Korean student believes in ghosts
Utah Statesman: Where are you from?
Stephan Kim: South Korea. But I was actually born in the United States, but I moved back to South Korea and live there for awhile.
US: How long did you live there?
SK: Fourteen years, about half my life.
US: How did you end up coming back?
SK: Pretty much right after I was born in D.C. we moved back to Korea, and when I was about 15 years old, my dad had a chance to come back and come here and do some kind of research with the civil engineering department, and that is why we came to Logan. I started to go to Logan High and I figured why not just stay here?
US: What is one thing you like about USU?
SK: Everyone is really nice. If you go to other schools’ Web site you can find there are so many different kind of minorities. For example, University of California in Irvine has 50 percent of Asian students, and I guess I just prefer an environment around here because there are not a lot of international students. There are a lot, but I get a lot of chances to talk to other guys around here. I had a chance to make a lot of friends.
US: What is one thing you dislike about USU?
SK: I wish it was, I guess it was a little bigger, the campus. I like everything, but I think it’s too relaxed. Everything is just kind of slow. I wish there was something more to do. I mean, I love outdoors and I play lots of sports, but other than that, don’t know, every weekend is the same, pretty much.
US: What are your hobbies?
SK: I play golf and soccer.
US: Do you like going to USU hockey games?
SK: Oh yeah, it’s fun. I think that’s one of my favorite teams, either hockey or basketball. I went to football once and I didn’t really, yeah.
US: Do you believe in ghosts?
SK: Yeah, I guess somewhat. Actually, in Korea there are so many ghost stories so you have to believe in it, I guess. I heard, I really doubt it, but I heard one of my friends talking about that his roommates went to Ogden and they had this one kind of cemetery, and this one guy took everyone around and he called out a ghost, or something like that, from the graveyard. And he was saying they come back and they were all freaked out about it. I don’t know if I can trust that.
US: Do you like to read?
SK: It depends. I like all the fantasies and the comic books.
US: If you could describe yourself in three words, what would you say?
SK: That’s a good question. Indecisive, outgoing and athletic.
US: How did you meet your wife?
SK: We met here. She came here as an exchange student. We were just hanging out at this one Korean girl’s house, started talking, yeah. Got married like three months ago.
US: You guys are newlyweds then.
SK: Supposed to be. If we weren’t going to school then we could probably enjoy it more.
US: What do you miss the most about South Korea?
SK: The food and parents, my family.
US: Do you have a favorite movie.
SK: Yes, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Cool Runnings.” We watched it yesterday. We hadn’t seen it in a long time, and I went over to my friend’s house and they had it, so I said we’re watching it.
US: Do you have a motto or theme for life?
SK: Think positive in everything. Whatever happens, happens.
US: Back to your dating era, have you had a horrible date you want to share with USU student body?
SK: I can’t recall a really horrible one, but I can recall some of my friends’ horrible dates. It was a dance party, you know the high school one, and what happened at the dance is she totally ditched him, and she just disappeared. So, I was with my date and all he did was come over to me and dance around us and we asked what was going on, and he said ‘I lost my date,’ so we looked around for her and she was in the bathroom talking to her friend the whole time, throughout the whole dance.
US: Would you ever go to a nudist beach?
SK: I don’t know. I’ll just go with I don’t know.
US: Did you go on a honeymoon?
SK: I guess you could call it a honeymoon. Our parents came out for our wedding, so we all went to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas.
US: Was it awkward taking your parents on your honeymoon?
SK: I don’t mind. I don’t see them very much. We are going to get married again in Korea, so over there we will probably have a real honeymoon then.-brittny.jo@aggiemail.usu.edu