By the time Keum had finished his story up to the fourth day of the tournament, I was almost done with congee and the shrimp dish, so I waved at one of the waiters at the corner table and ordered a plate of fried turnip cake with minced pork meat and scallions and I added two bottles of Tsing Tao. Yes, I knew it was early in the morning and I wasn't much of a drinker, but it was Saturday, which meant I didn't have to go to work, also too much of snow to do anything at all anyways. And, most of all, the story Keum had been telling me to have a drink or two.
Whenever he told me the story, Keum always did it in steady low voice, and in spite of the story's exciting contents, he did it almost as if there were no emotions attached. But it was different on that morning.
He was in full emotion, his voice quivered and cracked often and even raised his voice often when he told me the followings.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Keum went up to his room immediately after the game and stayed there. He didn't eat his dinner. He called for a room service only once during the night for bottles of water. He sat at the small desk by his bed and stared at the white wall above the bed for a long time. He opened his suitcase and took out a small book.
It was the very book that Mrs. Baik gave him when he was little, a copy of ancient Sa-hwal-jib (Life and Death collections) written by master Lee from Yi Dynasty. He opened the page he marked and looked at the diagram. It was the only problem he couldn't solve from the book. Hundreds times he tried, but each time when he thought he finally solved it, right next day, he found out that the answer was not correct. It was like a curse. It was a rather large one for Sa-Hwal problem, need to answer it with 58 moves and each move had to be precise and in right order, the book said.
Whenever Keum had to think about things he couldn't help, he always opened the book to the page and tried to solve the problem. Tonight, Keum's thoughts were focused on his father. The man who abandoned his family. The man who hurt his mother so much. The man appeared and then disappeared in front of him like a ghost. The man Keum had missed so much for all his life. And hated for all his life.
He once more placed the stones one by one carefully in his mind. Over the years of practicing the same problem without succeed had created another problem; he always thought that the moves up to 39 were correct, he placed the first moves automatically without thinking.
Keum didn't know how long he dozed off when he woke up by a loud siren from outside. The clock on the wall said three fifteen and he saw that he dropped the book. On the floor, the book was opened at the page Keum was studying in such way the diagram was seen upside down. That was when Keum saw the mistake he had made for hundreds of times. The key was the second move of black. Not at the 39th. Keum left the book on the floor, stood up slowly, and placed the stones in his mind again, and clearly he could see the entire 58 moves with no mistakes.
There was a commotion in hallway, people running, shouting and more running, but Keum paid no attention to it. He was happy that he finally could solve all the problems in the book. He went to sleep and he dreamt of the sea, his mother and his hometown.
The following morning, when Keum stepped into the tournament room, the pro greeted him then said that there was a small accident last night. A man who had been working for the mob boss, Mr. Ku for many years, tried to rob the hotel's bank then escaped without taking any money. Keum also learned that at the beginning of the tournament, all guests were asked and told not to leave the hotel until the end of tournament in fear of someone might report the biggest illegal gambling event in Korea's history to the authority.
The room now had only one table in the center.
The fat man with a pink tie made the announcement to over 200 spectators that the final game was about to begin and asked all gamblers to place their final bets. Keum saw Nalle among the gamblers. He had two large bags with him, and saw him placing them on the table. Keum couldn't find his father.
Keum sat and faced his opponent. From what he saw, his opponent was a slender, but little shorter than himself. His opponent grabbed a handful of stones and Keum placed a single black stone on the Baduk-pan. When the counting was done, the fat man announced that Keum would play with black. Keum took a deep breath before he placed his first stone at Hwa-jum (4.4). The opponent answered with Oe-mok (5.3), followed by Keum's another Hwa-jum. The opponent placed his second move at Sam-sam (3.3). The room was in total silence. No one dared to talk. The game was played slowly with finesse of ballet dancers'. Then became a fight between a bear and a tiger. Then became two master swordmen's fight. The two were dancing, fighting, pushing and pulling for more than 6 hours.
At move 215, Keum suddenly saw that there was something strange about the top left corner's shape. He looked at the shape for a long time, then realized that it had the striking resemblance to that very last Sa-hwal problem he solved the previous night. He read and played over fifty moves in his mind before placing his move. Keum's opponent froze.
He took more than 40 minutes for his next move then the rest moves followed rather quickly. At 273rd move, it became clear that Keum's opponent's corner was dead. After every dame was filled and counted, Keum had 32 points more. The room became an instant Hell and Heaven. The winners were laughing (Nalle was one of them), losers were sad and angry.
Keum's opponent stood up and took off his mask. When he did that, he became she. She was about Keum's age, and stunningly beautiful. Keum stayed in his seat, took off his own mask, looked at her like she was some kind of alien from another planet.
She extended her arm and said that it was the greatest game she had ever played and thanked him. Keum took her hand and said nothing: he couldn't say anything. Then she whispered so only Keum could hear. "Do you remember me?"
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
A Boy: Part VII
It snowed. Snowed all day and all night for three days. The news reporters said it was the biggest snow storm in decades. The streets of New York were covered with innocence hiding city's dark side when I took a cab to the congee place where Keum worked. Despite the bad weather, I had to hear what happened to the tournament in Kwang Joo.
When I arrived at the restaurant, the place was empty as I expected except a few waiters sitting at a corner table playing majong. I ordered the usual dish, a bowl of steaming congee and fried shrimp wanton. While I was eating, Keum sat across the table and told me the story I was dying to hear.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The night before the biggest underground Baduk gambling in Korea's history, each player was given a black overall robe complete with a head mask also in black with small openings for eyes, nose and mouth. The fabric used was light cotton for easy to breathe and so players wouldn't feel uncomfortable while playing. It has two large intertwined golden dragons embroidered in front and a large number in Chinese on back. Keum was told that it was necessary to make gamblers not to bet heavily on some obvious winners such as himself. Keum's robe had number 4.
For next five days, the entire hotel turned into some sort of a dungeon of pleasure and agony. During the day, the players played, and the gamblers gambled. So much money involved, most games lasted more than 8 hours. All players' strength were close to each other, they played to the end. Even when the result was clear, since the gamblers bet their money based on points (bang-nae-gi), the unwritten rule was set as no-resign. Most of players also betted their own money. It seemed that only person who wasn't betting was Keum.
On the first day, Keum saw his father producing bundles of cash from his bag and placing bets. Keum had the thoughts of introducing himself to the man and told him that he was the man's son. He, at one point, considered telling the pro that there was his father he was looking for all these years in the same room. But then, he gave up on the idea simply because he got too involved with his first game.
Keum's opponent seemed an old man by listening his frequent sighs. Almost on every move, right before he placed his stone, he made a strange noise sounded much like distant foghorn. Keum played with his moves accuracy of well trained sushi chef. Every move becomes a slice, every move turned into a chop. He didn't hurry. He took his time until the fish was ready to skin and cut and open and dice. When the game ended, Keum's opponent's dragons were all dead except two in the middle. The counting was finished at 85. 6 hours and 20 minutes passed since the start. When Keum looked up, he saw his father standing right behind him laughing with joy. Obviously, the father made the right choice and won large sum of money betting on the player number 4.
As a rule, the loser should unmask himself after the game's over. When his opponent took off the mask, Keum saw an old man about 70 years old, with a small opening right below his chin right above his Adam's apple, his breath hole might have been the result of years of heavy smoking. Keum noticed that the old man was crying and the breathe hole made rapid wheezing sound. Keum stood up, held the old man's hands for a long time before left the table.
At night, the 12th floor of the hotel turned into the Pleasure Island. At the center stage, topless dancers danced to fast beats of popular Hip Hop music, at tables occupied by gamblers, expensive champagne and cognac were consumed. Winners and losers all got drunk dreaming the same dream for tomorrow; winning. Players, however, weren't there. They were invited to a separate room and after the fancy dinner and brief announcement of winners and losers by the fat man with a pink tie, sixteen of them were sent out through the back door.
The second day came.
The room had only 16 of previous day's winners but still crowded with now all sober gamblers.
Among them, Keum's father was standing at a table betting at a player who carried number 19.
Keum's own opponent played strongly at first. He played smart moves on Posuk (Fuseki) stage. The game looked even when it was well into Joongban-jun (mid-game). Keum played at steady pace and his stones made almost no sound.
At move 209, Keum saw the momentum of opening to his opponent's big Se-ryuk (Moyo) on the left. His moves danced once again like a chef's knife. It jabbed through the opening and cut a large part of Dae-ma (Dragon) and killed it. It was a quick death, it took Keum's opponent a few minutes before he realized that he lost the game. Again, Keum won by big score by 43. When the man took off and revealed his face, Keum saw a familiar face through magazines and newspapers, once famous professional player in Japan.
It wasn't until the fourth day, Keum finally met someone at his own strength. By looking at the size black robe, Keum thought his opponent must be a small person. His sleeves were too long for his arms, he frequently rolled them up throughout the whole game. His robe carried number 19. Keum smiled faintly thinking his father had been lucky.
It was a tough game from start to finish. Both players spent long time before each move as if each move was the final move. Neither of them talked, and the gamblers around their table became totally silent. Little after the beginning of the Joong-ban-jun (midgame), Keum heard a big cheering from the gamblers at now the only other table left. Keum looked over and noticed the loser of the table was no one but Nalle himself standing and laughing his big laugh. His opponent was still sitting without a move. The person, Keum thought, resembled the quiet sea from his hometown. Keum somehow knew then, he would play with the person at the final. The game lasted a long time. There were Pae (Ko) after Pae. There was no death of Dae-ma. It was like a competition of two well-made computers calculating. After the sixth Pae was settled, the two played painful but precise Ggut-nae-gi (Yose). When the game was finally over, Keum had two points more. Keum's opponent was a boy with a set of bright eyes with apple like cheeks, from China's Sendeung Province, a son of a farmer father and a teacher mother.
Keum looked around to see his father but he couldn't find him. His father lost the bet, Keum thought.
When I arrived at the restaurant, the place was empty as I expected except a few waiters sitting at a corner table playing majong. I ordered the usual dish, a bowl of steaming congee and fried shrimp wanton. While I was eating, Keum sat across the table and told me the story I was dying to hear.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The night before the biggest underground Baduk gambling in Korea's history, each player was given a black overall robe complete with a head mask also in black with small openings for eyes, nose and mouth. The fabric used was light cotton for easy to breathe and so players wouldn't feel uncomfortable while playing. It has two large intertwined golden dragons embroidered in front and a large number in Chinese on back. Keum was told that it was necessary to make gamblers not to bet heavily on some obvious winners such as himself. Keum's robe had number 4.
