Graduation

This post is late, but I wanted to post the Geumgang posts first and it falls in with yesterday’s post.

My Valentine’s Day was spent doing very little for the most part. There were no classes and the 3^rd year’s graduation ceremony would be happening. This ceremony is what I want to talk about today.

I have never been fan of ceremonies like this, as many people already know. Just give me the certificate that I worked for and let me go on my way. Unfortunately we have to do it everywhere we go these days.

The one I attended here was mostly torture, interspersed with oddities and one or two amusing moments. I was told the ceremony would happen, but I didn’t have any idea when. I suppose I should have asked, but I was still disappointed when, about 10 minutes after the start, I realised that everyone had quietly disappeared and were not coming back. Considering that I normally have no idea what is going on here in school, would it have been so difficult to just tell me that everyone is leaving to go upstairs? The same things happened the next day, but this time I was ready for being ignored.

I arrived at the ceremony late and unable to get a good spot for photographs. Luckily the photo opportunities were scares. Upon entering I was greeted by a rendition of Old Ang Sine by the music teacher and a few students. Still have no idea why. They played something else as well, but I can’t remember what.

Apparently I missed a good video that was show at the very start of the ceremony. All that was left to me was the torture. Why, you might ask, do I keep on calling it torture?

The whole ceremony was us looking at students waking on to stage, turning their backs on us and facing the school principle. He would then read their names and achievements and they would prance of the stage. I don’t know about you, but I have no interest in seeing the principal, or any of the other people sitting on the stage for 30 minutes.

Sure, he is important to the school, but think of this. If he was sick this particular day, if all of them we sick, would the ceremony still go on? Yes! We would just get someone else to do his job. If all the students were sick, would we go on then? No, because it is all about them. So I don’t want to look at their backs the whole time. I want to see a bit more of them.

I have seen some bad ceremonies back in SA as well, and even there I was sometimes astounded my how little thought people put in to something that is supposed to be important.

Other things that annoyed me were the people who just can’t sit still for one bloody minute. They are supposed to be adults, for heavens sake. Then there was that song from the Hollywood movies that played the whole time. You know the graduation song, right? I wonder if that is a US invention or a carry over from the UK. We never had it when I was growing up.