— Huy Nguyen

(and what I learnt about life from playing Chinese Chess in High-school)

I used to play Chinese Chess (Xiangqi). In fact, I was very good at it, Bronze Medal (Individual Category) in Vietname Youth Chinese Chess Competition, Gold Medal (Team Category) that same year, and a countless medals city-level. I’m saying this not to brag. It simply means this: I enjoy challenging, heads-on games, like Chinese Chess.

But never did I relate this game to a broader game: the game of life.

The game of life is an interesting game, it’s similar yet different from all games I’ve ever played. A game is a simple concept: a scenario, a set of rules and a limited resources you’re given at hand. How different is this from your life?

Rules
The game of life appreciates and favors those who understand the rules. But unlike other games, in the game of life, the rules are vast, vague and left for players to find out. And rules have a new name in the game of life: wisdom.

And in the process of studying the rules, you acquire something intermediary, something that gives you an advantageous edge over your opponents: knowledge.

Situations
Unlike the game of chess (in which each game consists of 60 moves on average), the game of life is an enduring game, an 80-year long game. If you make one wrong move, no matter how bad it is, there is always a fix that works.

Instead of thinking about the mistake, what is your next move?

Decisions
In the game of chess, 1 single move (no matter how smart) can’t help you win, it is a series of right and incremental moves that leads to victory.

In the game of life, the same thing applies. Don’t bet too much on a single decision. Bet on the ones following. So when I heard someone telling his story and conclude: “That was the single-most important decision in my life”, I know there’s much more to that.

There’s a saying: “Happiness is a journey, not a process”. By thinking life as a game, I grasp this concept much better. I constantly remind myself about the game of life when I get into tough situations, accepting the moves I’ve made, and start to think of the next move.

Treat life as a game, and see how good a player you could be?

Sáng 7h đi với dì qua bên kia đường ăn bún, đang ngồi chờ bún, 1 chú – gầy, da ngăm đen, chạy chiếc xích lô cũ chắc cũng phải hơn 5 năm – bước vô hỏi cô bán bún 1 câu làm mình chạnh lòng.

“Bún có bán 5 ngàn ko o?”

Cuộc đời của những con người này làm việc có lười nhác hơn ai đâu?

Ko nổi cái buồn ăn Tết ở Sing. Đường phố vắng tanh, ko có bánh chưng củ kiệu, trời mưa dai dẳng lành lạnh càng làm buồn thêm. Ngày 28 tết đặt vé về. Bí mật.

Chiều 30 Tết xuất hiện trước cửa nhà. Ba me nhảy dựng cả lên, me mừng quá rơi cả nước mắt.

Chợt nhận ra về nhà ko phải vui vì được gặp gia đình, mà vui vì thấy gia đình vui.

Những năm sau, năm nào cũng sẽ về ăn Tết. Tết ở nhà lúc nào cũng hơn.

Well it’s been quite sometimes since I last properly wrote. Christmas and New Year seem to be a good reason for you to write something again.

I never thought 2010 would completely turn me into a totally different person.

At the Ysummit conference

After returning from NOC I took on something unexpected: to organizer 2 more conferences. That made me a conference organizer 3 times this year. Doing the unexpected gives me the unexpected. I found friends that you enjoy working and seeing. I discovered more things about me (mostly problems). Things like “the Vietnamese problem”, “the white problem” are a few of them.

I become (or at least try to become) mindful. I got quiet more often. Some friends said I turned into a totally different person, for better or worse.

Throughout the entire semester I didn’t feel like being a student, it’s like I was a full-time conference organizer, although inexperience. Matter of fact, my grade dropped dramatically this semester, thankfully it’s still in the second-upper range.

I made great friends, the kind where you enjoy both working and seeing. I think there’s a fine line between the kind of friends you make by hanging out with them, and the kind of friends you make by working with them. I reconnected and got closer with old friends, disconnected with a few.

I got interested in more subjects and topics. I made an effort to read more. But it has it drawback, I haven’t touched programming for 5 months.

My sister Thao is now married and taking care of her 6-month old son. She stays at home all the time, though. Whenever she leaves the kid, even only for an hour, she started missing him – that’s what I heard from my brother-in-law. Next year they’re gonna move to a new apartment. My bother-in-law’s business is going well. I’m happy they are happy.

My parents and I come to visit them every other day. The boy is getting cuter and cuter. When he lie down, his legs hang in the air, only the head and butt touch the ground. Whenever I clap my hand in front of him he start to laugh wave his hands around. And wherever the kid be, the entire attention goes to him. I have a picture of him right here.

My parents just bought a new house, they said they’re gonna fix it a little bit before moving in, make some changes so that later on if I ever want to start a business in Vienam, I don’t have to rent an office during the first few years.

I feel extremely grateful to the people who appear in my life to date: family, the NOC friends, the NOC staff, the AYES friends, the Ysummit friends, the VNC friends, the friends in Vietnam and you.