Social Workout

eurotrip, part 2: the new home.

So, I’ve arrived in Berlin. It’s weird. I mean, Berlin isn’t weird…it’s just the fact that people interact with me as if I’m German (though they assume I’m not from Berlin), but I’m not GERMAN German and when it comes down to it, I really don’t have a clue what’s going on half the time. Yes, I speak the language like a native, but I don’t know how much I should be tipping or where I get back the deposit for the bottles I purchased or how I’m supposed to buy a subway ticket or how I get to work. There will definitely be a steep learning curve.

My big to-do for the day is to go look at a couple of gyms. Luckily, there’s a super-fancy gym right by work and a more down-to-earth-get-your-workout-done gym around the corner from my apartment. Honestly, fancy-gym doesn’t look very appealing. It seems the workouts are very structured and they have a very specific idea of how you’re supposed to work out. They emphasize isolated muscle resistance training (which is completely antithetical to everything I’ve been doing) and cardio is only done on this one particular type of machine, while keeping track of your heart rate. The workouts are so structured, in fact, that you work with a trainer every time you go. But, it doesn’t look AT ALL like how Trainer Mike and I do our sessions, and I’m already pretty sure this place will be a no-go. It’s just so damn convenient!

Not-fancy-gym is called “McFit” which I find very amusing. It’s open 24 hours and seems to be pretty colorful. Scarily enough it seems to be red and yellow, which makes the name even more ridiculous. At McFit you can get awesome deals on membership, even depending on whether or not you shower there. Since I live around the corner, I could probably get a great rate (think around 20 bucks a month great!) Anyways, I think my investigation tonight should be pretty fruitful and hopefully, I’ll have some time to actually get a workout in too. I need it, for sure.

Oh, and another thing: right by work there’s also a Ashtanga Mysore Yoga studio. It looks lovely, and even though the schedule isn’t all that convenient to my schedule, they do have morning classes that I could make pretty much every day. The rates are great too, so I could potentially get both a gym and a yoga studio membership. Those options, along with my marathon training, will certainly keep me busy. The only thing is that I was also really interested in the boxing gym I found. Ugh…

Being in a new place, I need to create a routine for myself and also start making an effort to meet people. Having just gotten here, I’m feeling very unhinged. The gym grounds me, emotionally, and it works off anxieties in my day-to-day. So, whatever I decide to do, I need to decide soon.