Goodbye, farewell,...

The Symp farewell dinner took place in DU campus Sunday evening. Farewell dinner is the extravagant version of MF "wrap-up"----or, the chaotic one. It embodies all the colors and noises of a Hollywood red carpet event on TV, except we shoot ourselves ---that is, after the official photo session. It was actually quite spectacle when three bus-ful of pretty people got unloaded to some lines of chairs, sat or stood with their best effort posing, fitting into the frame, and not letting their hunger show on their faces... But MF gatherings are always filled with laugher and high spirits and this one is no exception. After the SFs executed their (ungrounded?) privilege of shooting a group picture of themselves and deprived JFs from doing so, the group started to randomly shoot at each other and in differnet combinations. They were finally advised to move indoors into the dining hall to continue the activity.

Then a New Orleans flavored dinner was served, after farewell speeches and civilized ;) queueing. While we were busy eating, chatting, saying 'goodbye' and 'hello' to our old and new friends (considering the big size of the group and different schedules, some people might just be seeing each other for the first time at the farewell dinner.) , a jazz band joined us performing live at the side. I am sure that everyone had different thoughts in mind, looking back at the day, the symp week, the MF year, but I think we can all agree on that there could be no better atmosphere for a farewell, when you're surrounded by good friends and good music.

Following the dinner,  'Bring your own mug' group had their presentation, and showed pictures of MFers using their own mugs during symp. They asked the audience to decide who's the winner---by clapping and screaming loud when candidates' pictures are shown.  As expected, untraditional methods such as stomping, table-instrumentalization were soon deviced by the super-cooperative audience and rendered an unexpected second round competition as the poor decible detector reaches its maximum limit. The final winner, Prof. Ying and newly crowned 'Dr Ping', each gave their speeches. I was surprised to hear the lovely story of Prof Ying's mug, which was actually a gift she got back when she was studying in University of Utah.

The next group to be awarded is batch 2006---their graduation certificate, their SF-2B orientation still anticipated, and their SF years to come. Finally the Melton flags were handed over to next year's host---BMS campus. The Indian fellows prepared a hearty welcome with a spicy modern video, and an antique looking scroll for everyone. 

Then I must have be wrong to use the word 'final' because the party just started! With air heated up, dances soon started at the main stage, and I was pretty sure that celebration went on through the night, after ppl got back to the hotel, until some fellows started to leave for their dear homes early in the morning, and will continue in various ways and places. See you later, fellers.

[Still waiting for the group pic to come out, but this serve as a preview. Or go to facebook for more upload.]