For next five days, the entire hotel turned into some sort of a dungeon of pleasure and agony. During the day, the players played, and the gamblers gambled. So much money involved, most games lasted more than 8 hours. All players' strength were close to each other, they played to the end. Even when the result was clear, since the gamblers bet their money based on points (bang-nae-gi), the unwritten rule was set as no-resign. Most of players also betted their own money. It seemed that only person who wasn't betting was Keum.
On the first day, Keum saw his father producing bundles of cash from his bag and placing bets. Keum had the thoughts of introducing himself to the man and told him that he was the man's son. He, at one point, considered telling the pro that there was his father he was looking for all these years in the same room. But then, he gave up on the idea simply because he got too involved with his first game.
Keum's opponent seemed an old man by listening his frequent sighs. Almost on every move, right before he placed his stone, he made a strange noise sounded much like distant foghorn. Keum played with his moves accuracy of well trained sushi chef. Every move becomes a slice, every move turned into a chop. He didn't hurry. He took his time until the fish was ready to skin and cut and open and dice. When the game ended, Keum's opponent's dragons were all dead except two in the middle. The counting was finished at 85. 6 hours and 20 minutes passed since the start. When Keum looked up, he saw his father standing right behind him laughing with joy. Obviously, the father made the right choice and won large sum of money betting on the player number 4.
As a rule, the loser should unmask himself after the game's over. When his opponent took off the mask, Keum saw an old man about 70 years old, with a small opening right below his chin right above his Adam's apple, his breath hole might have been the result of years of heavy smoking. Keum noticed that the old man was crying and the breathe hole made rapid wheezing sound. Keum stood up, held the old man's hands for a long time before left the table.
At night, the 12th floor of the hotel turned into the Pleasure Island. At the center stage, topless dancers danced to fast beats of popular Hip Hop music, at tables occupied by gamblers, expensive champagne and cognac were consumed. Winners and losers all got drunk dreaming the same dream for tomorrow; winning. Players, however, weren't there. They were invited to a separate room and after the fancy dinner and brief announcement of winners and losers by the fat man with a pink tie, sixteen of them were sent out through the back door.
The second day came.
The room had only 16 of previous day's winners but still crowded with now all sober gamblers.
Among them, Keum's father was standing at a table betting at a player who carried number 19.
Keum's own opponent played strongly at first. He played smart moves on Posuk (Fuseki) stage. The game looked even when it was well into Joongban-jun (mid-game). Keum played at steady pace and his stones made almost no sound.
At move 209, Keum saw the momentum of opening to his opponent's big Se-ryuk (Moyo) on the left. His moves danced once again like a chef's knife. It jabbed through the opening and cut a large part of Dae-ma (Dragon) and killed it. It was a quick death, it took Keum's opponent a few minutes before he realized that he lost the game. Again, Keum won by big score by 43. When the man took off and revealed his face, Keum saw a familiar face through magazines and newspapers, once famous professional player in Japan.
It wasn't until the fourth day, Keum finally met someone at his own strength. By looking at the size black robe, Keum thought his opponent must be a small person. His sleeves were too long for his arms, he frequently rolled them up throughout the whole game. His robe carried number 19. Keum smiled faintly thinking his father had been lucky.
It was a tough game from start to finish. Both players spent long time before each move as if each move was the final move. Neither of them talked, and the gamblers around their table became totally silent. Little after the beginning of the Joong-ban-jun (midgame), Keum heard a big cheering from the gamblers at now the only other table left. Keum looked over and noticed the loser of the table was no one but Nalle himself standing and laughing his big laugh. His opponent was still sitting without a move. The person, Keum thought, resembled the quiet sea from his hometown. Keum somehow knew then, he would play with the person at the final. The game lasted a long time. There were Pae (Ko) after Pae. There was no death of Dae-ma. It was like a competition of two well-made computers calculating. After the sixth Pae was settled, the two played painful but precise Ggut-nae-gi (Yose). When the game was finally over, Keum had two points more. Keum's opponent was a boy with a set of bright eyes with apple like cheeks, from China's Sendeung Province, a son of a farmer father and a teacher mother.
Keum looked around to see his father but he couldn't find him. His father lost the bet, Keum thought.
Friday, June 20, 2008
A Boy: Part VI
Nalle's response to Keum's first play at Chun-won (Tengen) was a long pause. He didn't play the move. Instead, Nalle studied Keum's face for good 15 minutes like he was searching for the right answer from Keum asking "Friend, are you serious or are you joking?" Taking 15 minutes for the second move at Sok-ki (blitz) was almost fatal, he knew, but he couldn't help himself. Nalle placed his second stone at Hwa-jum, Keum followed his at Hwa-jum diagonally at no time. It was 17th move that Nalle realized Keum was playing mirror-Go. Nell spent more than 40 minutes already, while Keum spent mere 30 seconds of his time. Nalle's face glowed in bright red and he suddenly exploded with a burst of laughter. He knew that he couldn't beat Keum by skill only by the experience he had from the first game. He took another 7 minutes before attaching his stone to the Chun-won, which was one of the moves he could come up with to break the Mirror-Go. Keum and Nalle both knew, then, the game was over. If you play a move to just avoid your opponent's strategy, the move becomes a failure. Immediately after the move, Nalle resigned.
The third game which was played the following morning was somewhat entertaining for both players. They agreed to play on no time setting this time. Keum played White. The play was relaxed, and friendly. Nalle talked a lot in heavy accented Korean, and Keum nodded and smiled a lot. Nalle said he wanted to be a friend of Keum, and at one point he jokingly said that he wanted to be a student of Keum. It seemed that Nalle didn't care about winning or losing, nor did Keum. The final game lasted for more than three hours and at the end, Keum won by 18 points. There was no Deum (Komi). Before they parted, Nalle gave him a piece of paper with his private phone number and his address back home in Finland. While the pro and the two in black suits settled the betting money at the corner of the room, Nalle said in whisper to Keum that he wasn't supposed to give out the informations to anyone, especially to his opponent, but he was making an exception for Keum.
A year and half passed, and during that time, Keum's games were simply brilliant. Not a single loss. Master Yi's opponents went crazy to look for better players to beat Keum.
Some of them got real angry, and the stake got higher and higher after each game played. Keum met many players; few of them were brought from Japan and China, and one of them was even borrowed from prison cell after bribing the warden. He was the champion of inter-prison tournaments for many years. (In Korea, Baduk became the most popular game inside of prison system) None of them were strong enough to win against Keum.
One of the oddest players Keum met was a blind man. He became blind at age 12 after a terrible car accident. He was a prodigy and one of the Yun-Gu-Saeng (Insei) of HanKook Ghiwon (Korean Go Association) at the time of the accident. Knowing that he had to live as a blind for the rest of his life, but couldn't trash the love for Baduk, he kept studying Baduk by memorizing the coordinates of the board with help from his father. He calls his move and his father would place the stone. After his opponent's move, his father calls the move by alphabet and the number. His play style was extremely aggressive obviously showing his inner anger through the tool of Baduk. It was odd sight that his father was acting like a servant, didn't say a word except calling moves. It seemed that the blind son was abusing his father. Later Keum heard that at the time of car accident, the father was driving drunk with his son at the back seat and his wife at the passenger seat. The mother died at the scene, the son lost his eyes, and the father came out with no scratches. The blind man was no match to Keum though.
It was at the end of the year, around Christmas, when the pro came into Keum's room without knocking.
At the time, Keum was looking out the window where he could see the tree branches curved with heavy snow from previous night. He was thinking of his mother, his hometown and the strange man who gave him the dictionary at the graduation. It was rare that the pro came to visit Keum's room without sending the butler Seung first. Keum sensed something very important was about to happen. The pro approached Keum with two large steps, and said that they had to leave for Kwang-Joo immediately.
He said that the biggest Baduk Gambling in Korea's history was about to begin. There would be 32 players from 32 masters and crime family bosses, the tournament would be held in Kwang-Joo for the entire week between Christmas and New Year. The betting money was set at 20-Eok-Won (about 2 million US dollars), and the winner would get all. He said there was no time to delay, and the car was ready to drive them to Kwang-Joo at that moment. The pro took Keum's arm and led to the car, engine running at the back door. It was a large black limousine this time and the butler Seung was driving.
After four hours of driving through heavy snow, they arrived in Kwng-Joo. The city's streets were full of cars and people busy shopping for Christmas. They looked strangely far away to Keum's eyes. The car parked at a basement garage after passing a gate where the pro showed his identification card. There was a large sign by the gate and the sign said in red bold letters: "The entire hotel is closed from Christmas and New Year for Renovation"
They took the elevator from the garage to the top floor penthouse suite and there, they were greeted by the same two with black suits Keum met at the games he played with Little Uncle and Nalle. The pro said to Keum in whisper that the whole tournament was arranged by the same mob boss while they were being led to one of the rooms.
After the shower and brief snacks, the pro and Keum went down to 57th floor. It was the biggest hotel in Kwang-Joo, and owned by the mob boss, Keum was told. The fact that the mob boss shut down the entire hotel for the tournament showed how angry he became.
On the 57th floor, there was a large conference room full with people talking and drinking. They were players, body guards, sponsors, and gamblers who were making bets their own money. There were 32 floor boards set in four rows in the middle. Keum went to see the boards and found that all of them were genuine Biza-Mok boards (Kaya boards). "Pretty impressive, huh?" A husky voice came from Keum back. When Keum turned around, he saw a man of mid forties wearing crisp white Hanbok (traditional Korean costume) smiling a broad smile. He extended his left arm and said,"I am Ku Joong-Su. I own this hotel. Please accept my sincere apology about offering my left arm, but my right became useless long time ago. I heard lot about you for last two years and I am so glad that we met." After Keum shook Ku's hand, Ku abruptly left without saying anything.
A short man with a pink neck-tie came up to a make shift stage and made an announcement for the tournament and the rules. The tournament would be single knock down, and the betting money would be handed to the hotel's bank until the end. The winner would get all 68-Eok-Won (68 million dollars) and wished good luck to all players.
After the announcement, the short man told all to go down to 12th floor to enjoy the real party.
People immediately formed a line to leave.
Keum was standing at the end of the line, and he saw someone whom he never expected to meet again in his life.
The strange man who gave Keum a dictionary at the graduation was in the middle of the line talking to a woman next to him. He had more gray hair and looked thinner than few years ago, but Keum was sure that was him.
The third game which was played the following morning was somewhat entertaining for both players. They agreed to play on no time setting this time. Keum played White. The play was relaxed, and friendly. Nalle talked a lot in heavy accented Korean, and Keum nodded and smiled a lot. Nalle said he wanted to be a friend of Keum, and at one point he jokingly said that he wanted to be a student of Keum. It seemed that Nalle didn't care about winning or losing, nor did Keum. The final game lasted for more than three hours and at the end, Keum won by 18 points. There was no Deum (Komi). Before they parted, Nalle gave him a piece of paper with his private phone number and his address back home in Finland. While the pro and the two in black suits settled the betting money at the corner of the room, Nalle said in whisper to Keum that he wasn't supposed to give out the informations to anyone, especially to his opponent, but he was making an exception for Keum.
