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.