Onto a good thing

Back when I was at university, staying at International House and doing all sorts of strange things with my spare time (like studying?!?!), I started an annual inter-college chess tournament and promptly went about winning the tournament myself. Not just once, but twice, if I remember correctly. I couldn't help but think I was onto a good thing. I must have filed that feeling away somewhere sub-consciously upon going to Japan, because now that I'm back in the chess game, I've done it again.

Having gotten the Cairns Chess Club off the ground again, this past Queen's Birthday weekend was a good time for us to host the first open chess tournament to be seen in Cairns in about 10 years. The so-called Cairns Chess Challenge was modestly successful, attracting a field of 25 players, mostly kids but with a couple of strong players at the pointy end of the group. I joined in just to make up numbers but ended up going undefeated for the day. Not what I expected! And also not what my students expected, apparently, with the comment, "Did Mr Cooper beat Sam? How did he do that?!" some measure of their shock upon hearing that I'd gotten lucky in my match against our local master. But I guess my habit of winning the tournaments I organise is hard to break. If only I could also have claimed the prize money!

I took a little confidence away from this result, though, and tried to put it to use in a more significant tourney on the Gold Coast. The chance to visit my family at the same time made for a great weekend away, but alas, since I hadn't personally organised the event, I guess I was doomed to miss out on the glory. I didn't do too badly, ending on 4 out of 7 in a reasonably strong field, but it just goes to show that I've got a lot of chess to play before realising my (pipe?) dream of becoming a grandmaster. One day...

I've been in the news a little thanks to the chess club and the tournament, even making it onto the 6 o'clock TV bulletin. This school holidays I'm also running another set of tournaments, scoring another first by hosting them at a local shopping centre. Chess coaching work looks like growing a little in Term 3, so this exposure must be doing good things for the business.

Still, it's only just enough of a living to scrape by at the moment. I really need to supplement my income with a part-time job. The rafting was supposed to do that, but since Easter I've had only a handful of shifts, far from enough to pay the rent! I've also lost a bit of fitness and my ability to read the water is probably diminished for not having been on the river enough. We're coming back into busy season, or so I'm told, but I'll be hitting tomorrow's newspaper to look for another job anyway. The ideal situation is to have enough chess work to get by and then just do the rafting for a bit of fun on the side, but I might have to try something else in the meantime.

My social life has come along a little since last I wrote. An old mate from International House has turned up in Cairns to work as a journalist with the local rag. I've also made some Japanese friends, with whom I had the chance to do something a bit nostalgic - having a hot spring bath! I was a bit disappointed to hear that we had to wear swimwear into the baths, but I guess Australia still isn't ready for communal nudity. It was a bit of a drive out to Innot, in the south-west corner of the Atherton Tablelands, but sure enough there's a bit of volcanic activity under a creek there, and a caravan park has sprung up with public baths fed by that hot mineral water. When I lived in Iya, I only had to walk 5 minutes for a free onsen, in the snow sometimes! Driving 2 hours there and back to Innot is a bit different, but it was still nice to soak in that water and reminisce about the many onsens I enjoyed in Japan.

I guess I've also developed another social life of a sort, online at Facebook. At first I thought it's just a new incarnation of Friendster, an older networking website, but since biting the bullet and joining, I have to admit to being impressed by its usefulness. I spend a fair bit of time on the site and have gotten back in touch with a surprising number of old friends in a short time. It might be another passing internet fad, but for the moment, it's great to be catching up with people.

It's hard to believe I've still not clocked up six months here in Cairns. Things have seemed a bit slow to me, but after only five months, I guess things are all going pretty well. Any small business is bound to take at least two years to really get underway. The rest of my life is slowly falling into place as I settle in. The next few months will probably continue to be a bit slow and a bit tight for money, but hopefully the first school term of next year will see burst of growth in the chess coaching on the back of this first year�fs progress. That'll be a really good time to take stock of how things are going, so I just need to hang in there for the next six months or so.

Of course, as we come into July, I know that the streets of Tokushima are already ringing with the sounds of Awa Odori and the coming festival season. I'd love to be there for a bit of dancing, and maybe to spend a few days on the Yoshino River, too. Maybe I can arrange a holiday for next August... 'til then, it's the endless summer in Cairns for me.

Love,

Dave