A year and half passed, and during that time, Keum's games were simply brilliant. Not a single loss. Master Yi's opponents went crazy to look for better players to beat Keum.
Some of them got real angry, and the stake got higher and higher after each game played. Keum met many players; few of them were brought from Japan and China, and one of them was even borrowed from prison cell after bribing the warden. He was the champion of inter-prison tournaments for many years. (In Korea, Baduk became the most popular game inside of prison system) None of them were strong enough to win against Keum.
One of the oddest players Keum met was a blind man. He became blind at age 12 after a terrible car accident. He was a prodigy and one of the Yun-Gu-Saeng (Insei) of HanKook Ghiwon (Korean Go Association) at the time of the accident. Knowing that he had to live as a blind for the rest of his life, but couldn't trash the love for Baduk, he kept studying Baduk by memorizing the coordinates of the board with help from his father. He calls his move and his father would place the stone. After his opponent's move, his father calls the move by alphabet and the number. His play style was extremely aggressive obviously showing his inner anger through the tool of Baduk. It was odd sight that his father was acting like a servant, didn't say a word except calling moves. It seemed that the blind son was abusing his father. Later Keum heard that at the time of car accident, the father was driving drunk with his son at the back seat and his wife at the passenger seat. The mother died at the scene, the son lost his eyes, and the father came out with no scratches. The blind man was no match to Keum though.
It was at the end of the year, around Christmas, when the pro came into Keum's room without knocking.
At the time, Keum was looking out the window where he could see the tree branches curved with heavy snow from previous night. He was thinking of his mother, his hometown and the strange man who gave him the dictionary at the graduation. It was rare that the pro came to visit Keum's room without sending the butler Seung first. Keum sensed something very important was about to happen. The pro approached Keum with two large steps, and said that they had to leave for Kwang-Joo immediately.
He said that the biggest Baduk Gambling in Korea's history was about to begin. There would be 32 players from 32 masters and crime family bosses, the tournament would be held in Kwang-Joo for the entire week between Christmas and New Year. The betting money was set at 20-Eok-Won (about 2 million US dollars), and the winner would get all. He said there was no time to delay, and the car was ready to drive them to Kwang-Joo at that moment. The pro took Keum's arm and led to the car, engine running at the back door. It was a large black limousine this time and the butler Seung was driving.
After four hours of driving through heavy snow, they arrived in Kwng-Joo. The city's streets were full of cars and people busy shopping for Christmas. They looked strangely far away to Keum's eyes. The car parked at a basement garage after passing a gate where the pro showed his identification card. There was a large sign by the gate and the sign said in red bold letters: "The entire hotel is closed from Christmas and New Year for Renovation"
They took the elevator from the garage to the top floor penthouse suite and there, they were greeted by the same two with black suits Keum met at the games he played with Little Uncle and Nalle. The pro said to Keum in whisper that the whole tournament was arranged by the same mob boss while they were being led to one of the rooms.
After the shower and brief snacks, the pro and Keum went down to 57th floor. It was the biggest hotel in Kwang-Joo, and owned by the mob boss, Keum was told. The fact that the mob boss shut down the entire hotel for the tournament showed how angry he became.
On the 57th floor, there was a large conference room full with people talking and drinking. They were players, body guards, sponsors, and gamblers who were making bets their own money. There were 32 floor boards set in four rows in the middle. Keum went to see the boards and found that all of them were genuine Biza-Mok boards (Kaya boards). "Pretty impressive, huh?" A husky voice came from Keum back. When Keum turned around, he saw a man of mid forties wearing crisp white Hanbok (traditional Korean costume) smiling a broad smile. He extended his left arm and said,"I am Ku Joong-Su. I own this hotel. Please accept my sincere apology about offering my left arm, but my right became useless long time ago. I heard lot about you for last two years and I am so glad that we met." After Keum shook Ku's hand, Ku abruptly left without saying anything.
A short man with a pink neck-tie came up to a make shift stage and made an announcement for the tournament and the rules. The tournament would be single knock down, and the betting money would be handed to the hotel's bank until the end. The winner would get all 68-Eok-Won (68 million dollars) and wished good luck to all players.
After the announcement, the short man told all to go down to 12th floor to enjoy the real party.
People immediately formed a line to leave.
Keum was standing at the end of the line, and he saw someone whom he never expected to meet again in his life.
The strange man who gave Keum a dictionary at the graduation was in the middle of the line talking to a woman next to him. He had more gray hair and looked thinner than few years ago, but Keum was sure that was him.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
A Boy: Part V
The very first game Keum played was a spectacular one, you might say.
There was no Posuk (Fuseki) stage. The fight started from one corner then spreaded like a disease much similar to the great epidemic of syphilis swept Europe during Henry the 8th in England. When the large dragon of the thin, long haired man died, the other three corners were still empty. The thin man offered Keum his hand then said it was a hardest game he had ever played.
A week later, the pro took Keum to the same place in Insadong for another match. This time it was a short middle-aged man with red plump face and he smelled alchohol. The man who introuced himself to Keum as Mr. Chang was very talktive. He kept talking, joking, laughing and humming songs during the whole game. Until 202nd move, which Keum placed his white stone ever-so-gently. Mr. Chang, the jolly fat man froze all his actions. His singing, talking and laughing halted at once. He, then, stared at the badukpan for good 20 minutes. His group, he thought lived at upper left corner, found dead with Keum's 1.2 point play. The fat man's jaw dropped. The redness from his plump face was gone. The fat man stood up and walked away without saying anything.
The third game Keum played was an easy one. He heard his opponent's nickname was Little Uncle. His sponsor was a famous mob boss in Kwang Joo. With a pair of small mouse-like eyes, Little Uncle looked friendly at first. But if the playing style of baduk tells the personality of the player, he wasn't friendly at all. His play was unorthodox and filled with tricks. Maybe he never studied baduk in proper way. Maybe he learned his baduk only by playing 'Bangnaegi-baduk'. Thanks to the years of study of the book Keum was given by Mrs. Paik, the old book from Yi Dynasty, Keum could read deep and far enough of those trick moves. Trick moves are like an arrow with heads on both ends with poison. One false move, one false reading can lead you to your own grave. Little Uncle resigned at move 125. Keum's Sae-ryuk (Moyo) was too large and solid to invade.
Keum later heard from the pro that after the loss, Little Uncle disappeared with no trace. People only could speculate that the angry mob boss ordered his army to get rid of Little Uncle.
For next six months, Keum played a total of two dosen games and delivered himself twenty four wins. Each time he was congratulated by Mr. Yi, and was given a large sum of cash.
Keum never counted the money.
It was in the middle of rain season when the pro came to Keum's room and asked him to get ready for a short trip. The pro said they will be leaving for Jejudo, an Island located in South part of Korea and it would be a three-day trip. They drove to Kimpo airport through pouring rain and got on DC-10. After little more than an hour of flying, they arrived at Jeju Airport and greeted by two men who both wore identical formal black suites, and drove them in a black limousine to Jeju Casino Hotel.
The next day, after breakfast, the pro took Keum to the main floor of Casino. There, they met the same two men. The two led Keum and the pro to the small room at the back of casino.
It was an odd sight to Keum at first; There was a large oak table in the middle of the room, and on far side of the table, a man was sitting. The man was huge. And blonde. And skin was white as snow. The two men introduced him to Keum as 'Nalle'. Keum later learned that he was brought in from Finland to fight Keum by the same mob boss in Kwang Joo. Also he learned that 'Nalle' means 'big and friendly' in Finnish and the word was short for 'Metsän Kuningas Ja Nalle', brown bear. Keum was told that they will play three games for next two days and whoever wins two games will be the winner. Nalle said 'Annyunghasyo. Bangapsumnida' (Hello, nice to meet you) in heavy accented Korean and smiled a broad smile. For some odd reasons, Keum liked him at the first sight. Before the game started, the two men said there will be a time limit; thirty minutes for each each player plus five times of thirty seconds cho-il-gi (byo-yomi).
Since Keum had never played with time limit, and with the fear of losing, the pro angrily protested saying that he never heard of such rules when the match was scheduled. After much arguing, and phone calls to Mr Yi and the mob boss, they decided that the decision must be up to Keum.
Without much thoughts, Keum accepted the condition.
Nalle played black on the first game. He, unlike his body size, played lightly.
He must be good at Sok-ki (blitz). Keum thought of a documentary he saw once about the bears catching salmons on the stream. The bears never hesitated in the picture. Nalle played like those bears. His moves were slick and fluent and fast. His opening seemed at first leaving too many spots opened to attacks, but he was well prepared. Keum's effort to capture a group failed. Keum's Sae-ryuck got invaded by Nalle's small but fast army, then disappeared. It was a close game at the end, but Keum's sense of timing failed at the end. He ran out of time, then he ran out of cho-il-ki five times. The win by time was declared at the end. It was the first loss by Keum.
Nalle stood up and tapped Keum's shoulder lightly with his fist. 'Jalduotsumnida' (It was a great game) and smiled. Keum didn't feel sad. Somehow, Keum liked this huge blonde Finn with a broad smile. The pro said 'At eight tonight for the second match, then.' in a low voice.
There was no Posuk (Fuseki) stage. The fight started from one corner then spreaded like a disease much similar to the great epidemic of syphilis swept Europe during Henry the 8th in England. When the large dragon of the thin, long haired man died, the other three corners were still empty. The thin man offered Keum his hand then said it was a hardest game he had ever played.
A week later, the pro took Keum to the same place in Insadong for another match. This time it was a short middle-aged man with red plump face and he smelled alchohol. The man who introuced himself to Keum as Mr. Chang was very talktive. He kept talking, joking, laughing and humming songs during the whole game. Until 202nd move, which Keum placed his white stone ever-so-gently. Mr. Chang, the jolly fat man froze all his actions. His singing, talking and laughing halted at once. He, then, stared at the badukpan for good 20 minutes. His group, he thought lived at upper left corner, found dead with Keum's 1.2 point play. The fat man's jaw dropped. The redness from his plump face was gone. The fat man stood up and walked away without saying anything.
