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Dutch magician performs for North Korean kids, proving you can find joy just about anywhere

Jesper Grønkjær’s sense of humor and awe has inspired smiles around the globe.

via Freeport Traveler/YouTube

Jesper Grønkjær performs magic for children in North Korea.

North Korea is the most oppressive place in the world, and its people lack freedom of speech, press, or movement. The government, headed by Kim Jong Un, controls all aspects of its citizen's lives, and those who stand up against the regime are punished harshly. It’s also hostile to people outside the country for fear that outside ideas could destabilize the regime.

The country is so isolated from the rest of the world that it just recently opened its border to allow a small number of tourists to visit its Special Economic Zone for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, North Korea demonstrated its alliance with Russia by permitting more than 800 of its citizens to visit the isolated nation.

Another of North Korea’s recent visitors was Dutch magician and adventurer Jesper Grønkjær, who set out to see if he could manage to get a smile from its citizens. “I’ve spent my life proving one universal truth: a smile is the shortest distance between all people on Earth,” Grønkjær said.

"We know you can suppress people, but you can't suppress a smile. I will investigate that, and where better to do it than in one of the strictest countries in the world?” he opens his video on the Freeport Traveler YouTube page. When Grønkjær visited North Korea, he was accompanied by two guards wherever he went, and his passport was taken from him. At night, he was locked in his hotel like a jail cell. However, he still elicited huge grins from children and adults alike as he wowed them with magic tricks with animal balloons, a stuffed ferret, red foam balls, card tricks, and much of his joyful brand of Abracadabra.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

While visiting North Korea, Grønkjær watched the country’s “Day of the Sun Celebrations” at Kim Il-Sung Square in North Korea. Held each year on April 15th, the holiday celebrates the birthday of Kim Il-Sung, the country's founder, and features dancing, military tests, parades, and concerts. For North Koreans, the holiday is akin to Christmas.

Grønkjær’s trip to North Korea isn’t the only exotic and potentially dangerous place where he has performed magic. He has also performed for Indigenous people in Peru, the descendants of the Incas in the Andes mountains, and the Masai warriors in Tanzania. The magician of 20 years has also performed for orphanages in Uganda, the jungles of Irian Jaya, the ice caps of Greenland, and the Las Vegas strip.


Grønkjær uses his adventurous expeditions as subject matter for his various lectures, print articles, and appearances on Danish television. When he’s back home, he performs more than 225 nights a year for family events, circuses, weddings, and corporate parties.

In a world where it can feel like the people in North Korea, Tanzania, Peru, or Denmark are a world away culturally and politically, Grønkjær’s work shows that no matter where you live on the planet or what language you speak, we all share the same sense of wonder and humor. While nefarious forces in the world work to drive us apart, he proves it takes very little for all of us to realize our shared humanity.

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Man returns woman's lost purse to her house and their lovely chat was caught on camera

A good deed turned into a heartwarming display of humanity.

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A good does of good deeds

As any avid Upworthy reader will tell you—we have our fair share of heartwarming stories involving strangers returning lost items to their owners. It’s just such a perfect example of humanity at its best.

But this story has all that, plus an extra layer of feel-good.

Here’s what happened:

An Englishwoman named Georgia Girelli, had lost her purse and was “crying her eyes out” because of her missing item.

Luckily, the man who found it at a gas station ventured up to her house to return it. Girelli wasn’t home at the time, but her doorbell cam captured their entire exchange.

In the clip (shared to Reddit/MadeMeSmile) the man shared that he had intended to wait until morning to return the bag, but then remembered the inconsolable distress felt by an ex who was in a similar situation, and wanted to help Girelli avoid feeling that kind of stress.

Moved by his thoughtfulness, Girelli insisted on paying the man back, even telling him to take some money out of the purse itself.

But the man simply said, “Nah, just pay it forward. Just do something nice for the next person.”

Before exiting, the man shared that “I’m a firefighter, I don’t need money for doing a good deed.”

Of course, you can read all this. But then you miss the accents and use of words like “wheelie bin” that might just give you your “Ted Lasso” fix. The guy even looks like Roy Kent, for goodness sake.

Watch below:

Stranger finds lost bag and returns it to the owner
byu/Solo_Odyssey inMadeMeSmile

It’s nice enough that this man made the effort to return Girelli’s purse, even nicer that he returned it as soon as possible. But then there’s that extra lesson of spreading kindness.

We all know that doing this helps make the world a better place, and makes us feel pretty damn good in return. But it can be easy to miss opportunities to actually do it. So seeing almost effortless examples can maybe help bolster our resolve. And heaven bless the individuals who set the example.

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Family

Dad aims to make pumping 'fun' for his wife and he 100% succeeds

This is what a healthy partnership looks like.

@dadnamedryan/TikTok

More dad like this, please.

“Breast pumping” and “fun” are not two words that seem to go together. “Exhausting,” “tedious” and even “lonely” are adjectives nursing moms would more likely use to describe the activity. “Awkward” and “embarrassing” could also be thrown into the mix, given how society often treats breastfeeding moms like tacky, amoral exhibitionists when they have to do their milking in public.

But one husband made it his mission to make breast pumping an enjoyable, stress-free experience for his wife, and it has people positively swooning.

