Ping Pong

Ping pong is inseparable from asian culture. I had always believed that to be true but didn’t realize what that entailed. I suppose the only way I really could find out was by playing with an asian in an asian country—with someone who hadn’t been adulterated with American culture. Believe it or not, I have had this opportunity and would like to share some of my thoughts on the subject.
People in Asia practice with machines—just like in tennis. (pictured below) I practiced with a man named Greg. Ping pong is more than a game when people train with machines. They practice ping pong almost as much as the average American spends on the sofa watching endless hours of ‘prime time’ television. Never mind, that can’t be true. Only Americans have that much time.



As you can see in the picture, they start at a young age in their training to become ping pong masters.

People in Asia have names for each type of hit—whether it has a spin, what kind of spin, what direction the ball was hit to, what direction the ball was hit from. It’s like the Eskimos and the twelve words they have for snow. While I was playing with an asian, he kept telling me something in Taiwanese that sounded like do da ha. I couldn’t figure out what the ha was let alone how to do it.
The person I played first was a retired ping pong master. He hadn’t played in about four years. That was good because it has been about four years since my ping pong glory days in high school. As we began playing, we were both a little rusty. After a while, he had missed a few slams and took his sandals off. Everyone’s jaw dropped. He really meant business. Well, several minutes later, after I had missed a few shots and I took off my flip-flops. The crowd went wild. Really, all seven of them. I lost in the end but I am happy to say I held my ground for quite some time. Its just something in their genes. Asians have uncanny ping pong skills. In the United States, football players are the jocks. You can see where this is going. In Asia, Ping pong champs are heroes.