The third game Keum played was an easy one. He heard his opponent's nickname was Little Uncle. His sponsor was a famous mob boss in Kwang Joo. With a pair of small mouse-like eyes, Little Uncle looked friendly at first. But if the playing style of baduk tells the personality of the player, he wasn't friendly at all. His play was unorthodox and filled with tricks. Maybe he never studied baduk in proper way. Maybe he learned his baduk only by playing 'Bangnaegi-baduk'. Thanks to the years of study of the book Keum was given by Mrs. Paik, the old book from Yi Dynasty, Keum could read deep and far enough of those trick moves. Trick moves are like an arrow with heads on both ends with poison. One false move, one false reading can lead you to your own grave. Little Uncle resigned at move 125. Keum's Sae-ryuk (Moyo) was too large and solid to invade.
Keum later heard from the pro that after the loss, Little Uncle disappeared with no trace. People only could speculate that the angry mob boss ordered his army to get rid of Little Uncle.
For next six months, Keum played a total of two dosen games and delivered himself twenty four wins. Each time he was congratulated by Mr. Yi, and was given a large sum of cash.
Keum never counted the money.
It was in the middle of rain season when the pro came to Keum's room and asked him to get ready for a short trip. The pro said they will be leaving for Jejudo, an Island located in South part of Korea and it would be a three-day trip. They drove to Kimpo airport through pouring rain and got on DC-10. After little more than an hour of flying, they arrived at Jeju Airport and greeted by two men who both wore identical formal black suites, and drove them in a black limousine to Jeju Casino Hotel.
The next day, after breakfast, the pro took Keum to the main floor of Casino. There, they met the same two men. The two led Keum and the pro to the small room at the back of casino.
It was an odd sight to Keum at first; There was a large oak table in the middle of the room, and on far side of the table, a man was sitting. The man was huge. And blonde. And skin was white as snow. The two men introduced him to Keum as 'Nalle'. Keum later learned that he was brought in from Finland to fight Keum by the same mob boss in Kwang Joo. Also he learned that 'Nalle' means 'big and friendly' in Finnish and the word was short for 'Metsän Kuningas Ja Nalle', brown bear. Keum was told that they will play three games for next two days and whoever wins two games will be the winner. Nalle said 'Annyunghasyo. Bangapsumnida' (Hello, nice to meet you) in heavy accented Korean and smiled a broad smile. For some odd reasons, Keum liked him at the first sight. Before the game started, the two men said there will be a time limit; thirty minutes for each each player plus five times of thirty seconds cho-il-gi (byo-yomi).
Since Keum had never played with time limit, and with the fear of losing, the pro angrily protested saying that he never heard of such rules when the match was scheduled. After much arguing, and phone calls to Mr Yi and the mob boss, they decided that the decision must be up to Keum.
Without much thoughts, Keum accepted the condition.
Nalle played black on the first game. He, unlike his body size, played lightly.
He must be good at Sok-ki (blitz). Keum thought of a documentary he saw once about the bears catching salmons on the stream. The bears never hesitated in the picture. Nalle played like those bears. His moves were slick and fluent and fast. His opening seemed at first leaving too many spots opened to attacks, but he was well prepared. Keum's effort to capture a group failed. Keum's Sae-ryuck got invaded by Nalle's small but fast army, then disappeared. It was a close game at the end, but Keum's sense of timing failed at the end. He ran out of time, then he ran out of cho-il-ki five times. The win by time was declared at the end. It was the first loss by Keum.
Nalle stood up and tapped Keum's shoulder lightly with his fist. 'Jalduotsumnida' (It was a great game) and smiled. Keum didn't feel sad. Somehow, Keum liked this huge blonde Finn with a broad smile. The pro said 'At eight tonight for the second match, then.' in a low voice.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
A Boy: Part IV
Seoul, with over ten million people, is South Korea's largest city and one of the most populous cities in the world.
Keum was on this slick black Porsche Carrera and the pro was driving it. The two hadn't spoke a word through the whole journey since they left the temple.
They were in the area called Gangnam, the booming part of South of Han River with many newly built high-rises, hundreds of boutique shops and fancy restaurants, clubs and bars. The pro maneuvered Porche through heavy traffic and thousands of pedestrians into a small alley and parked in front of a large house. The house was an authentic Korean architect and was indeed an strange edition to the surroundings.
The pro rang the intercom by the side of enormous size gate. The gate opened with hydraulics hissing sound and the pro took Keum into the house. Keum noticed two German Shepherds sitting and behind each of two there were two man wearing black suits. The pro ignored them and led Keum into the door. Inside of the house was dark but well maintained and filled with antique furniture. After the long corridor, the pro and Keum went into a huge room. The room was dark also and it was lit only by a small Tiffany lamp in the center of a large wooden desk. Behind the desk, there was an old man sitting. He was extremely thin and looked frail at first but Keum noticed his eyes were burning like the fire he used to build at the temple. Without saying a word, the old man motioned Keum to sit down at the chair across the room. Keum walked to the chair and sat down. In front of him he faced an old antique Badukpan with beautifully carved legs of intertwined dragons. The old man said, 'So this is the boy you have been talking about?' The pro replied, 'Yes sir.' The old man stood up and walked to the chair in front of Keum and sat down and looked at Keum and studied his face for few minutes. The old man pushed a bowl of black stones toward Keum and said, 'OK, let's see how good you are.'
The first stone was played at Somok (3.4). The old man placed his at Samsam (3.3). Keum followed with Hwajum (4.4), then old man Hwajum (4.4).
The old man's style was similar to Japanese master Sakata Eio. He played precisely, poignantly. His moves were sharp and calculated. Keum played without any emotions showing through his face as usual. His play was direct and without finesse but well prepared. His play was fight inducing. The old man's pace was slow at first then became faster toward the mid-game. Keum played at steady pace but each move had no hesitation. When the game was over, the old man's large dragon of 68 stones had only one eye. The old man smiled for the first time.
'He IS good.' 'I think he is ready. What do you think?' asked the old man. 'Without a doubt, sir.' the pro replied.
For next few days, the pro took Keum to places where Keum never imagined they existed.
Keum was dressed in black pinstriped Armany with matching shoes by Fratelli Rosetti.
Keum was taken to expensive yojung, traditional Korean restaurants where gisaeng serve food and drinks. Keum turned from a tall handsome farm boy to a tall handsome flamboyant man.
Two weeks later, on one evening, the pro drove Keum to a place in Insa-Dong, which has been the heart of the nation’s capital for 600 years, with many small alleys filled with antique stores. The pro took out a small briefcase from the trunk and led Keum to a small but clean antique store and into a back room. Three men stood up and greeted the pro and Keum when they entered the room. They were courteous and careful. After shaking hands with one of them, the pro said, 'Master Yi sends his sincere regards to Master Kim.' 'Shall we start then?' the other man replied and led the two into another room.
The room was small but had a large window, and through the window Keum could see a large backyard with Japanese Maple trees. There was no furniture except an antique badukpan and two chairs. On one chair, there was a man with long hair. The man was thin. He was wearing hanbok, traditional Korean costume and smoking a cigarette. He was there, but seemed not there at the same time. The pro motioned Keum to sit.
Keum didn't have any ideas what he was doing there except playing baduk.
Later he found out that the place was famous for underground gambling, which was highly illegal in Korea. It was his first of many baduk games he would play for the old man, who is now Keum's master. Masters were people who were at very high position in the government or owners of Chaebul* or boss of organized crime family. The stake was high, but more important than money, there was the honor.
Keum sat down. Neither of the players spoke. The late Sun entered through the window and casted a large shadow of maple trees. Keum thought about his hometown, the sea, and his mother.
Keum was on this slick black Porsche Carrera and the pro was driving it. The two hadn't spoke a word through the whole journey since they left the temple.
They were in the area called Gangnam, the booming part of South of Han River with many newly built high-rises, hundreds of boutique shops and fancy restaurants, clubs and bars. The pro maneuvered Porche through heavy traffic and thousands of pedestrians into a small alley and parked in front of a large house. The house was an authentic Korean architect and was indeed an strange edition to the surroundings.
The pro rang the intercom by the side of enormous size gate. The gate opened with hydraulics hissing sound and the pro took Keum into the house. Keum noticed two German Shepherds sitting and behind each of two there were two man wearing black suits. The pro ignored them and led Keum into the door. Inside of the house was dark but well maintained and filled with antique furniture. After the long corridor, the pro and Keum went into a huge room. The room was dark also and it was lit only by a small Tiffany lamp in the center of a large wooden desk. Behind the desk, there was an old man sitting. He was extremely thin and looked frail at first but Keum noticed his eyes were burning like the fire he used to build at the temple. Without saying a word, the old man motioned Keum to sit down at the chair across the room. Keum walked to the chair and sat down. In front of him he faced an old antique Badukpan with beautifully carved legs of intertwined dragons. The old man said, 'So this is the boy you have been talking about?' The pro replied, 'Yes sir.' The old man stood up and walked to the chair in front of Keum and sat down and looked at Keum and studied his face for few minutes. The old man pushed a bowl of black stones toward Keum and said, 'OK, let's see how good you are.'
The first stone was played at Somok (3.4). The old man placed his at Samsam (3.3). Keum followed with Hwajum (4.4), then old man Hwajum (4.4).
The old man's style was similar to Japanese master Sakata Eio. He played precisely, poignantly. His moves were sharp and calculated. Keum played without any emotions showing through his face as usual. His play was direct and without finesse but well prepared. His play was fight inducing. The old man's pace was slow at first then became faster toward the mid-game. Keum played at steady pace but each move had no hesitation. When the game was over, the old man's large dragon of 68 stones had only one eye. The old man smiled for the first time.
'He IS good.' 'I think he is ready. What do you think?' asked the old man. 'Without a doubt, sir.' the pro replied.
For next few days, the pro took Keum to places where Keum never imagined they existed.
Keum was dressed in black pinstriped Armany with matching shoes by Fratelli Rosetti.
Keum was taken to expensive yojung, traditional Korean restaurants where gisaeng serve food and drinks. Keum turned from a tall handsome farm boy to a tall handsome flamboyant man.
Two weeks later, on one evening, the pro drove Keum to a place in Insa-Dong, which has been the heart of the nation’s capital for 600 years, with many small alleys filled with antique stores. The pro took out a small briefcase from the trunk and led Keum to a small but clean antique store and into a back room. Three men stood up and greeted the pro and Keum when they entered the room. They were courteous and careful. After shaking hands with one of them, the pro said, 'Master Yi sends his sincere regards to Master Kim.' 'Shall we start then?' the other man replied and led the two into another room.
The room was small but had a large window, and through the window Keum could see a large backyard with Japanese Maple trees. There was no furniture except an antique badukpan and two chairs. On one chair, there was a man with long hair. The man was thin. He was wearing hanbok, traditional Korean costume and smoking a cigarette. He was there, but seemed not there at the same time. The pro motioned Keum to sit.
Keum didn't have any ideas what he was doing there except playing baduk.
