My Korean Summer 2013: Day 32 - Sogang KIP Graduation Ceremony & Dinner ㅠ.ㅠ

슬프다 (sad)...the last and final event with all my dear friends & teachers I have met this summer. The program had prepared a graduation/closing ceremony for us all where there was actually a lot of student participation. The MCs were level 4 students and fit the job perfectly. Sometimes one would translate for the other but the translations didn't always match perfectly (on purpose) or the way the delivery was made was just humorous. You sometimes heard a huge paragraph in Korean and the English version was "We learned much about Korean culture!"

There were speeches given by the head of the department and the head of the program. Another level 4 student gave a speech which included using the phrase YOLO which I later had to explain to my 선생님 (teacher). The teaching assistants made a movie trailer style video chronicling our TaeKwonDo class. It was quite entertaining. We also got to hear some class presentations detailing life and culture in Korea.

The one thing I was not expecting was the amount of dancing that took place...which was awesome. Two student groups and a group of teaching assistants did dances. The TAs danced to the Crayon Pop song "빠빠빠" (embedded below):

One student group danced to Monster by BIGBANG:

Another did a compilation of many songs but one was Wild by 9Muses:

After receiving our certificates there were many hugs and photos (and some tears ㅠ.ㅠ). While we only had a short 4-5 weeks with each other, many of us bonded quite closely. This included the teachers as well.

Next was dinner! A giant buffet dinner was arranged for us at a near by hall. More hugs, photos, eating, and yes...more tears were exchanged.

Even though I go back to the USA tomorrow, it's still hard to believe I am leaving Korea. I spent many hours with my classmates in and out of class, meeting people from all over the globe, sharing the common interesting of learning more about this tiny peninsula in Asia. I know I will be back very soon. To my classmates, teachers, and TAs - we will meet again someday!

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