how do you like a punch in the face, uncertainty?

I have a friend who was homeless in Boston for a night.  He was begging people for money trying to eat and find a way back home.  I think he eventually ended up calling someone to pick him up.  Erik, you are a character.

Anyways, I just booked a overnight sleeper train ticket to Beijing, leaving on Thursday night.  I want to see Beijing while I'm here in China, as I may never get to come back here again.  The problem is that I can't book a return ticket here in Wuhan.  I have to buy a ticket in Beijing.  And I heard that there are long lines at the train stations buying tickets because of the Spring Festival season, and a return ticket for that night may not be available.  In that case, I'll just sleep a night in Beijing and come back the next day.  I can barely speak the language so there will be some problems.  But what if even the next day ticket's not available?  Hey Uncertainty, here's me punching you in the face!  You can't stop me from going to Beijing.  You didn't stop me from coming to China.

Anyways, if you don't hear from me, it's because the North Korean spies have captured me.

It's been over 3 weeks since I've been here.  It's nice not having to worry about anything like going to work, getting up early, doing laundry, or food.  All I have to do is get up and study go.  On weekends, I go to the go school and play the kids, and have our games reviewed.  On weekdays, after breakfast, I have a teaching game with Yan Laoshi, and afterwards, we go over the game, and my good moves and bad are pointed out, variations worked out, and general go philosophy explained.  Then it's lunch time, and for the rest of the day, I should be doing self-study on go, whether it's doing life-and-death problems or studying joseki, but it's not forced upon me.  I take a break here and there, but I try to study until dinner time.  Then after that, I may venture out to the city, or stay home and watch TV or do more problems.  Studying go doesn't feel like work to me, because it's fun and I like it.

There are two elements to improving in go.  One is what Yan Laoshi calls 方法 and 原则 which translates into  "methods and principles."  This is where I'm getting the most out of Yan Laoshi's teaching.  It's about general strategy and philosophy behind go.  What to do in the opening, middle game, and end game.  Ideas such as making your positions strong before attacking, or when you're weak, find your weak points and defend it.  Urgent points first before big points, etc.  The second element is 基本功 which translates into 'fundamentals'.  This is studying joseki and improving reading skills.  This is something that Yan Laoshi cannot help us on; it's something that we must do on our own.  He used the example of studying mathematics.  Pre-schoolers learn to count from 1 to 10, first graders do stuff like 1+3=4, middle schoolers may do 4-2x=3, high schoolers may do stuff like tan(x) = pi.  College, grad, post grad.  Yan Laoshi is at the post grad level.  He says our reading level is something around 7th grade level.  We need to practice, practice practice our reading in order to continue to improve.  Methods and principles can help you improve, but ultimately it is limited to your reading skills.  Your reading skills can also help you improve, but ultimately it is limited to your methods and principles.  These two are integral parts of improving. 

I think I have improved overall in these past 3 weeks.  I asked Yan Laoshi what level I am, and he said 2 or 3 dan.  When my reading is good, I'm 3 dan, when it's off, I'm 2 dan, maybe 1 dan.  I knew reading was important before, but I didn't know quantitatively how important.  I have a bit more quantitative grasp on the importance of reading now.  If your methods and principles are sound, then your style of play will lead your games in such a way that you don't have to spend so much effort in reading.  Remember integration by parts in calculus?  When you first started out, everything felt awkward, but the more you did them, you gained a bit of intuition and developed a few tricks so that every problem became almost routine, requiring less and less thinking.  Yeah, kinda like that.

Another realization I've gained is just how much more effort is required for me to be really strong.  It's going to take time and effort.  Before coming here, a part of me thought that I'd learn some trick or an important piece of information, "morsels of go" if you will, that would boost my playing strength instantly.  There were definitely a lot of morsels, and they will definitely help me in the long run.  But what'll really help me get stronger is fundamentals -- reading ability.  And to improve on that, I need to put in lots of hours of self study.  Yan Laoshi has another student here, Peipei.  She's 14 years old, 6 dan amateur.  Everyone, including her, thinks she'll become a pro next year.  I asked her how much she studies everyday and she said 4-5 hours.  She's been doing so since she was 11.  I asked Yan Laoshi how much he's studied everyday to become a pro.  He said 12 hours everyday for 4 years.  Then after becoming a pro, 4-8 hours everyday to reach 7 dan pro.  This shouldn't have surprised me.  Anyone who is good at anything, when you look into it, spent a whole lot of time trying to become good, whether it's piano, basketball, or World of Warcraft.

I have a finite amount of free time.  I have many interests, go being just one of them.  How will I choose to distribute my free time among my interests?  This is a question that came up recently, one where the answer will manifest itself on its own whether I answer the question explicitly or not. 


When you're in a foreign land, ask stupid questions.  "What is this?"  "mango blah blah."  "Is it hot?"  "Haha, don't be silly.  Fruit soups aren't served hot." 