Later he found out that the place was famous for underground gambling, which was highly illegal in Korea. It was his first of many baduk games he would play for the old man, who is now Keum's master. Masters were people who were at very high position in the government or owners of Chaebul* or boss of organized crime family. The stake was high, but more important than money, there was the honor.
Keum sat down. Neither of the players spoke. The late Sun entered through the window and casted a large shadow of maple trees. Keum thought about his hometown, the sea, and his mother.
Monday, March 31, 2008
A Boy: Part III
Keum wakes up at four in the morning.
Keum folds a blanket and a mattress four times into neat square shapes and put them in a closet.
Keum goes to the outhouse.
Keum runs four kilometer along the small path of the mountain.
Keum sweeps the backyard of the house.
Keum washes himself with cold water of the stream running by the house.
Keum fires the woods for agungi, a fire-entrance for heating and cooking facility in traditional Korean houses.
Keum has his breakfast at six: a bowl of rice with barley, a clear soup with fresh bean sprout, and kimchi, traditional Korean pickled cabbage and gosari namul,** Fernbrake salad.
Keum washes the rice bowl, spoon and chopsticks and small dishes after the meal.
Keum sits down at an old beaten badukpan and replays the games of old masters from a book for next 4 hours.
Keum goes into the forest nearby, gathers dried tree branches for agungi.
Keum runs four kilometers.
Keum eats the lunch at twelve: a bowl of cold noodle soup made of buckwheat and kimchi.
Keum washes the bowl, chopsticks and the dish.
Keum takes the cow named munsan (distant mountain) to the hill to feed.
Keum sits down at the badukpan again and studies games of old masters for four hours.
Keum goes out and joins Tae-Kwon-Do (traditional Korean martial art) and Gum-Do (traditional Korean swordsmanship) training at the front yard.
Keum eats dinner at six thirty: same menu as breakfast with gosari namul replaced with steamed tofu.
Keum washes the bowl, spoon and chopsticks, and dishes.
Keum joins the classes of meditation, Korean and Chinese language, mathematics, calligraphy, science and Danso lesson of Korean traditional flute.
Keum washes himself with cold water of the stream running by the house.
Keum takes out the blanket and mattress from the closet, unfolds them.
Keum goes to sleep at eleven at night.
And Kuem dreams his mother in his dream.
For six years, at this remote Buddhist temple, deep inside of So-Baek-San in Choong-Chung Province,
Keum changed from a quiet small boy to a quiet, tall and handsome young man.
The temple was run by this old monk who was the head of crime organization when Korea was under the government of Rhee Syng-Man.*** After the military coup d’état by Park Chung-Hee**** he was sentenced to death and then later got a reduced term of twelve years in prison. He converted himself into a Buddhist while in prison. After he got out, he came to the mountain, built a small temple all by himself and stayed there ever since. He was master of martial art. Keum heard that the monk had wife and a daughter but he never saw them. The temple had no visitors except the pro that Keum met at the tournament.
The pro visited the temple four times a year for those six years, each time he brought books for students and bottles of wine for the monk. He spent few days playing Baduk with students and it was the only time students could play real games since students were not allowed to play Baduk against each other. Each time he took a few students with him when he left, the few the pro believed didn't have enough talent in Baduk. There were twenty six boys when Keum was brought in, but at the end of sixth year, only two survived including Keum.
It was in the middle of January, and for last few days it snowed so much all main roads were closed down. That was when the pro showed up at the temple. His face was bright red from walking so long through the heavy snow, and his whole body produced steam like a chimney of the public bathhouse where mother used to take Keum to when he was small. This time the pro didn't have any books with him. As soon as he had few words with the monk, the pro summoned the two to play Baduk immediately. Baram played first at the request of the pro with two handi. The game was played somewhat in fast mode, and at the end of middle game, Baram made a huge mistake so the game ended by resign from Baram. Baram was angry and disappointed. He ran out without saying 'Gomapsumnida': Thank you in Korean, crying out loud. The pro said nothing. He showed no emotion.
Now it was Keum's turn.
He sat down in front of the Badukpan, closed his eyes and breathe deeply.
He thought about last six years of his life here at the temple.
He thought about his mother.
He thought about the strange man at the graduation.
He thought about Mrs. Paik and the library and the Baduk book.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the pro's right hand was holding handful of white Badukdols (Go stones).
Keum, who played with 9 stones handi at the first game with the pro, and lost by more than 80 points, has reduced the handis on each of the pro's visit. The pro, now, was asking for even game by doing Nigiri.†
Keum reached the bowl of black stones and slowly put two on top of the Badukpan.
The pro opened his hand and counted. He was holding 18 stones.
Keum was to play with black.
Keum opened the game with So-mok (3.4) on upper right corner answered by pro's upper right's Hwa-jum (4.4). Keum played at cross board So-mok, the pro followed with his own So-mok. Opening was smooth and flawless and steady. When the Po-suk (Fuseki) was done, the board looked well balanced at first sight. Except, if you know what Baduk is, you would also see it resembled the quietness before the storm on the open sea.
At move 118, the pro tried to build a large territory on the bottom, and Keum immediately invaded the territory. The move resembled a lone parachutter jumped deep into the enemy's land. At move 138, the pro was sweating. At move 159, Keum smiled a ever so faint smile.
At 172nd move, the pro said, 'Jutumnida.' 'I lost' in Korean.
----------------------------------------------------------------
** http://www.cookbookwiki.com/Gosari_namul_(Fernbrake_salad)
*** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee [Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman (March 26, 1875 – July 19, 1965) was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and led South Korea through the Korean War. His presidency ended in resignation following popular protests against a disputed election. He died in exile in Hawaii.]
**** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Chung-hee [Park Chung-hee (November 14, 1917 – October 26, 1979) was a former ROK Army general and the leader of the Republic of Korea from 1961 to 1979. He has been credited with the industrialization of the Republic of Korea through export-led growth, but is also heavily criticized for his authoritarian way of ruling the country (especially after 1971), sending troops to support the United States in the Vietnam War, and alleged pro-Japanese activities as a Chinilpa. He was named one of the top 100 Asians of the Century by Time Magazine (1999).]
† http://senseis.xmp.net/?Nigiri [Nigiri is a Japanese go term (from the Japanese, lit. "grab", "grasp", "squeeze") adopted into English, referring to the procedure common in Japan at the beginning of an even game to decide who will play the black stones; the equivalent of flipping a coin to determine who kicks off a game of football. The steps are:
1. The first player grabs (hence the name) a handful of white stones without showing them to the other player.
2. The second player states his guess as to whether the number of stones is "odd" or "even" by placing one or two black stones on the go board. (In Japanese, 奇数先 or kisuu-sen for odd, or 偶数先, guusuu-sen for even).
3. The first player then places the white stones in his hand on the go board, arranging them in pairs to make it easy to see whether the number is odd or even.
If the second player has guessed correctly, he takes Black.]
Keum folds a blanket and a mattress four times into neat square shapes and put them in a closet.
Keum goes to the outhouse.
Keum runs four kilometer along the small path of the mountain.
Keum sweeps the backyard of the house.
Keum washes himself with cold water of the stream running by the house.
Keum fires the woods for agungi, a fire-entrance for heating and cooking facility in traditional Korean houses.
Keum has his breakfast at six: a bowl of rice with barley, a clear soup with fresh bean sprout, and kimchi, traditional Korean pickled cabbage and gosari namul,** Fernbrake salad.
Keum washes the rice bowl, spoon and chopsticks and small dishes after the meal.
Keum sits down at an old beaten badukpan and replays the games of old masters from a book for next 4 hours.
Keum goes into the forest nearby, gathers dried tree branches for agungi.
Keum runs four kilometers.
Keum eats the lunch at twelve: a bowl of cold noodle soup made of buckwheat and kimchi.
Keum washes the bowl, chopsticks and the dish.
Keum takes the cow named munsan (distant mountain) to the hill to feed.
Keum sits down at the badukpan again and studies games of old masters for four hours.
Keum goes out and joins Tae-Kwon-Do (traditional Korean martial art) and Gum-Do (traditional Korean swordsmanship) training at the front yard.
Keum eats dinner at six thirty: same menu as breakfast with gosari namul replaced with steamed tofu.
Keum washes the bowl, spoon and chopsticks, and dishes.
Keum joins the classes of meditation, Korean and Chinese language, mathematics, calligraphy, science and Danso lesson of Korean traditional flute.
Keum washes himself with cold water of the stream running by the house.
Keum takes out the blanket and mattress from the closet, unfolds them.
Keum goes to sleep at eleven at night.
And Kuem dreams his mother in his dream.
For six years, at this remote Buddhist temple, deep inside of So-Baek-San in Choong-Chung Province,
Keum changed from a quiet small boy to a quiet, tall and handsome young man.
The temple was run by this old monk who was the head of crime organization when Korea was under the government of Rhee Syng-Man.*** After the military coup d’état by Park Chung-Hee**** he was sentenced to death and then later got a reduced term of twelve years in prison. He converted himself into a Buddhist while in prison. After he got out, he came to the mountain, built a small temple all by himself and stayed there ever since. He was master of martial art. Keum heard that the monk had wife and a daughter but he never saw them. The temple had no visitors except the pro that Keum met at the tournament.
The pro visited the temple four times a year for those six years, each time he brought books for students and bottles of wine for the monk. He spent few days playing Baduk with students and it was the only time students could play real games since students were not allowed to play Baduk against each other. Each time he took a few students with him when he left, the few the pro believed didn't have enough talent in Baduk. There were twenty six boys when Keum was brought in, but at the end of sixth year, only two survived including Keum.
It was in the middle of January, and for last few days it snowed so much all main roads were closed down. That was when the pro showed up at the temple. His face was bright red from walking so long through the heavy snow, and his whole body produced steam like a chimney of the public bathhouse where mother used to take Keum to when he was small. This time the pro didn't have any books with him. As soon as he had few words with the monk, the pro summoned the two to play Baduk immediately. Baram played first at the request of the pro with two handi. The game was played somewhat in fast mode, and at the end of middle game, Baram made a huge mistake so the game ended by resign from Baram. Baram was angry and disappointed. He ran out without saying 'Gomapsumnida': Thank you in Korean, crying out loud. The pro said nothing. He showed no emotion.
Now it was Keum's turn.
He sat down in front of the Badukpan, closed his eyes and breathe deeply.
He thought about last six years of his life here at the temple.
He thought about his mother.
He thought about the strange man at the graduation.
He thought about Mrs. Paik and the library and the Baduk book.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the pro's right hand was holding handful of white Badukdols (Go stones).
Keum, who played with 9 stones handi at the first game with the pro, and lost by more than 80 points, has reduced the handis on each of the pro's visit. The pro, now, was asking for even game by doing Nigiri.†
Keum reached the bowl of black stones and slowly put two on top of the Badukpan.
