-^-for posterity-^-

back in that small village, there was much to do. at first, i was afraid i would be horribly bored and only brought a sketch pad and a pencil. i thought i would end up doodling the days away waiting to play basketball. such was not the case.

the village population was primarily ethnic chinese. they would sit around in tight circles on old wooden chairs and smoke cigarettes and mumble things. i, of course, didn't understand a word of it but it was fun watching them laugh.

all of the village's life revolved around the local pagoda. there was always something going on and the incense that wafted up from the main worship area made the building look as if it was perpetually smoldering. they had a large, metal pot to burn incense and it was always full. the pot was so full that, one night, when i rubbed my bare leg against it, i got a slight burn because of all the heat of the incense sticks.

one of the main events that i particularly enjoyed was the chinese chess competitions. to say that people took these events seriously is an incredible understatement.

there was a giant chinese chess board propped up against the wall of a building on the other side of the basketball court. it was about six feet high and the pieces all hung from nails and were moved by a small, bald man who walked with a stick. the board was in the sun and there were a handful of people around it.

most of the people were all huddled in the shade of the buildings surrounding the basketball court. they were all sitting on benches and tables and smoking cigarettes and speaking in chinese. it took me a long time to realize what was going on. there was a man who would speak through two large speakers on the other side of the court but i had no idea where he actually was. he was shouting out the different moves of the players. at first, i thought the two people playing were two of the old men standing by the board. i was still puzzled by the microphone.

then i realized that, in the room behind us, there was a very aggressive game of chinese chess going on. two men were secluded in this room. the windows were shut and a couple of old men stood watch by the door and shooed small children away when they got too close. the third man in the room was the referee who would also call out the different moves over the sound system.

i ambled over to the crowd and picked a place to sit. everyone was pointing and speaking in chinese, i assumed they were giving advice. the man next to me started up a conversation in vietnamese and i asked him about strategy. he told me exactly what the red team should do if they wanted to win the game. he gave a very detailed description. then, after he was finished, another old man who didn't look like he was paying any attention turned around and started shouting at the man in vietnamese that his instructions were wrong. they had a bit of a discussion in vietnamese and, when it turned a bit more heated, shifted to chinese.

since the board was so far away, people were always being told to move out of the line of sight. when a motorcycle would park in front of the crowd, the mood turned incredibly giggly. the word for the rook in chinese chess is the same as the classifying word for any vehicle. so, when a motorcycle was in front of the board, everyone would immitate the man who shouted out the movements of the pieces over the microphone. everyone would yell 'xe lui!', which means either 'rook moves back' or 'vehicle move back.' it was hilarious watching all of these old men giggle and immitate the announcer.

when the game was over, the two men would emerge from the room. inside the room, no one knew who was red or who was blue. when they emerged, the winner would throw up his hands and all of his friends would cheer. the looser would shrug his shoulder and be consoled by his friends. after the game, everyone was giving advice to the person who lost and everyone was offering to buy things for the winner. that is how you spend an afternoon in a small village of ethnically chinese people on the coast of vietnam.