Pearls of wisdom on Olympics table tennis from Gary Hall Jr.

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BEIJING -- I watched Austria play South Korea in table tennis on Monday. There were two teams of players. Round 1 had the first two face off, and South Korea won. The next two played and Austria won.

Then they had doubles. The first Korean guy and a third member of the Korean team played the second Austrian guy and a third Austrian guy who hadn’t played yet. Korea won, by a lot. Then these other guys played and Korea won.

I didn’t really understand what was going on. But I did notice that the table tennis players, like the track athletes, wear jewelry while competing. Gold chains with luck medallions, puka shell necklaces, bracelets, chokers -- there was quite a variety.

I’m not really a jewelry guy. Remember Michael Johnson in 1996? He wore that thick gold chain. Doesn’t that slow you down? What about these table tennis guys? Doesn’t that bracelet slow your hand speed? I mean, I can respect the jewelry guy, but this is the Olympics. Can’t you take off the jewelry for an hour?

After table tennis I went to Beijing’s Silk Market.

The Silk Market has changed a lot since I was last here in 2002, but the rules are the same. Everything is for sale, meaning you can buy anything that is made in China, which is everything. The prices are to be determined.

I am not a haggler. It’s not in me. My mother loves to haggle. I want the person trying to sell me jade chopsticks to name his or her absolute lowest price. Then I respond with a ‘Yes, I’ll take it’ or a ‘No, that’s too rich for my blood.’

I’ll pull out a credit card worn thin or walk away, off to the next booth with an interesting selection of carved wooden things. That’s the way I am.

That isn’t the way of the Silk Market. Everything is for sale, but there is not one price tag in the whole place.

I had a booth number written down on a torn piece of paper in my wallet. It was a connection from an associate of a friend who comes to China for business on a regular basis. Pearls, Chinese pearls, and cheap. That was the plan. I was going to take care of all of my gift purchases for the next 38 months.

I walked past thousands of pearl vendors and strolled up to booth No. D-5-10063. I leaned over the display case and said in a hushed tone, ‘Are you Katherine? Mark Ferber sent me.’

Mark had sent an e-mail alerting Katherine to my arrival in Beijing. Katherine was to offer me the special friend discount. ‘I am Katherine,’ she said in a thick Chinese accent, smiling, and then she winked. I immediately felt like a special friend.

I have no idea how many pearls I bought. Probably thousands. My wife, my mother, my three sisters, my sister-in-law, my other, less-liked sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, my daughter. Anniversaries, Christmas, birthdays, wedding gifts.

What am I forgetting? Something or someone, so I took a few more strands.

Katherine named her lowest, special-friend price. I paid and left.

Then I spent the next 45 minutes haggling over the price of a taxi to take me back to the hotel.

Because I only had about $6 left.

On Tuesday I will pick up some weightlifting tickets.

It seems that table tennis would be easy enough to understand, but the team thing proved too much for my limited mind. Weightlifting should be easier for me to grasp.

You lift weights. You add weights. Repeat until you hurt yourself.

Should be fun.

-- Gary Hall Jr.

Gary Hall Jr. became a three-time Olympian after being diagnosed with Type I diabetes. He is an ambassador for Inspired by Diabetes, a global campaign that encourages people touched by diabetes to share their stories with others around the world. The program is a collaboration between Eli Lilly & Co. and the International Diabetes Federation’s Unite for Diabetes initiative. In the U.S., the American Diabetes Assn. is the program’s national advocate. For more information, visit inspiredbydiabetes.com.