The pro opened his hand and counted. He was holding 18 stones.
Keum was to play with black.
Keum opened the game with So-mok (3.4) on upper right corner answered by pro's upper right's Hwa-jum (4.4). Keum played at cross board So-mok, the pro followed with his own So-mok. Opening was smooth and flawless and steady. When the Po-suk (Fuseki) was done, the board looked well balanced at first sight. Except, if you know what Baduk is, you would also see it resembled the quietness before the storm on the open sea.
At move 118, the pro tried to build a large territory on the bottom, and Keum immediately invaded the territory. The move resembled a lone parachutter jumped deep into the enemy's land. At move 138, the pro was sweating. At move 159, Keum smiled a ever so faint smile.
At 172nd move, the pro said, 'Jutumnida.' 'I lost' in Korean.
----------------------------------------------------------------
** http://www.cookbookwiki.com/Gosari_namul_(Fernbrake_salad)
*** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee [Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman (March 26, 1875 – July 19, 1965) was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and led South Korea through the Korean War. His presidency ended in resignation following popular protests against a disputed election. He died in exile in Hawaii.]
**** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Chung-hee [Park Chung-hee (November 14, 1917 – October 26, 1979) was a former ROK Army general and the leader of the Republic of Korea from 1961 to 1979. He has been credited with the industrialization of the Republic of Korea through export-led growth, but is also heavily criticized for his authoritarian way of ruling the country (especially after 1971), sending troops to support the United States in the Vietnam War, and alleged pro-Japanese activities as a Chinilpa. He was named one of the top 100 Asians of the Century by Time Magazine (1999).]
† http://senseis.xmp.net/?Nigiri [Nigiri is a Japanese go term (from the Japanese, lit. "grab", "grasp", "squeeze") adopted into English, referring to the procedure common in Japan at the beginning of an even game to decide who will play the black stones; the equivalent of flipping a coin to determine who kicks off a game of football. The steps are:
1. The first player grabs (hence the name) a handful of white stones without showing them to the other player.
2. The second player states his guess as to whether the number of stones is "odd" or "even" by placing one or two black stones on the go board. (In Japanese, 奇数先 or kisuu-sen for odd, or 偶数先, guusuu-sen for even).
3. The first player then places the white stones in his hand on the go board, arranging them in pairs to make it easy to see whether the number is odd or even.
If the second player has guessed correctly, he takes Black.]
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
A Boy: Part II
For those two years, Keum read the book so many times, he could remember the whole book page by page, problem by problem and he could solve almost all of them with his eyes closed.
For those two years, he hardly talked to anyone except the occasional yes and no's to his teachers and his mother. In the classes at school, he completely shut down himself, so naturally his classmates treated him like a weirdo; he became a biggest 'wang-dda' in school's history. Wang-dda, in Korean, means a 'lone weirdo'. Once you are labeled as 'wang-dda', you become a target of all kinds of abuse from class bullies. You might know children at that age could be real cruel. But any kind cruel abuses didn't make him to talk. The more abused, the less he responded.
After a while, the bullies gave up on him and moved to find another target, left him alone.
He didn't know that the immense feelings of dislike toward his father caused all that but he was too young to know then.
On a normal day, he would wake up at 6 in the morning. He would find breakfast on the wooden table, left by his mother before she went out to open her restaurant. While eating, he would put the imaginary baduk stones on one corner of the table and play out the problems from the book (there were no baduk stones). If anyone saw what he did, the person surely would think that the boy was crazy.
On the year when he became twelve years old, there was a big change in the city he lived; the government approved the plan of making new international airport in the harbor of Incheon, not just an airport, but the largest one in Asia. Even though the Incheon International Airport(ICN) wasn't completed until fifteen years later, the idea was popular among Incheonians because the new-largest-in-Asia-airport meant more jobs and once in life time opportunity of making big money to many of them. The city's mayor was extremely satisfied. He held series of events to celebrate the approval of the airport. Many soccer, baseball, basketball games were played to celebrate. Ssi-rum competitions (Korean traditional wrestling) were held and champions went home with 3-year-old-prize-bulls. There were karaoke contests. And some people even held private poker games.
Schools held similar events like mathematics and English competition. There were track and field games at every school. There was a Quiz show called 'Incheon Junior High Schools' Who, What, How, Where and Why Quiz Show Celebrating Coming Incheon International Airport.' The manager of the show later was fired because of the too long title of the show, people said.
One of such events was this tiny tournament at each and every libraries at elementary schools on weekends of Summer. It was called Incheon Childrens Guksu-jun; Baduk King Tournament.
Baduk had been the national game since Guksu Cho Nam Chul* (The King of Baduk, master Cho Namchul) distributed and popularized the game.
Keum was visiting Mrs. Paik at the time of the tournament and for the first time he watched the real games played between players. Most games were between low grade players and he found they all looked boring. Except at one table where many people watching. Two players were strongest 12 year olds from his school.
The game was well into mid-game stage and a big fight was going on. It was black's turn to make a move and he hadn't made a move for good twenty minutes. On the far end of the library, tournament officers set up a large magnetic badk-pan and replayed the on-going game. One of the pros who was born in Incheon was showing possible best moves for the situation. Keum looked at the situation on the magnetic board, and right away noticed the sequence which black could kill white dragon. The pro asked the audience if anyone could come up with the correct answer. No one could. The pro repeated the same question few times until, to everyone's surprize, the school's well known'wang-dda raised his hand.
The pro smiled and asked the boy to come up to the board and play the sequence.
Keum walked up and put large magnetic stones on the board. He was shy but not nervous. When he did it, it was so fast and with such force each move made loud clinking noise.
-----------------------------------------------------------
[*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cho_Namchul: Cho was born in a farming village in Buan, North Jeolla Province. In 1934, Japanese professional Kitani Minoru visited Korea and played with ten-year-old Cho, who deeply impressed the great master. He went to Japan in 1937 to study go as Kitani's first insei, or live-in student. In 1943, he returned to South Korea and played a key role in the founding of the Hanguk Kiwon. It wasn't until 1983, that he would be awarded 9 dan, but for most of the 1950's and 1960's, he won the vast majority of national tournaments.
He is known as the founder of Korean modern Go.
After his death, he was honored by the president of Korea with a medal and floral tribute.]
For those two years, he hardly talked to anyone except the occasional yes and no's to his teachers and his mother. In the classes at school, he completely shut down himself, so naturally his classmates treated him like a weirdo; he became a biggest 'wang-dda' in school's history. Wang-dda, in Korean, means a 'lone weirdo'. Once you are labeled as 'wang-dda', you become a target of all kinds of abuse from class bullies. You might know children at that age could be real cruel. But any kind cruel abuses didn't make him to talk. The more abused, the less he responded.
After a while, the bullies gave up on him and moved to find another target, left him alone.
He didn't know that the immense feelings of dislike toward his father caused all that but he was too young to know then.
On a normal day, he would wake up at 6 in the morning. He would find breakfast on the wooden table, left by his mother before she went out to open her restaurant. While eating, he would put the imaginary baduk stones on one corner of the table and play out the problems from the book (there were no baduk stones). If anyone saw what he did, the person surely would think that the boy was crazy.
On the year when he became twelve years old, there was a big change in the city he lived; the government approved the plan of making new international airport in the harbor of Incheon, not just an airport, but the largest one in Asia. Even though the Incheon International Airport(ICN) wasn't completed until fifteen years later, the idea was popular among Incheonians because the new-largest-in-Asia-airport meant more jobs and once in life time opportunity of making big money to many of them. The city's mayor was extremely satisfied. He held series of events to celebrate the approval of the airport. Many soccer, baseball, basketball games were played to celebrate. Ssi-rum competitions (Korean traditional wrestling) were held and champions went home with 3-year-old-prize-bulls. There were karaoke contests. And some people even held private poker games.
Schools held similar events like mathematics and English competition. There were track and field games at every school. There was a Quiz show called 'Incheon Junior High Schools' Who, What, How, Where and Why Quiz Show Celebrating Coming Incheon International Airport.' The manager of the show later was fired because of the too long title of the show, people said.
One of such events was this tiny tournament at each and every libraries at elementary schools on weekends of Summer. It was called Incheon Childrens Guksu-jun; Baduk King Tournament.
Baduk had been the national game since Guksu Cho Nam Chul* (The King of Baduk, master Cho Namchul) distributed and popularized the game.
Keum was visiting Mrs. Paik at the time of the tournament and for the first time he watched the real games played between players. Most games were between low grade players and he found they all looked boring. Except at one table where many people watching. Two players were strongest 12 year olds from his school.
The game was well into mid-game stage and a big fight was going on. It was black's turn to make a move and he hadn't made a move for good twenty minutes. On the far end of the library, tournament officers set up a large magnetic badk-pan and replayed the on-going game. One of the pros who was born in Incheon was showing possible best moves for the situation. Keum looked at the situation on the magnetic board, and right away noticed the sequence which black could kill white dragon. The pro asked the audience if anyone could come up with the correct answer. No one could. The pro repeated the same question few times until, to everyone's surprize, the school's well known'wang-dda raised his hand.
The pro smiled and asked the boy to come up to the board and play the sequence.
Keum walked up and put large magnetic stones on the board. He was shy but not nervous. When he did it, it was so fast and with such force each move made loud clinking noise.
-----------------------------------------------------------
[*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cho_Namchul: Cho was born in a farming village in Buan, North Jeolla Province. In 1934, Japanese professional Kitani Minoru visited Korea and played with ten-year-old Cho, who deeply impressed the great master. He went to Japan in 1937 to study go as Kitani's first insei, or live-in student. In 1943, he returned to South Korea and played a key role in the founding of the Hanguk Kiwon. It wasn't until 1983, that he would be awarded 9 dan, but for most of the 1950's and 1960's, he won the vast majority of national tournaments.
He is known as the founder of Korean modern Go.
After his death, he was honored by the president of Korea with a medal and floral tribute.]
Friday, March 14, 2008
A Boy: Part I
This is a story about my friend Keum.
When I met him, he lived in one of Chinatown's notorious basement apartments, where he shared a small room with 23 other illegal aliens, mostly from Mainland China. It was one of those time-share-places. There were three shifts; you could be in the room only for 8 hours. There were no beds but eight dirty mattresses. A small bathroom with a shower was shared.
Almost all of them worked in Chinatown's restaurants as waiters and bus boys.
They worked 15 - 16 hours a day, everyday with no weekends, hoping someday they could pay the money they owed to the human-transporters, and get a green card, bring their families, raise their children in America and become rich...
