As with most jobs, JET has busy time and down time. Right now is down time, which I've been passing like an old pro: blogging, googling, drinking too much coffee and staring intently at the filing cabinets. I'm excited for busy time.

One good thing about down time, though, is that I'm pretty much free to come and go as I please. I've taken advantage of the opportunity by knocking off early every day to play go with Shimasaki-san. It's a difficult game, but Shimasaki-san is a good teacher.

Basically, go is a battle for space. I suppose the idea is similar to chess, but not really. For one thing, there aren't any characters as in chess. The game starts by placing pieces onto the board, not moving them around: once a piece is played, it can't be moved. Also, each piece needs at least one breathing space to live, a breathing space being one of the four lines extending directly from that piece. The more pieces connected in a line, the more breathing spaces and, hopefully, the more territory. I think that about sums it up.

There is a lot of strategy, which I don't understand whatsoever. I've started to notice a few patterns, though. For example, its a good idea to join pieces together, otherwise Shimasaki-san puts a piece in the middle, cutting one piece off from the rest, thus gaining more territory. Its also a good idea to not retaliate or enter battle right away; better to claim territory, then enter into battle. There's more, too, but I haven't really figured it out yet.

Shimasaki-san has been playing go for 25 years. He considers himself 3-dan, which basically translates into totally-kick-ass. He jokes that I'm still a baby, which I am. But he says we can practice three or four times a week until I get better. Soon, I'll be busy though, and I don't know how much I can practice. I'll be wishing for the down times then.