IFLA Conference - Day 1

We all got up early today to attend the IFLA Conference. Everything went extremely smoothly, registration-wise, and we finished in time to attend the opening ceremony where former president and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Kim Dae Jung, spoke.

The ceremony was nice; someone spent a lot of money to put this thing together and I suspect that a good majority of it was paid for by the Korean government. Many Korean dignitaries attended the ceremony, which included multimedia presentaitons of music and dance. A song was even written specifically for the conference which contained some not so subtle religious undertones.

I quote:

Who can lead the way to the light
Guiding the world to a brighter day
Who can show the way to our dreams
Helping us to explore the meaning of life

You are a shining light beaming brightly on our path
Connecting people with the insight of great minds the world has known

Lead me on to my journey
In times of need, in times of hunger
Feed my soul, calm my mind
Your smile to show you care for all mankind

You are the Hope
You give us vision of life
You are the Hope
You make the future of this world.

This was an opening ceremony to a librarian conference but it felt like a Christian revival. Interesting.