Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks Read Online Free PDF Page B

Colombia, as the home of Plaza Bolívar. But now he too is staring at the paper in front of him with stony concentration.
    Anders shakes his head. “I’m sure they’re very nervous,” he whispers, remembering his own final matchup. “I don’t know why I remember this, but there was a bead of sweat running from my shoulder all the way down my arm.”
    “If you’re ready to go, here is question number one,” Alex begins. “Slavonia and Dalmatia are historic regions located in which present-day country?”
    It’s one of the former Yugoslav republics, I know, but which one? Serbia? Croatia? Bosnia?
    “Put your cards up,” prompts Alex. “The correct response is the one you have written down, Croatia. You are tied, one apiece. Here’s the next question. What is the local name given to the katabatic winds in southern France that can cause damage to crops in the Rhone Valley?”
    Eric and Arjun both wrote “mistral.” “You are right once again,” says Alex. “This is going to be fun, isn’t it, folks? You can tell already.”
    Sure enough, the round ends with neither finalist having missed a single question. They know that Kandy is in Sri Lanka; Zaragoza, Spain, on the Ebro; and Sochi, Russia, on the Black Sea. Alex pulls out a sheaf of tiebreaker questions. The first wrong answer now will end the bee.
    “Located northwest of Qatar, Sitrah is a port city in what oil-exporting island country?” Eric’s parents are sitting in front of Arjun’s in the audience to my left. The Yangs seem as tranquil as their son.The Kandaswamys are also motionless, but they’re sitting up ramrod straight with wide eyes, as if slightly aghast at the proceedings.
    Eric pauses a moment before writing his answer, but both come up with “Bahrain,” so the final extends to a seventh question. “Akimiski Island is the largest island in a bay that also marks the southernmost extent of the territory of Nunavut. Name this bay.” Neither boy is suckered into answering “Hudson Bay”; both know that it’s James Bay.
    The auditorium is silent; never before have so many people been so interested in the waterways of Nunavut. “You still have enough cards there?” asks Alex, smiling. “Yes? Good.”
    Question eight. “Timiş County shares its name with a tributary of the Danube and is located in the western part of which European country?” There is a long pause this time before the Sharpies begin squeaking. Is it Hungary? The finalists seem just as unsure as I am.
    There’s a low buzz from the spectators as the answers are revealed. “We notice that the boys have not come up with the same response this time,” says Alex dramatically. Arjun’s card says “Hungary,” which was my guess. Eric has written “Romania.”
    Arjun is staring up at Alex as if he were about to impart some secret religious truth; Eric is staring fixedly ahead. “The country is Romania!” announces Alex. “Eric Yang, you are the 2009 National Geography Bee champion!”
    The crowd erupts in applause. Arjun shakes his head bitterly into the palm of his right hand. “What a final!” marvels Alex. “What a final. Yes indeed.” Eric makes the smallest fist pump I’ve ever seen, a matter of millimeters, and then rests his chin on one knuckle, allowing a secretive smile to cross his face for the first time all day.
    Aileen Yang is still crying fifteen minutes later, as I come up to congratulate them through the throng of newspaper reporters hoping for a quote from the champ.
    “Eric, did you know Romania?” I ask.
    “It was an educated guess,” he admits. He tried to picture the terrain of central Europe—where tributaries of the Danube were likely to arise, which way they might run. I’m impressed. He wasn’t justregurgitating place-names, as the bee’s critics have claimed. He had a very deep knowledge of the region.
    “How did it feel to win?” I want to know.
    “It was pretty big,” he says quietly. “A major milestone.” Understated