It was Saturday morning 5 o'clock, I was dead tired from working all night at my studio preparing one of my client's presentation. I took a cab to Chinatown's my favorite congee place on Bowery Street. When I got there, the place was empty except number of waiters playing cards on the round table at the corner. One of the waiters came after I sat down at a small table by the window and poured a cup of hot Woolong tea and a menu. Without looking the menu, I ordered two of my favorite dishes of the place; a bowl of congee with thousand-year-egg, and a sizzling plate of fried turnip cake with minced pork.
Maybe I ate too fast, or maybe I was too tired.
I was dreaming some strange dream when someone shook my shoulders.
First I didn't know where I was then I realized that person was the waiter who served me the food.
Out of embarrassment, and out of still-dreaming-state I apologized in Korean, loudly. And the waiter spoke back in Korean!
I was very surprised because in Chinatown, there's no way that you work in Chinese restaurant unless you are Chinese. So I thought he was a Chinese who speaks Korean. But when I asked how he could speak perfect Korean, he whispered that he was Korean. While he was cleaning the table, we talked and I found out he was single, never married, 32 years old, and had worked there for over two years. I felt sorry for him and left a large tip when I paid.
Since then whenever I want to have a bowl congee or authentic dim sum, I went there, sometimes with my wife and friends and talked with that young Korean man.
At least twice a week.
We became friends.
Five years went by. And this is what I could gather from what he had told me during those five years.
(We never had a chance to have 'formal' conversations; I was always a customer, and he was always a waiter and he had other tables to attend as you can imagine.)
He was born in Incheon, Kyung Gi Province, a seaport about 40 miles from Capital of Korea, Seoul.
His father was a fisherman, an alcoholic, a gambler and a womanizer. Keum saw his father only twice.
The first time was when Keum graduated elementary school; A strange man gave him an English dictionary as a gift after the graduation ceremony. He smelled alcohol. Keum's mother didn't say a word, grabbed Keum's hand and walked away. Keum looked back after a few steps, but he was gone already. Later mother told Keum that he was Keum's father.
The second time was when his father was found dead on the boat he had worked. The police asked Keum's mother to identify the body, Keum went with his mother. The man's face looked strangely peaceful and Keum thought he was a handsome man. Keum didn't cry. The police never found out the cause of the death of that unimportant, poor, fisherman.
Keum's mother was a very quiet woman. She never raised her voice or got angry over anything. She ran a small seafood restaurant by the Bay, and the restaurant was busy with local businessmen and tourists. Mother was too busy to attend Keum, her only son, Keum learned to be left alone from very early age. Keum didn't have many friends. After school, he stopped by the school library borrowed a book or two, went home, to his room where his mom left some food for him on a small wooden table, one of only two furniture in the room; the other only furniture was an old wardrobe his mom received as a wedding gift form her parents.
After finished eating, he washed dishes, and read books. He read any books he could get. By the time he was nine, at fourth grade, he had read almost all books in the library. The librarian, Mrs Paik, became very fond of this small book craze child and tried to talk to the boy, but the child never spoke a word to her until one day the library ran out of books.
In a very shy voice, the boy asked her if there were any more books he could borrow, and she answered no. And she said except her private collections but they were not for rent. She showed the boy the books of her own. They were rare old books she had collected since she was in high school, and they were indeed genuine old books from Yi dynasty, many of them were over hundred years old.
Most of them were written in Chinese, only few were in old Korean. She showed one very interesting looking book with lots of diagrams and patterns of round blacks and whites, where he found they looked familiar to him somehow. But he couldn't remember where he saw the shape before until that night at home sat down to eat the food his mother prepared for him. The small wooden table his mom used for dinner table had the exact shape and same lines in those diagrams.
Next day when he went to the library, Mrs Paik, the librarian handed him a handmade book which she copied and bind. That was the very first baduk book he had read. He didn't know it, but the book was actually a life and death problem books written by a baduk master during Yi dynasty. The author known as master Lee was an aide to Yeonsan Kun(1476 - 1506 AD), the most notorious King, and master Lee was sentenced to death by drinking poison when the coup d’état replaced Yeonsan kun with his step brother, and the new King Joong Jong.
The book didn't make no sense to the boy first, unlike other books he had read, it took a long time to understand even the very first few pages. But since he had no other books to borrow or read, he kept reading it. The book had 428 pages in total and had two diagrams of life and death problems on each page.
There was supposed to be a separate book of answers, but never found, Mrs Paik said when the boy asked for it. He kept reading and reading. The book became only friend of his for next two years.
When I met him, he lived in one of Chinatown's notorious basement apartments, where he shared a small room with 23 other illegal aliens, mostly from Mainland China. It was one of those time-share-places. There were three shifts; you could be in the room only for 8 hours. There were no beds but eight dirty mattresses. A small bathroom with a shower was shared.
Almost all of them worked in Chinatown's restaurants as waiters and bus boys.
They worked 15 - 16 hours a day, everyday with no weekends, hoping someday they could pay the money they owed to the human-transporters, and get a green card, bring their families, raise their children in America and become rich...
It was Saturday morning 5 o'clock, I was dead tired from working all night at my studio preparing one of my client's presentation. I took a cab to Chinatown's my favorite congee place on Bowery Street. When I got there, the place was empty except number of waiters playing cards on the round table at the corner. One of the waiters came after I sat down at a small table by the window and poured a cup of hot Woolong tea and a menu. Without looking the menu, I ordered two of my favorite dishes of the place; a bowl of congee with thousand-year-egg, and a sizzling plate of fried turnip cake with minced pork.
Maybe I ate too fast, or maybe I was too tired.
I was dreaming some strange dream when someone shook my shoulders.
First I didn't know where I was then I realized that person was the waiter who served me the food.
Out of embarrassment, and out of still-dreaming-state I apologized in Korean, loudly. And the waiter spoke back in Korean!
I was very surprised because in Chinatown, there's no way that you work in Chinese restaurant unless you are Chinese. So I thought he was a Chinese who speaks Korean. But when I asked how he could speak perfect Korean, he whispered that he was Korean. While he was cleaning the table, we talked and I found out he was single, never married, 32 years old, and had worked there for over two years. I felt sorry for him and left a large tip when I paid.
Since then whenever I want to have a bowl congee or authentic dim sum, I went there, sometimes with my wife and friends and talked with that young Korean man.
At least twice a week.
We became friends.
Five years went by. And this is what I could gather from what he had told me during those five years.
(We never had a chance to have 'formal' conversations; I was always a customer, and he was always a waiter and he had other tables to attend as you can imagine.)
He was born in Incheon, Kyung Gi Province, a seaport about 40 miles from Capital of Korea, Seoul.
His father was a fisherman, an alcoholic, a gambler and a womanizer. Keum saw his father only twice.
The first time was when Keum graduated elementary school; A strange man gave him an English dictionary as a gift after the graduation ceremony. He smelled alcohol. Keum's mother didn't say a word, grabbed Keum's hand and walked away. Keum looked back after a few steps, but he was gone already. Later mother told Keum that he was Keum's father.
The second time was when his father was found dead on the boat he had worked. The police asked Keum's mother to identify the body, Keum went with his mother. The man's face looked strangely peaceful and Keum thought he was a handsome man. Keum didn't cry. The police never found out the cause of the death of that unimportant, poor, fisherman.
Keum's mother was a very quiet woman. She never raised her voice or got angry over anything. She ran a small seafood restaurant by the Bay, and the restaurant was busy with local businessmen and tourists. Mother was too busy to attend Keum, her only son, Keum learned to be left alone from very early age. Keum didn't have many friends. After school, he stopped by the school library borrowed a book or two, went home, to his room where his mom left some food for him on a small wooden table, one of only two furniture in the room; the other only furniture was an old wardrobe his mom received as a wedding gift form her parents.
After finished eating, he washed dishes, and read books. He read any books he could get. By the time he was nine, at fourth grade, he had read almost all books in the library. The librarian, Mrs Paik, became very fond of this small book craze child and tried to talk to the boy, but the child never spoke a word to her until one day the library ran out of books.
In a very shy voice, the boy asked her if there were any more books he could borrow, and she answered no. And she said except her private collections but they were not for rent. She showed the boy the books of her own. They were rare old books she had collected since she was in high school, and they were indeed genuine old books from Yi dynasty, many of them were over hundred years old.
Most of them were written in Chinese, only few were in old Korean. She showed one very interesting looking book with lots of diagrams and patterns of round blacks and whites, where he found they looked familiar to him somehow. But he couldn't remember where he saw the shape before until that night at home sat down to eat the food his mother prepared for him. The small wooden table his mom used for dinner table had the exact shape and same lines in those diagrams.
Next day when he went to the library, Mrs Paik, the librarian handed him a handmade book which she copied and bind. That was the very first baduk book he had read. He didn't know it, but the book was actually a life and death problem books written by a baduk master during Yi dynasty. The author known as master Lee was an aide to Yeonsan Kun(1476 - 1506 AD), the most notorious King, and master Lee was sentenced to death by drinking poison when the coup d’état replaced Yeonsan kun with his step brother, and the new King Joong Jong.
The book didn't make no sense to the boy first, unlike other books he had read, it took a long time to understand even the very first few pages. But since he had no other books to borrow or read, he kept reading it. The book had 428 pages in total and had two diagrams of life and death problems on each page.
There was supposed to be a separate book of answers, but never found, Mrs Paik said when the boy asked for it. He kept reading and reading. The book became only friend of his for next two years.
Friday, February 22, 2008
The Old Man
I met this old gentleman at the go club when I was 14. He was about 70 years old.
He was always very kind to me and others. He was generous too, buying lunches to other players, never played gambling baduk although he was one of the strongest players at the club. He never played so-called 'ggomsu'; trick moves. He was always busy teaching weaker players and beginners.
He often brought his wife which was rare thing to do at the time. Baduk clubs were almost exclusively for men. And whenever his wife came, she always brought large quantity of snacks for everyone at the club. She was an excellent cook.
I respected him a lot.
Until I saw his dark side. (No, he wasn't my father. And I wasn't Luke.)
He invited me and my friends who were going same junior high school to his home one day.
We were all very excited thinking he would give us private baduk lessons and more over about the 'food' his wife would serve us.
Once we arrived his home he showed us around his house which was rather large in size with many rooms. We played few games with each other and also with him. After few hours, his wife served us very delicious dinner. And after the dinner, we had homemade ice cream and we played more games.
About an hour after the dessert, I had to go to bathroom and his wife told me it was at the end of hall. On the way coming back, I saw a door was ajar on one of the rooms. It was his study and I was curious what kind of baduk books he read, so I went in.
There was a huge mound of baduk stones in two groups (white and black) on his desk... Mountains of them... My jaw dropped and wondered why he had so many of them.
