6th August, 2005: Expedition to Evansville

Our ping pong team and I went to Evansville to play games with the local club. I didn't win like I expected. But I did played with a very good player, and it was a close game. My teammate drove to our coach's house and took off with his wife's new Toyota Camry. The picture below is Barba (left) and the new Saudi Arabian guy Omar(right). Barba talked all the way non-stop in the car. What did he talk about? About god, the truth...he didn't really stop. Omar just joined us on friday. He played in the Egyptian Junior national team. He's more consistant than me even he didn't play for 2 years. Well...I didn't play for 6-7 years....what more do I expect for myself?! The place where we played in Evansville is in a storage warehouse. You would not expect it's a place for playing ping pong. People there are only playing matches. They don't ever practice. Quite some old guys play there too. They would do anything to win in the game. I didn't play all out with some of them since I didn't feel like to...

1st August, 2005: First day of the last month of summer

My boss finally recovered and showed up at work. A good news my boss gave me. She said if I'm willing to work. She could hire me as a student worker for Fall semester. That means I could earn money and get more experience before graduating. I've no idea why these days I'm walking circle and speaking mandarin to myself. Probably because of the ping pong matches that I downloaded. All of them have mandarin commentary. That's not a bad thing I can use it someday. I also watched the mandarin version of "Crouching tiger, hidden dragon". I received my new Andro German blade. At first I thought it's a little heavy. However, as soon as I sticked it with the rubbers. It felt not too bad. It's a really fast blade. I'd get more powerful returns from now on. I like the fact the middle layer of wood is ultra thick. It gives me a lot more power. I could loop way back of the table. I feel pretty good with it. I didn't miss a whole bunch of shots even I first tried today. It's fast but I can still control. What a beast!!! The description says there are carbon particles in the handle. It really is!!! I could hear it when I shake. The sharp parts near the upper handle has already sanded by the factory. It's super comfortable.