Judging in a GP can be an exciting – albeit frantic – experience. Between taking care of thousands of players and making sure everyone in your team gets along together, how does a judge cope? And what happens if you throw in a language barrier to the challenge? Zie Aun Tan interviews two judges from the Southeast Asia region who have recently attended GP Beijing (5-7 May 2018), to pick their minds on judging in a non-English speaking country.

Wendra Kamadjaja is a Level 2 Judge from Jakarta, Indonesia. Ever since his Level 2 certification in March 2017, he has been travelling around the region for judging. GP Beijing 2018 is his 4th GP.

Zie: What made you want to apply to GP Beijing?

Wendra: I love to travel and work at GP as well. I also want to challenge myself to work at non-English GP.

Zie: What were your main concerns before the event, and what do you think of them now that the event is over?

Wendra: Language barrier… not too bad I tried the best even though I have that barrier I can handle about 70% of all non english judge calls. [As for the other 30%] I called the Chinese-speaking judges and asked them to help me translate my ruling. There was once that I directed a player to Chinese-speaking judges when he asked about how to drop from the tournament, but everything related to rulings I tried my best.

Zie: What are your impression of Chinese players compared to players of your country?

Wendra: They look the same because majority of Indonesian players are of Chinese descendant! So I felt like I’m meeting my local people, but speaking in language that I don’t really understand . They’re also very nice, though some of them were probably too focused while playing Magic, then forgot to clear away their empty bottles and food [from the playing tables].

Zie: What did you learn from interacting with judges outside our region?

Wendra: I really love to meet them, we can share our culture with each other. I love to learn things about the other country’s cultures, because that would make me know how to treat players while handling a judge call or have conversation with them. Because every small gesture will affect a lot.

Zie: How did you get across the language barrier?

Wendra: I mostly used body language whenever I got a judge call from Chinese players, using some words that i know in Chinese like ke yi [“can”], bu ke yi [“cannot”], dui [“correct”] and numbers. There was also a time when one player was struggling to explain his situation to me in English, I immediately checked his name and realized he was Korean. Using Korean I learned from watching variety shows I managed to answer his question in Korean! (He told me, “한국말 잘하시네요!”, or “Woah, your Korean is really good!”) I also got a lot of calls from Japanese players asking me for English Oracle text, but with the MTG Manager app I could give them the Japanese text instead.

Zie: How about an interesting story that happened in your trip, outside of the GP?

Wendra: Greatttt Wall!! Actually i have a bit of altophobia but on the other hand I love to challenge myself. I manage to climb 3 posts even with shaky legs, and at one point I had to crawl but I’m quite surprised i can manage to the third post of the greatest wall in the world. I also tried donkey, ya it taste good. Taste like beef actually but better. [Zie: Roast donkey is AWESOME.]

Zie: How would you prepare for your next non-English GP?

Wendra: I should learn useful terms used in Magic, and other important related words like ‘toilet’, ‘water’, ‘food’.

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John Reuben Ferrer is a Level 2 Judge from Marikina, Philippines. He is very active in his local community, and has three years of judging experience behind him. GP Beijing 2018 is his 5th GP.

Zie: What made you want to apply to GP Beijing?

Ben: GP Beijing was an adventure for me from the start. I have never been to mainland China and I wanted to experience judging at a Chinese GP.

Zie: What were your main concerns before the event, and what do you think of them now that the event is over?

Ben: I was really concerned about the language barrier which was unreasonably hyped up in my mind. Sure I encountered a lot of players who could not understand my English but then there were other methods of communication which I was able to practice such as demonstrating how certain cards worked for players.

For instance, I had one case when I was trying to explain Two-Headed Giant to a player. I pulled out two coins. First. I put them on the table where one coin was heads up and the other one was tails up. I then crossed my arms and said “NO”. I then put the two coins heads up and chopped my hands twice and said “2 attack, double strike” when he seemed to nod, I put the coins both tails up and put a single blocker in front of the two headed giant which was attacking. I then crossed my hands again and said NO. I put an extra blocker, put my thumb up and said YES. I then watched the match for a bit to make sure the player got it.

I also did not lack back-up at the event. Xiaoping Peng and Zijun Guan always had my back for scenarios that required the assistance of a translator.

Zie: What are your impression of Chinese players compared to players of your country?

Ben: I’ve never seen a group of people so excited to play Magic. They’re very polite with each other and I can really see that they’re excited to play. I don’t know if it’s just the Dominaria effect but then I really found that they liked opening sealed product and playing limited.

Zie: What did you learn from interacting with judges outside our region?

Ben: I got a lot of GP Beijing Chinese survival skills. I learned to let players know I’m doing a deck check in Chinese as well as give a time extension. I also learned how to say different card types and count in Chinese. The Chinese judges were really eager to help me learn the language even partially. For that I was really grateful.

Zie: How did you get across the language barrier?

Ben: I really had to improvise, whether it was through demonstration or asking the English speaking player to translate what I’m trying to say to his opponent, all of the methods proved to be effective in some way or another.

Zie: How about an interesting story that happened in your trip, outside of the GP?

Ben: The cab Joel and I took from the airport did not bring us inside University of Science and Technology Beijing [where the judge hotel was]. Relying on Joel’s recollection of the University layout and desperately trying to communicate with security, we found ourselves wandering around looking for the hotel for 1 1/2 hours. Thankfully we found the way and celebrated over hot food and warm Coke (which we managed to cool by showing the waitress a picture of ice on our cell phones).

Zie: How would you prepare for your next non-English GP?

Ben: I would learn basic things I need to say in the native language of the players. There were some things that were really handy such as being able to count to confirm match results, announcing deck checks and giving time extensions. Being able to say ‘toilet’ and ‘water’ in the local language helps a lot as well. To achieve this (and make learning more permanent), spending time with local judges in the break room is very important.