Later I found out that he'd been stealing those stones from all clubs he went to, just a few each time, every day, like a bad habit of scratching a scab knowing that you really shouldn't scratch...
I stopped going to the club. Him being a thief was an unbearable fact to 14 year old boy.
About three years later, I heard that he passed away. I also heard that his wife donated all his baduk equipment and books to the baduk club he frequented.
Epilogue:
A short while after he passed away, I went to the near-by mountain from where you could see old man's house.
I buried a fistful of stones I stole from his desk on that day.
He was always very kind to me and others. He was generous too, buying lunches to other players, never played gambling baduk although he was one of the strongest players at the club. He never played so-called 'ggomsu'; trick moves. He was always busy teaching weaker players and beginners.
He often brought his wife which was rare thing to do at the time. Baduk clubs were almost exclusively for men. And whenever his wife came, she always brought large quantity of snacks for everyone at the club. She was an excellent cook.
I respected him a lot.
Until I saw his dark side. (No, he wasn't my father. And I wasn't Luke.)
He invited me and my friends who were going same junior high school to his home one day.
We were all very excited thinking he would give us private baduk lessons and more over about the 'food' his wife would serve us.
Once we arrived his home he showed us around his house which was rather large in size with many rooms. We played few games with each other and also with him. After few hours, his wife served us very delicious dinner. And after the dinner, we had homemade ice cream and we played more games.
About an hour after the dessert, I had to go to bathroom and his wife told me it was at the end of hall. On the way coming back, I saw a door was ajar on one of the rooms. It was his study and I was curious what kind of baduk books he read, so I went in.
There was a huge mound of baduk stones in two groups (white and black) on his desk... Mountains of them... My jaw dropped and wondered why he had so many of them.
Later I found out that he'd been stealing those stones from all clubs he went to, just a few each time, every day, like a bad habit of scratching a scab knowing that you really shouldn't scratch...
I stopped going to the club. Him being a thief was an unbearable fact to 14 year old boy.
About three years later, I heard that he passed away. I also heard that his wife donated all his baduk equipment and books to the baduk club he frequented.
Epilogue:
A short while after he passed away, I went to the near-by mountain from where you could see old man's house.
I buried a fistful of stones I stole from his desk on that day.
The Peach Farmer
This is a story about two friends who lived in the city called Sosa in Korea about 40 km from Seoul, the capital city. Sosa was famous for its fine quality peaches and 9/10th of residents were peach farmers.
Their fathers lived right next to each other, owned about same size of peach farms. they were good friends for many years, they got married on the same year, both got one boy a year later. Only boy for each family.
Two boys played together all the time.
Their fathers both believed good friendships require certain amount of competition, and competition would enhance productivity, so each year at the harvest, they had a party, and at the party, they ran monster peach contest; whoever produced the biggest peach would win a calf as a prize.
Everything went alright (or you can say everything was peachy) between the two families until their sons became old enough to go to school.
The competition between two families became competition between their sons.
Any events at school such as sports events, math competitions, once a year speech competition, painting exhibitions and even daily quiz at their classes brought utmost attention to the boys fathers.
By the time the boys reached 6th grade, the relationships between the two families weren't that friendly any more. And the boy from Kim's family was doing far better than the one from Lee's.
Kim was all A+ student, excelled in all sports, and passed the exam for the best high school in Korea. Lee seemed dazed and confused all the time, he was at last 20% of the class most of time, spent many hours reading comic books and spent more time playing baduk at local giwon.
Kim's family sold the peach farm to send the boy to Seoul, first a little, but by the time he graduated the university with doctoral degree, there was no farm left. His father died poor but proud of his son's success.
Lee dropped out of high school, worked at the peach farm, spent his spare time with comic books and baduk, never made his father happy before his father died. He was told thousands times that he was the loser.
Kim, with his doctoral degree, worked for a big company, was successful in many ways, always had many pretty women around him, but never got married. When he was 32, he was made a youngest CEO in the company's history, made millions. At age 45, he was involved in the worst Stock scam in Korea's history, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was penniless when he was released after 8 years.
Lee kept working at the farm for all those years. Got married had three daughters.
Time changed everything in Korea, and there was a big real estate boom and the city Sosa was not an exception. Being so close to Seoul, the price of land in Sosa skyrocketed. An electronic manufacturing company wanted to buy Lee's farm to build their main office buildings. Lee sold the farm, made millions, retired, helped poors and supported local hospitals for elders.
And he plays baduk on every weekend.
Their fathers lived right next to each other, owned about same size of peach farms. they were good friends for many years, they got married on the same year, both got one boy a year later. Only boy for each family.
Two boys played together all the time.
Their fathers both believed good friendships require certain amount of competition, and competition would enhance productivity, so each year at the harvest, they had a party, and at the party, they ran monster peach contest; whoever produced the biggest peach would win a calf as a prize.
Everything went alright (or you can say everything was peachy) between the two families until their sons became old enough to go to school.
The competition between two families became competition between their sons.
Any events at school such as sports events, math competitions, once a year speech competition, painting exhibitions and even daily quiz at their classes brought utmost attention to the boys fathers.
By the time the boys reached 6th grade, the relationships between the two families weren't that friendly any more. And the boy from Kim's family was doing far better than the one from Lee's.
Kim was all A+ student, excelled in all sports, and passed the exam for the best high school in Korea. Lee seemed dazed and confused all the time, he was at last 20% of the class most of time, spent many hours reading comic books and spent more time playing baduk at local giwon.
Kim's family sold the peach farm to send the boy to Seoul, first a little, but by the time he graduated the university with doctoral degree, there was no farm left. His father died poor but proud of his son's success.
Lee dropped out of high school, worked at the peach farm, spent his spare time with comic books and baduk, never made his father happy before his father died. He was told thousands times that he was the loser.
Kim, with his doctoral degree, worked for a big company, was successful in many ways, always had many pretty women around him, but never got married. When he was 32, he was made a youngest CEO in the company's history, made millions. At age 45, he was involved in the worst Stock scam in Korea's history, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was penniless when he was released after 8 years.
Lee kept working at the farm for all those years. Got married had three daughters.
Time changed everything in Korea, and there was a big real estate boom and the city Sosa was not an exception. Being so close to Seoul, the price of land in Sosa skyrocketed. An electronic manufacturing company wanted to buy Lee's farm to build their main office buildings. Lee sold the farm, made millions, retired, helped poors and supported local hospitals for elders.
And he plays baduk on every weekend.
Murder Case One
This is about a murder case which was reported to Seoul's Joong-gu (middle section) police station. It was Monday afternoon around 3 PM, and the caller was a 16 year old Baduk yungusaeng (insei).
When the detective Kwan arrived at the murder scene with his assistant Myung, there were quite few people in the room already.
The building where the murder happened was belonged to Hangook Giwon (Korean National Baduk organization), and had 3 stories with no elevator. And the entire floors of the first and second were used for public and the third floor for administrators' offices with one small room for private guests.
The small room was named 'Flying Dragon' and the room was often used for private teaching lessons given by pro baduk players. The murder happened in that room.
The victim was a famous pro, age 45, who won many titles in his early 20's, and before he was killed, he spent most of his time writing baduk books and teaching high profiled amateurs including company CEO's, politicians and lawyers.
Detective Kwan himself was a baduk player and familiar with the victim's baduk books especially the most famous one titled 'Invade and Kill'.
When he kneeled down to examine the victim's body, Kwan immediately noticed the victim's head was smashed, smashed so hard a portion of brain was spilt out on the floor in a pool of blood.
Kwan looked around and saw a young policeman yelling at the spectators to be quiet. Kwan waved at him and when the young policeman came to him close enough, Kwan asked if he found any murder weapon. And he said 'no' with some degree of apology. But he also said he was just outside of the building at the moment the boy called the police station, he was radioed immediately and within the matter of minutes he could seal the two doors (only doors of the building) and he didn't let anybody leave the building. When he said that his face lit up with a pride.
Kwan asked the policeman to bring the boy to him.
The boy looked a bit older than his age, didn't look like a typical baduk yungusaeng. He was over 180cm, well built. Only his eyes were sparkling like a pair of bright stars like most of those brilliant young baduk players.
The detective waved at his assistant Myung (a young female detective) and asked her to record the conversation between him and the boy. But the questions went on not more than 10 minutes. Becuase Myung suddenly whispered something into Kwan's ear.
Kwan arrested the boy as a murderer.
While the interview went on, Myung noticed the boy is missing a sock.
Blood soaked sock was found in a trash can in the room.
The boy filled his sock with baduk-dols (Go stones) and used it as a weapon.
The motive of the murder?
When Kwan heard it from the boy, he couldn't believe his ears.
The boy was denied an 'undo'.
When the detective Kwan arrived at the murder scene with his assistant Myung, there were quite few people in the room already.
The building where the murder happened was belonged to Hangook Giwon (Korean National Baduk organization), and had 3 stories with no elevator. And the entire floors of the first and second were used for public and the third floor for administrators' offices with one small room for private guests.
The small room was named 'Flying Dragon' and the room was often used for private teaching lessons given by pro baduk players. The murder happened in that room.
The victim was a famous pro, age 45, who won many titles in his early 20's, and before he was killed, he spent most of his time writing baduk books and teaching high profiled amateurs including company CEO's, politicians and lawyers.
Detective Kwan himself was a baduk player and familiar with the victim's baduk books especially the most famous one titled 'Invade and Kill'.
When he kneeled down to examine the victim's body, Kwan immediately noticed the victim's head was smashed, smashed so hard a portion of brain was spilt out on the floor in a pool of blood.
Kwan looked around and saw a young policeman yelling at the spectators to be quiet. Kwan waved at him and when the young policeman came to him close enough, Kwan asked if he found any murder weapon. And he said 'no' with some degree of apology. But he also said he was just outside of the building at the moment the boy called the police station, he was radioed immediately and within the matter of minutes he could seal the two doors (only doors of the building) and he didn't let anybody leave the building. When he said that his face lit up with a pride.
Kwan asked the policeman to bring the boy to him.
The boy looked a bit older than his age, didn't look like a typical baduk yungusaeng. He was over 180cm, well built. Only his eyes were sparkling like a pair of bright stars like most of those brilliant young baduk players.
The detective waved at his assistant Myung (a young female detective) and asked her to record the conversation between him and the boy. But the questions went on not more than 10 minutes. Becuase Myung suddenly whispered something into Kwan's ear.
Kwan arrested the boy as a murderer.
While the interview went on, Myung noticed the boy is missing a sock.
Blood soaked sock was found in a trash can in the room.
The boy filled his sock with baduk-dols (Go stones) and used it as a weapon.
The motive of the murder?
When Kwan heard it from the boy, he couldn't believe his ears.
The boy was denied an 'undo'.
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