and the Next Contestant is....

Hello RSU! My name is Nadia Kyrylova, and I originate in Kharkiv, Ukraine. My family moved to Vancouver, Canada in 1999 in search of greater opportunities in life and I can happily say it was a very smart decision. I have been blessed with so many opportunities; while living in North America and the upcoming trip to South Korea is definitely the greatest one thus far. I am majoring in Environmental Conservation but I have a great interest in engineering as well as Fine Arts. It was so hard to settle down with one specific major when there are so many things I wish to study, however science won me over in my second year at RSU. I also work at the RSU Public Television, which has been a quite rewarding experience and has made me a part of the college. Studying abroad has always been something I wanted to do, so when my father suggested going to South Korea to study Bioethics with Dr. Kim it was the perfect chance to broaden my cultural scope.

Like Josh has already mentioned, we have had some intense Korean lessons with Dr. Kim who made us memorize a sweet korean love song and then sing it out loud to him. That man has some good sense of humor; I'm sure that he got a good laugh out of listening to us butcher his beautiful native language. I really can't wait to practice korean on the streets of Daejeon while trying to hunt down some rare Dog Soup. To educate us on Korean popular cuisine Dr. Kim has taken Josh and I to a Korean restaurant where we were faced with a lot of spicy dishes consisting of Kimchi, various forms of beef and pork, a lot of vegetables and of course tofu. To me it was a good preview of what to look forward to in Korea, but depending on our budgets, we might just have to stick to a 'college' diet of Ramen Noodles. 

On a more serious note, the course sounds very intriguing and diverse covering a wide range of topics from molecular to environmental. We will be visiting a power-plant and learning about the different energy resources employed in South Korea as well as visiting a recent oil spill and studying the impact that it had on the surroundings. These trips will be really beneficial to my general studies and other than that, what I want to learn about in South Korea is what type of recycling and sustainability programs are implemented to reduce waste. According to National Geographic South Korea is ranked 4th on the Greendex (Green Index), far greater than United States rankings. I wish to return to RSU and take part in the recycling initiative in Fall '09 that is being pushed by the Student Government Association. I definitely have some great aspirations for making a global impact, but concentrating on the local problems is a great start and is much needed in cities all over the midwest. By now, there must me many students at RSU anxious about "Going GREEN", so I invite you to become a part of the movement towards making RSU a Green Campus! 

Speaking of Green, Deajeon looks like a very beautiful city surrounded by many green hills that we will hopefully get to hike on our time off. The urban areas are industrially beautiful as well and during the night the whole city lights up. From the pictures I have seen and this things I have learned about South Korea and its people thus far, I can tell this will be a truly enriching experience both culturally and scientifically.  :)

Josh and I will keep you posted as we take off to Southeast Asia. 

'til next post, 안녕히가세요 (annyeonghi gaseyo).