August 2003An unexpected e-mail

Tony Atkins sends me an e-mail on August 3rd.  Am I aware that I might be invited as a guest official from the Netherlands for the First InCheon World Amateur Baduk Championship?

No, I didn't know that at all.

The invitation had been around since the middle of July but it went unnoticed. Hadn't it been for Tony, we might have overlooked it completely... The deadline for the registration is August 15, so I have to hurry to send in all the papers on time. I am all excited, I have never been to Asia.

Heatwave

We had a heatwave. In that same period a group of Korean players toured through Europe after having been at the European Go congres. They visited Amsterdam on Sunday the 10th. The picture was taken in the early evening, but inside it was well over 30 degrees C, not a pleasent atmosphere to play baduk in. Oh well, two days later I had to go to Paris and there it was a lot worse.

A new tournament?

Because of this visit we got the opportunity to talk to the Deputy Ambassador of Korea in the Netherlands. There is a possibility to organize a yearly Korea-Netherlands friendship match or tournament!

Preparations

In any case, I started making a list of things I had to do before going to Korea. And I bought a digital camera, I always wanted one but now I finally had a reason to buy it. It is such a complex thing, should not forget to take the manual with me.

And then it was back to work again. I am working on an international project that has me travelling a lot. Paris, London, Frankfurt. I cannot afford to stay away too long, but I will try to stay an extra two days in Seoul. So I decide that I will leave the 23rd of September.