This is the most expensive food item I bought in China so far, 24 rmb, or about $3.60, and so far my favorite!  It's a bunch of slimy balls dipped in cold mango mousse with fresh mango cubes and pomelo pieces.  All four ingredients blended perfectly together and was very refreshing, as the food court area was slightly warm (despite the cold weather outside).  Hey Mazz, you're always excited about balls dipped in sauces... well here you go.  I want to go back for seconds. 

ni ge... shenme?

Sung said Korea is the next Japan.  Sung may be right... well, at least here in China.  I see a lot of Korean pop culture references here.  It's not so much that it's in your face all the time, but you'll definitely be exposed to some Korean stuff even though you may not be looking for it all the time.  For example, a lot of the trendy stores in the streets will be blasting Korean music.  On TV, Chinese game shows will play Korean songs in the background.  I remember one game show where a guy and a girl were supposed to say "I love you" to each other, but they said it in Korean "saranghae" (the subtitles were in Chinese, though), and they made that heart symbol where you stretch your hand to your head.  I'm not certain, but I think Korea popularized that agonizingly gay gesture.  Apparently Korean dramas are really popular here.  It's so weird to watch a Korean drama dubbed and subbed in Chinese.  Never have I heard so much "shi shi shi shi" in a single dialog.  I was at a bakery in one of those side alleys, buying me some 1 kuai snacks.  Here's a pic.

It reminded me of a deep fried Oreo, except it wasn't.

The snack itself was a meh.  The lady thought it was funny that I was taking pictures of what seems to be a common sight.  (She was also like, here, let me organize it so it looks pretty)  She asked me where I was from, and when I said America, she and her husband seemed puzzled.  They were like, you don't look like an American.  When I told them I'm actually Korean, their faces lit up and were like, "ohhh your'e KOREAN!"  Not just this instance, but in general I seem to be getting favorable reactions when people find out I'm Korean.  So, yeah, go kdramas and kpop.


So apparently I have some kind of an obsession with trash.  I remember when I went to Korea few years ago, I took pics of trash on the streets, and one of my cousins yelled at me cuz why the heck are you taking pics of trash to remember Korea by?  I don't know... cuz it's different?  So here I am in China, and I can't help but take pictures of more trash.  Here you go.

I mean, there are trash on the streets, but sometimes you see a huge pile of trash, and your'e like, huh?  I guess it's just a designated area for massive dumpage? 

This lady is in charge of cleaning up the trash cans and the area around it.  Usually you see more trash around the trash can than inside.

It's not like there are no trash cans; there are.  But it's just so much more convenient to toss your trash on the streets.  That way you don't have to carry it with you until you find a trash can.  I remember eating a lamb-kebab and after finishing it, I was left with a long wooden stick.  I walked around for about a minute looking for a trash can, and during that minute, looked like a total tool.  One of these days I'll be brave enough to just throw it down wherever I please, and nobody would care.

Just look at any random place next to a sidewalk and you'll see trash.  These sticks are from various street snacks that people eat.  This is what I should have done.

One last thing about trash.  At the house I'm staying at, there are these makeshift mini trash cans made from scraps of used paper.  These are placed on coffee tables, dining tables, and wherever.  Whenever you have trash or garbage, you put them in these things, and later on you dump them out.  Like if you're eating fish for dinner, you put your fish bones in these things.  Or when you're eating oranges on the living room sofa, you put your orange peels in here.  I'm still not used to this idea. 

So regarding trash in China, I'm not trying to make a social statement or pass a judgement.  I think it's just a cultural difference on how trash is managed and handled.  It's easy to pass judgement because other cultures are different than your own.  But who determines what is "right" and "correct"?

This is how you write down a go game.  I'm getting better and better at remembering the moves after the game, but still having trouble near the end.  Currently, this problem is ok, because most of the review is focused on the opening and middle game.

This weekend, at the go school, I lost my first 3 games, and managed to win my last one.  The first kid I played looked so sweet and innocent, probably around 7 years old.  I had studied what seemed to me an obscure line of joseki, and started playing it on my 3rd move, being all smug.  He looked at me with a cute puzzled look, and commenced thrashing me on the go board afterwards.  Turns out that the line of joseki doesn't work in that particular situation.  Also turns out that the kid was 5 dan. 

This is melon flavored hot bubble tea.  Yeah, I didn't know it was melon flavored, and I didn't know it was hot.  Maybe the bubbles weren't even bubbles... who knows?  Anyways, I was like, "hey, so what's the best drink here?"  and she was all "something something something fruit something drink" and i was like "ni ge... shen me?"  and she was all "something something" and "i was like i'll have this."  I think the words "this" and "that" are like the bread and butter of learning a new language.  It was 3 kuai, which is like 45 cents.  In the US they'd charge 10x that and it'd be ok.

