Photo By Sgt. Sang-cheol Lee | The members of the 20th Korean American Friendship Circle gather for the big group...... read more read more
CAMP WALKER, South Korea – The 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command held the 20th Korean American Friendship Circle closing ceremony to recognize and celebrate their members’ accomplishments for the past semester Jan. 10 at Camp Walker.
KAFC has kept its reputation since it had been established in 2004, functioning as an important bridge between Koreans and Americans for cultural understanding and strong bonds. The purpose of the program is to build relationships and sharing cultures between American, Korean sponsors and college students.
The 20th KAFC members, composed of 84 college students, 35 American sponsors and 31 Korean sponsors, participated in the ceremony to celebrate. Col. James R. Ryan, 19th ESC deputy commander, Col. Mark J. Weinerth, 501st Sustainment Brigade commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Robert F. Austin, 19th ESC command sergeant major, also attended the event as special guests.
The ceremony began with the remarks from Col. Johnney K. Matthews, Materiel Support Center – Korea commander, and Dr. Kim Si-oh as each American and Korean president of the 20th KAFC after the introduction of the distinguished guests.
“The overwhelming success of KAFC is not due to any work by me, but from the commitment by the team sponsors both Korean and the U.S. It grows from the students’ enthusiasm to learn and understand the culture different from his or her own,” Matthews said. “It also takes a lot of time, commitment and effort to make each meeting a success.”
After the blessing remarks from the KAFC presidents, students and sponsors had a short time of memory flashback of the semester by watching the students’ video presentation. The video which included various activities they had together made the members put on smile by reminding them the pleasant memories and experiences they went through.
“It was a really great chance for me to learn that there are different cultures in each American family unlike the Korean’s, which surprised me a lot. Also, it was superb that I could meet students from various colleges and the U.S. Army high ranking soldiers as well as the American party culture,” said Ms. Kim Yu-ri, 20th KAFC member. “I believe this program grew me up into being an open-minded person by experiencing different cultures.”
Afterwards, Ryan and Weinerth presented awards with signed balls to the KAFC presidents and representative of students. Soon after, Ryan proposed a toast with the best wishes for the future of KAFC and its members.
“I sincerely express my appreciation to all KAFC members for your enthusiasm and active participation to the program. I wish all of you the best of luck and blessings in the future ahead of you,” Ryan said.
The 20th KAFC’s curtain officially closed with the big group photo in the bigger hopes for the future.
| Date Taken: | 01.14.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 01.13.2014 21:17 |
| Story ID: | 119117 |
| Location: | CAMP WALKER, 27, KR |
| Web Views: | 99 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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