The go class

Recently, there have been many incidents in Italy.        First of all, in March a university professor named Marco somebody who was an adviser to a labour relations association in an EC committee was shot to death with a pistol in front of his home just after he'd come home by motorcycle.        The criminal was a member of the leftwing group called the Red Brigade, which has carried out many acts of terrorism in the past.         The reason was to protest against new labour laws being carried forward under Prime Minister Berlusconi.        Despite the fact that in a country somewhere they're screaming about eradicating terrorism, both the government and public opinion are very quiet, as if it nothing had happened.        The famous Italian strikes I've written about before in this page are really gearing up. Two million labour unionists are participating in an all-Italy strike. Apparently the number of participants has broken a 20-year-old record.        It's quite an impressive number when you consider that the population of Italy is just 60 million. Almost all companies are taking holidays, and almost all public transport - the trains, buses, the underground - has ground to a stop. Schools have had no choice but to follow suit; there's no garbage collection, either, so things are getting tough.        Not long ago, a small plane crashed into Milan's tallest building. I thought, they're not still showing the World Trade Center terrorism, are they? But the building looked familiar, and when I had a closer look, I recognized Milan's Central Station. With these kinds of things happening around one, life is getting more and more incredible.        Just after this, a number of friends rang up to check that I was OK.        I'm grateful for their solicitude. Actually, in Milan there's no dark mood: no fears about terrorism, no social unrest. The site of the terrorist incident has become a kind of sightseeing spot.        Adults, many of them very smartly dressed, crowd around gaping. When TV channels run a news item from an on-the-spot reporter, there are all these ghostly figures lined up behind him. And these people all have one hand stuck to their ears: they're speaking on their mobiles. In other words, they are boasting to their friends about being on TV.                 I can't help sighing about their vanity, but I also feel envious. It just goes to show how much time people have to spare.

at the dojo

Recently there's been a big change in my life: I've started a go class.        The only go club in Milan meets every Saturday afternoon in a community centre, with occasional meetings on Thursday nights (in a shop that sells locally brewed beer, which is a rarity in Italy).People play go till late at night.        The club has been going for more than ten years, so all the members are great friends. The strong teach the weak, and the weak teach beginners. They've been supporting each other like this for a long time. On the other hand, the strong feelings of camaraderie means that they reject people who don't fit in.        You can say that this is typical of Italians.        Because of this, the Italian Go Federation, which is centred on Milan, has been split into two for several years now, with no immediate prospects of a reconciliation.        Because of these circumstances, I hesitated for a long time to do anything, but, having met friends who offered support and cooperation, I finally took the plunge.        To start with, I'm holding classes once a week until the summer holidays start at the dojo of my first pupil, a lover of go named Giuseppe. I can't take part every week, but I'm teaching three times a month and charging monthly fees.        Paying for lessons is natural, but until now there's been no custom of paying for go lessons in Europe, so charging fees is not as simple as it sounds. Some people stopped coming when they heard about the fees.        I expected this, so I didn't think I'd get many pupils, but that didn't bother me. The people who did come would be seriously interested in go, I thought.In the end, I got eight people.        The funny thing is that almost all of them were Italian beginners, plus someone of mid-kyu level, plus a 1-dan who has represented Italy in the World Amateur Go Championship . . . Not one of the decade-long regulars of the Milan Go Club turned up.        All of the pupils are very enthusiastic, and they never miss my lectures. They do their best to get used to the tatami (straw mats) of the dojo, putting up with pins and needles. If I may be allowed to boast, the class has a really nice atmosphere.         I hope to continue it for a long time, even with small numbers.

Mr.Giuseppe

('Monthly Go World', July 2002. Translated by John Power.)