Malaysia travelog: Part 1

http://www.emyouthemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/PakmodeWebLogo.pngMonday, November 23, 2009

It’s hard to believe that a trip almost a year in the making is now hours from happening.

I suppose I should back up. I’ve been a tournament Scrabble player for almost seven years now. (To answer your question: yes, I’m a nerd. I’m well-adjusted compared to some tournament Scrabblers … which is a little like being the tallest among midgets. Let’s move on.) I’m competitive enough and love the game enough to have worked my way up through the ranks. I had my “breakthrough” tournament over New Year’s this year in Albany, N.Y., where I started 3-6 but finished 16-8, third in a field that included two former world champions. Little did I know that was a prelude of what was to come.

At a March tournament in Princeton, N.J., I started 10-0, finishing 12-2 and came up with my defining tournament win. The next month, in Fenton, I went 7-0 including a win over the man in the Guinness Book of World Records for most tournament victories, Saline’s Chuck Armstrong. According to the ranking system Scrabble uses, in the middle of April I was the seventh-highest ranked player in North America. (The ranking list from that week has since been printed out and taped to a refrigerator.)

The law of averages hit after that (I’m closer to 107th (which is about where I belong) than 7th now), but the damage was done, in a sense. My “peak rating” caused me to get invited to a tournament known as the Ryder Cup of Scrabble. (I went 7-7 as the U.S. beat Canada 60.5-37.5 … USA! USA! USA!)

And, it put me 13th on the qualifying list for the U.S. team for the World Scrabble Championship. After a couple inevitable dropouts, I was in. I’m going to Malaysia to represent my country in a World Championship. It’s a sentence that still doesn’t sound right. The 100th-best player in the NBA shouldn’t be asked to play in the Olympics. But, it’s true.

So, it goes without saying that this is the biggest thing to ever happen to me. As my friend Brian Bowman, a fellow WSC participant from suburban Cincinnati, asked: “How many people can say they’ve been a part of Team USA?” I’ve had that opportunity twice in the past few months now. Pretty amazing.

There are so many people to thank for making this trip possible. First off, many thanks to those who donated money to Brian and me, namely (in alphabetical order): Michael Bassett, Carolyn Easter, Pat Hardwick, Kevin McCarthy, Cheryl Melvin, Carol Ravichandran, Heather Steffy and Dan Stock. The nine of them (including a donor who wished to remain anonymous) contributed almost $400. Speaking of behalf of Brian, we thank you all for your generosity. It’s impossible to list all my friends individually and thank them for their support (OK, technically it’s not since I’m not that popular, but I’m just lazy), but a few Scrabblers deserve to be embarrassed recognized (in alpha. order again):

-Kurt Davies, globetrotter, for hooking me up with a good deal on plane tickets at STA Travel and being full of great travel tips and general wisdom such as “You will never regret spending too much time in a foreign country.”
-Jason Keller, for … um, for … uh, for … well, I’ll think of something eventually.
-Frank Tangredi, for teaching me everything he knows about this game. Couldn’t have done this without him.
-George Viebranz, an awesome friend, not just for buying a random book of Collins lists for me when he saw it at a bargain bookstore, but for his nice inscription therein. You’re the best.
-Pete Zeigler, for organizing a pair of tournaments in Akron, Ohio, a few weeks ago. Didn’t quite do its job as a fundraiser, but a great weekend and great preparation it was; I won’t forget it. Also thanks to Kelly McKenzie for his support.

Of course, I have to thank my parents for being awesomely supportive. And emYOU!’s Bil Saeed and Tim Adkins for being so understanding about this situation when they hired me as editor-in-chief in August (and for signing my paychecks).

I haven’t been out of North America ever, or out of the country in the past decade or so (no, not even Canada), I’m non-mechanical (Bil gave me his digital camera to use and I can’t even figure out how to delete the pictures I don’t want) and uncoordinated … so no doubt I’ll find myself in awkward situations almost entirely of my own doing, especially since I’ve barely learned any Malay. I’d also like to be funnier and wittier in these things, but I’m in the middle of pulling an all-nighter and really f-ing tired.

Hope to post ten of these, one for each day of the trip (not counting tomorrow, since because of the time change and crossing the International Date Line, I leave Monday morning and arrive around midnight Tuesday/Wednesday). Any questions you want me to answer, e-mail jason.idalski@emyouthemagazine.com and I’ll respond privately or answer here.

Jasonhttp://www.emyouthemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/PakmodeWebLogo.png