and they asked her to invite a principal, a new teacher she was mentoring, and a colleague who knew her well and had worked with her. (Me.) Kathy is an amazing lady who won the Indiana Teacher of the Year in 2015 and was named one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year the following year. She is blind and uses a guide dog, and teaches English at the high school while mentoring new teachers part time.

I was thrilled at the opportunity, but also a bit nervous. Would I be able to understand them? Would they understand me? Would I represent Kathy and her community well?

Shin (on the left) and Jenna (right) were very fluent. They were friendly and obviously cared deeply about the topic they were documenting.

 They had sent ahead a list of questions and that helped me feel prepared and ready to go.

I spent about twenty minutes conversing with them and then Kathy was invited to join us.

 I had also brought a necklace Kathy had made me to show them. They were amazed that she could make something so intricate, keeping the color patterns intact at the same time. (I find it pretty amazing, too. She made this necklace for me to wear to the YWCA Salute to Women when I won the Woman of Distinction award in March of this year. Go here to read about that.)

Shin, Nacho, Kathy, Jenna, and me.

The ladies brought me a gift to thank me for my participation in their documentary.

 It was wrapped in pretty paper. They also gave me their cards with contact information.

Inside that package was a beautiful Korean bookmark!

The documentary in the Korean language is scheduled to be broadcast in November, while the English one is to be aired in December. Both Shin and Jenna assured us that they will send us a link to the recording so that we can hear it. 

It was a pretty exciting opportunity to get to meet with these women and talk about a dear friend while advocating for people with disabilities. Certainly not your usual Monday, that's for sure!