I’m happy to report that the graduation ceremony wasn’t eight hours. It was two hours, saying goodbye to the students and taking pictures took about an hour and a half, and now the rest of the day the first year and second year students will have club activities.
It turns out the ceremony is much more important to the family than I was lead to believe. A lot of families, not just the mothers, came. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best, and a lot of women were wearing corsages pinned to their outfits. A few mothers were even drying their eyes as they watched their children walk out of off the school’s grounds for the last time.
The ceremony was pretty much what I thought it would be, and was pretty much like a western graduation ceremony. There were long speeches, there was singing, and there was a lot of bowing. Actually, because they’re a bowing society, the only thing that really surprised me was that we didn’t clap after any of the speeches, only slightly bowed. This made the ceremony a lot more solemn and boring than some others that I’ve attended. There was no hooting and hollering as people stood to accept their diplomas. There was only a room full of quiet reverence. And the sound of camera shutters clicking.
All in all, it was a decent enough graduation ceremony. But note to self: dress up as much as you can next year. Since the students can’t dress up for this important occasion, it’s up to the teachers and parents to pick up the slack.
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