Stop Ciovo

Before going to Seoul I contacted Lee Ki-Bong, a strong korean player known in Europe for his partecipation at many European Go Congress where he distinguished himself for his brilliant results. Taking advantage of my short-stay in Seoul I tought to make a visit to his school, which has been created in Jenuary 2008: it's name is International Baduk Academy, also known as IBA. It's a very good school, I was really impressed by the atmosphere and by the spirit of the professor and his students. The idea was to make an interview to promote this school in Italy and more, but I was welcomed as a long-standing friend and this made me feel at home immediately. To break the ice what else we could do but...

At Vantaa Airport near Helsinki, things changed. The wheather was cloudy (intead of rainy), the land was all white (instead of grey), the temperature outside was 2°C (instead of about 10°C). As usual, the pub in the airport was full and there were a lot of people around. I took a seat in the only place I found in the airport with a power connection - this is only for Helsinki experts, very difficult to find! - for writing my previous post with my laptop, waiting for the connection heading to Seoul.

Wednesday 4 March has finally come. After spending a two-hours-sleeping night in Milan (big thanks to Stefano and his friends), I arrived at the airport almost 3 hours before my flight to Seoul through Helsinki. Do you think it's too early, don't you?! You shouldn't...
As I went to do the check-in, they started to tell me that I couldn't stay in South Korea for 3 months, only 60 days for Italian Passport Holders. What... ?!