In Ryan Ploof (@dadnamedryan)’s TikTok video, we see the doting dad up at 7am and giving his child milk from a previous pump (helping his wife catch as many extra zzz’s as possible).

He then organizes the remaining serving of milk, preps the pumping machine, and presents said machine to his wife—now on the couch—along with a gift wrapped present. Seriously, may we all get a gift wrapped present the day we have to do something unpleasant.

Then, then! Ploof bakes banana muffin for breakfast—maybe a little burnt, but it’s the thought that counts—and serves up some hot chocolate with mini marshmallows. Later in the day he will continue serving up handmade treats—chocolate covered strawberries. And for each pumping session he takes it upon himself to carefully package the milk into servings.

Watch:

@dadnamedryan I mean it cant be fun #newdad #dad #baby #newborn #minivlog #parent #boydad #parents ♬ original sound - DadNamedRyan

Talk about making someone feel loved and supported.

Millions tuned in to watch Ploof’s video, and were completely taken aback by his enthusiasm to actually participate in what’s normally a responsibility moms seem to take on solo.

“I wish pumping was seen as a family task instead of just a ‘me’ task omg,” the top comment read.

Meanwhile, another person wrote, “I’m telling you, so many women do not get this. BF is a lonely journey for many. Good job, dad.”

One person even joked that Ploof was “written by a woman.”

It’s important to give Ploof credit for not just showing up to help with breastfeeding. He has several videos showing him shopping, sprucing up the house, cooking. One day he even surprised his wife with a day trip to the salon while he took the kids to a trampoline park.
@dadnamedryan I mean it cant be fun #newdad #dad #baby #newborn #minivlog #parent #boydad #parents ♬ original sound - DadNamedRyan

While yes, it would be nice to see Ploof’s acts of service and think nothing of it, since this should be the standard for dads, it is nonetheless heartening to see through videos like his that a mindset shift is 100% happening. And there are probably more dedicated fathers like him than we give credit to. Either way, seeing it in action helps add a little inspiration into the world.

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Woman claims we should start normalizing practical gifts, and she makes some strong points

Remember—who are the gifts supposed to be for?

@jaii.bee/TikTok

Practical gifts are just as valuable as novelty ones.

Practical gifts for Christmas are underrated. There, I said it.

Sure, it’s great to receive fun clothes and knickknacks and whatnot, but have you ever felt the pure bliss of unwrapping something truly useful? Something that you might have even kept hovering in the amazon cart forever, but could never find a proper excuse to pull the trigger? That’s an emotional combination of excitement, relief and yes, joy, that simply can’t be beat.

And yet, many gift givers still feel the pressure to buy super sentimental or clever—not to mention expensive—items during the holidays, even when the recipient has asked otherwise.

While the intention is surely to show their loved one how much they mean to them, proceeding to choose indulgence over senseability could be a form of disrespect, and lose sight on what the meaning behind gift giving is in the first place.

This could especially be said of parents with adult or teenage children, argues a woman named Katie (@jaii.bee).

In a video posted to her TikTok, Katie offered a “reminder” that if parents ask their teen/adult kid what they’d like for Christmas (of their birthday) and their kids suggests they help pay for a bill, offer some gas or grocery money, or replenish some facial cleanser, and they reject the request by saying “that’s not a gift,” that they’re in the wrong.

Katie then doubled down on her point by saying that if parents feel this way, they’re actually buying a gift for themselves, not their children.

“And that is not how gifts are supposed to work,” she stated.

@jaii.bee agree or disagree? #adultchildren #psa ♬ original sound - JB | If You're Mid, Stay Mad

She also stressed that it’s almost impossible to enjoy “something nice” when the basic necessities can’t be taken care of. And that honestly, no adult would ask their parents for this stuff unless they absolutely needed to. If parents are able to do both, then great. But otherwise, just get them what they asked for.

Lastly, Katie asserted that “if you give someone cash as a gift and they don’t use it in the way you want them to, that has nothing to do with you.” Once that person has the cash in hand, it's theirs to do with as they see fit.

“Maybe it’s a little controversial,” she concluded, “but if someone is specifically asking you for something and you can get them that thing and you choose not to, you’re bad at giving gifts.”

Katie is apparently not alone in her stance. Several folks commented in support of practical gifts, including many whose favorite gifts ever received were everyday items. Others poked fun at the logic—or lack thereof—behind certain novelty gifts.

Here’s a small sampling:

“My mom bought me tires for my car and I literally sobbed. Best gift ever. Peace, safety, and a weight off my back. This is sooo true!”

“Parents be like, ‘cash isn’t a personal enough gift!’ And then get you some generic wall art.’

“My dad fills our freezer with meat every Christmas. My favorite gift.”

“I asked my 22-year-old what she wanted. She said food and cat litter and gas and shoes for work. She will get all of that for Christmas.”

“For 17 years I’ve been bought decor as gifts, not a single piece has ever been on display in my house because I don’t do decor.”

May this story serve as a gentle PSA to not succumb to the siren song of Christmas-time consumerism. Don’t buy kitschy things just to buy them, especially when something like a bill being paid for or groceries being taken care of can really, truly make someone light up for the holidays. Perhaps there is no gift more personal than exactly what a person asked for.

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