As anyone who saw the Rabb steps last week could gather, the Brandeis Korean Student Association went all out when it came to advertising for this year's K-Nite, the club's annual celebration of Korean culture. Those who came to Levin Ballroom on Saturday night learned that KSA put an impressive amount of work into the show, giving the audience a 2-hour whirlwind of music, dancing; tae kwon do; K-pop; and addictive, free yogurt drinks. Each K-Nite is built around a different theme, and for this year's,"Korea 101," KSA used a clever framing device built around a school day, in which each performance was presented as a "class," with a short skit introducing each one. It was a small part of the show, but it tied everything together well. The show itself opened with a rendition of "Aegukga," South Korea's national anthem, before segueing into a Korean history class taught by KSA President Dong Hyun Lee '12. It outlined South Korea's rapid development after the Korean War, which according to Lee left the country in such a dismal state that General MacArthur said it would take a century to recover-a prediction that Korea disproved by turning into the powerhouse it is in only 50 years. Next period was "Korean Music Class," featuring a performance by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's traditional Korean folk ensemble "Oori Crew," who performed traditional Korean poongmul music, a style that utilizes different types of drums and gongs. After the Oori Crew's performance, the stage was given over to the modern dance performance, in which students danced to K-pop standards from Korean pop stars Shinhwa, Miss A and Tae Yang. Students Christy Kang '13 and Ga Eun Lee '14 choreographed the former two, and they were joined by Sean Norton '12 to choreograph the final performance, "I Need A Girl."

After this came the tae kwon do demonstration (or "gym class") from the Newton branch of the Jae H. Kim Tae Kwon Do Institute. This started out normally enough: Students would demonstrate different forms, moves and strikes. But then they brought out the boards. Breaking boards is a time-honored tradition in demonstrations of martial arts, and what happened here left everyone talking for the rest of the night. There were flying kicks through a plank that barely missed the holder's face, students elbowing through a pile of planks and what can only be described as a real-life version of the "bicycle kick" move from Mortal Kombat. It was insane, and the crowd loved every minute of it.

Of course, this act would be hard to follow, but the KSA ended the first part of the show on a high note with a fashion show, featuring modern-day school uniforms before bringing out the final two ensembles: spot-on recreations of the robes worn by historic upper-class men and women, as well as the clothes of Korea's kings and queens. During intermission, the audience was given free samples of Yakult, a yogurt-based drink that's incredibly popular not only in Korea, but all across Asia, as well as parts of Latin America-not to mention Levin Ballroom, where the Yalkut supply was drained only a few minutes after they started serving it.

The second half of the show began with a performance by the KSA band, which sang renditions of Korean rock favorites as well as a Korean version of Blondie's "Maria." This was followed by a presentation by the executive board, which included a speech given by Grace Noh '11 on the Korean Language Table at Brandeis, a student-founded tutoring program that helps Brandeis students to learn Korean, which compensates for the University's lack of an official Korean language program. The program has grown from three students to 14 in only a few years, and the Table hopes to get the University to begin offering Korean language classes at some point in the near future. After this, the winners of KSA's raffle were announced. The first and second prizes-an iPod Touch and a Polaroid camera, respectively-were awarded to elated students. With the evening winding down, there was time for one last performance: the fan dance. This is a performance that's held every year at K-Nite, and ended the show on a high note as the audience filed out to the Usdan Student Center to enjoy a free Korean meal provided by Boston Yasu, a Korean restaurant in Boston.

K-Nite was, first and foremost, a celebration of Korea and its culture. But this year's show was also a celebration of the KSA itself, which has made great strides in the past few years. Twenty years ago, it consisted of about 10 members, but now its e-board alone has 17, and KSA Vice President Sujin Han '12 said that with Brandeis' admittance of more international students,

Brandeis's Korean population is now in the hundreds. This made the night that much more important-not only as a tribute to Korea itself, but also as a testament to the vitality of Brandeis' community of Korean students.