As interesting as you all find my life, I’ve decided to start a new series which I have entitled “The Roommate Chronicles.” In this series I’ll be writing about each of my three roommates that I live with on campus here in Malibu. We’ll start off with Artem An.
Artem An was born November 10th, 1985 in Magadan, Russia. He is an exchange student studying at Pepperdine’s MBA program until this December. Artem attended undergrad at St. Petersburg State University majoring in Korean History. He now attends Korea University in Seoul, South Korea studying for his master’s in Business Management.
When I first met Artem, he was very quiet. If you didn’t ask him questions, there would be no conversation. I attempted several times to bridge whatever cultural gap there was between us, but I began to lose hope. I later found out that his quietness was due to him being in a new and different situation. He seemed distant, focused and not open to a friendship. However, that all changed one day. I came up with the story that he was really a ninja, and was posing as an exchange student. Part of the story was that the reason he couldn’t talk to us was because he was sworn to secrecy about his current mission. At first he was very quick to inform the rest of us he wasn’t a ninja. But soon afterwards, it became the apartment inside joke that Artem was a ninja! Ever since, Artem has been a great friend and roommate. Little did I even know, that he actually has a Black Belt in martial arts, specifically from the World Tang Soo Do Association in Korea!
Artem’s primary interests are Christian religion, working out and music. He attends church and bible studies regularly, works out daily and listens to a wide variety of music. Back home, has plays both the piano and violin. Sometimes his “training diets” can be a little extreme. He has been spotted drinking raw eggs on several occasions! We all joke that he really must be a ninja to care that much about his “Ninja Trainings!”
His work experience consists of two internships in South Korea. One internship was for the energy company SK Energy and the other was for Shinhan Bank. Upon graduation, Artem wants to work for a major Korean oil company in their International Business Development Division. Artem’s ability to speak fluent Russian, English and Korean greatly improves his chances of being hired. I’m sure he’ll go on to do great things in Korea.
