VIP Class Notes (Nicholas)

Vocabulary

pseudonym / a fake name

e.g. Sometimes if you want to write about something but are afraid to make your identity public – you can write under a pseudonym.

laid back style / not too formal

e..g In Hawaii the culture is very laid back. People show up late to meetings – and it’s normal!

brazen / to be arrogant / overly bold / 厚颜无耻

Grammar

not really to / not really either

even do not want to cook / even when she doesn’t want to cook

even do not behave better than the chid / my behavior was worse than a child’s!

each Wednesday I will have a morning phone call / every Wednesday

I’ve never been there – I never too / me neither 

women have a more difficult time making a career

I think company companies and the govt should do something good / positive for women / for women’s benefit

the lunch is tasting nasty / the lunch tastes nasty / Google’s lunches taste nasty

ask about your privacy / about your private life

North Korea issued a $2 million bill for the hospital care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, insisting that a U.S. official sign a pledge to pay it before being allowed to fly the University of Virginia student home from Pyongyang in 2017.

The presentation of the invoice — not previously disclosed by U.S. or North Korean officials — was extraordinarily brazen even for a regime known for its aggressive tactics.

But the main U.S. envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions passed down from President Trump, according to two people familiar with the situation. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The bill went to the Treasury Department, where it remained — unpaid — throughout 2017, the people said. However, it is unclear whether the Trump administration later paid the bill, or whether it came up during preparations for Trump’s two summits with Kim Jong Un.

The White House declined to comment. “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in an email.

Trump, as recently as Sept. 30, asserted that his administration paid “nothing” to get American “hostages” out of North Korea.