Thursday, 10/30/14 | The Harts In China and Beyond

I have a day off so I enjoy the morning, checking emails, drinking coffee, and doing my stretching exercises. The weather is cool, but still, so in the early afternoon, I rode the bike over to the table tennis club. As in my last several visits, my face is more common, and I don’t even get to sit down before I find myself playing a really older gentleman.

About an hour into our session we start conversing (he speaks a little English). I get the usual question, “How long have you been playing”. It’s tough for me to answer. I don’t want to say I’ve been playing 50 years, when my play has been so intermittent, and certainly not regularly against players at this level. Around here, these players play a lot each week. I don’t know how much they played when they weren’t retired, but they’re “daily” players right now.

I manage to tell him my age, and then he lets me know he’s 81. When we first started playing, he didn’t look like he played that well. As I warmed up, so did he, and it wasn’t long before he had me jumping from side to side. Occasionally, I noticed a grin from him after he had an especially good exchange. He seemed to be testing me. I just kept smiling, bragging on his shot, and working on my game. These guys have a lot to teach me. Every player has his own spin, speed, and angles, and it takes time to adjust.

The bike ride home was relaxing. I really enjoy observing the people on the street. There’s always someone riding a bike in heavy traffic, texting? Crazy!