Sung said there were no street foods in China.  Sung was wrong.  There's street food everywhere, and I'm in bliss.

I bought this from the two guys pictured above.  It's probably my favorite street food so far, costing me only 1 kuai (about 15 cents).  It's nice and crispy on the outside, and has a mild sweet sugary filling on the inside.  It's pretty much teh win on a cold winter's walk.

After dinner, I leave the house and start walking in a random direction.  I take random forks and see where it takes me.  If it looks weird or crazy, I take it.  One night I found this awesome alley.  It was basically rows and rows of various shops all squeezed in between apartments.  I was able to score me some sweet dumplings and pastries.  Later on I found out that these alleys are pretty much the norm in residential areas.

On Friday, we went out to Huang He Lo, or Yellow Crane Tower.  Apparently some poet dude wrote about it and that made it popular and they tore it down and rebuilt it over and over until what you see today.  It was cool.

Here are kids from the go school that we go to on weekends.  They are like 7-9 and are really good.  This one kid got hit on his hand with a ruler for making a crappy move.  The teachers here are serious about go.

Oh hai.  This is me taking white against this kid.  He slaughtered me.  Upon reviewing the game with Yan Laoshi, I made a losing move in my 5th move.  I didn't defend a weak group, so he attacked it mercilessly, and while doing so made a huge moyo.  I tried invading it, ended up creating another weak group inside his influence, and he attacked it and managed to kill it.  Game over.

spart

Sports and art are related.  Athletes and artists are one and the same.  Kobe Bryant can work magic with the basketball.  He can dribble it to make the ball go whichever direction he desires.  He can shoot it with precise angle and velocity, even taking into account his body's own position and momentum, having done so, probably hundreds of thousands of times.  Horowitz, Perlman, Yo-yo Ma.  These masters can equally control their instruments with versatility and finesse.  With grace and beauty.  But to get to their level, they must have practiced daily, building up strength and dexterity.  And even some skills that is a bit intangible, such as court-sense, or musical expression.  Monet, Picasso, Degas.  Larry Wall, Linus Torvalds, James Gosling.

Go is just like sports and art.  You need to develop the skills daily, to build up mental strength and dexterity.  A skilled go player can make the stones move according to his will.  He can make them jump lightly across the board or let them stand firm along the side.  He knows all the intricacies of the positions, shapes, and formations, having seen them in various forms hundreds of thousands of times.  When a stronger player is playing against a weaker player, the weaker player becomes clay.  The stronger player takes the clay, and molds it into whatever shape he wants, and the weaker player is helpless against it.  The stronger player can do this because he is a master of the craft, just like a skilled athlete, a musician, a painter, or a programmer.

After 3 days worth of teaching games and analysis, I think my problem is that I'm too eager to play moves that gets me points, instead of defending my position.  Yan Laoshi constantly reminds us to make our position strong first, before doing anything else.  Anytime there is a weakness in my position, Yan Laoshi never fails to exploit it.  When I play online against my equals, they don't see the weakness, and that's how I was able to get by.  But when facing a strong opponent, your position must be rock solid.  What is encouraging for me is that whenever there is a weakness, I can intuitively feel it, although I can't really point out exactly what it is.  Starting from now on, I'm going to try to fortify my positions when this internal warning pops up.  I'll probably end up with less points, but at least I'll have solved the one problem that Lan Yaoshi keeps pointing out.  Maybe then he can tell me how to get more points.

I embarked on a solo mission to a grocery store last night.  Ok, first of all, why is there a shelf full of aftershave creams and lotions but no shaving cream?  Second, why are you so suspicious of my 100 RMB bill?  It's a 10-freaking-0 RMB, for crying out loud...

One of the regrets I have about my trip to Japan 5 years ago was that I didn't talk to the locals enough.  This time, I'm being more ambitious in that front.  I bought a small egg-tart from this bakery...  there were two girls holding up the shop, and I was able to grab me some sweet goodness for 3.5 RMB.  Something about me must have been hilarious, cuz they kept on busting out laughing whenever I said something.  Maybe it was because I hadn't shaved in 6 days...

durr

Instead of studying past/present tense progressive grammar in Chinese, I should have been studying go terms.  Duh...

Thank goodness I have another student here with me who can speak some English.  He's from Thailand.  I think his name is Car.  He's been here for 1.5 months, and is going to stay another 1.5 months.  He's been very helpful in translating whatever the teacher says to me. 

I played a game with the teacher yesterday.  I took 3 stones and lost by about 150 points.  Basically one half of the board was all white's.  I felt embarrassed.  I learned that I was playing a joseki that requires about 5-6 dan level reading skills.  Yeah, time to ditch that line next time.

I took a walk along the busy streets of Wuhan yesterday.  It felt a bit like old school Korea, with people walking everywhere, people selling goods on the streets.  I can't wait to try these weird looking street foods.