Workin' on my fitness

I decided to join a gym.

I've been a member of a gym in the past, and thought this might be a way to meet more people and to exercise consistently and continually, something that on my own I'm not successful at.

The gym I found is close enough that I can walk there if I choose. So far I've taken the bus to get there. It's a small gym but it's 24 hours, has a exercise room just for women and also has classes 6 days a week, all which made it very appealing for me.

 The first day there I decided to do the fitness test program on the treadmill. I thought this was really cool since I've never seen a fitness test program on other treadmills.  I've never done well on  fitness challenges. When we had the presidential mile in school I was always at the tail end of those finishing. In fact, I could never run a mile better than 10:42. Luckily my good genes have kept me thin, and my periodic exercising and running has also helped me. However, I already knew, pressing the fitness test program, that I would not get the best results.

For the ten minutes the program ran, the speed was periodically changed, but never accelerated enough for me to run, so that I could very easily keep my hands on the strips that recorded my heart rate. When the program was over I received my grade of sehr schlecht (very bad).  How appalling! Here I was, thinking I was decently in shape  for my age given what my diet is comprised of and the fact that I exercise every once in a while. Well jokes on me it would seem. Apparently by German standards I am no where near where I should be for my age. But the positive thing about receiving these rules is it proves to me I need to do more exercise. So good thing I joined the gym!

Surprise Movie!

I've been going to meet up groups not only to meet people but also to learn more about the city and events that take place here. At one Sunday night meetup groups an acquaintance told me that every Monday night at one of the local movie theatres there is a surprise movie. For half the price of a regular movie you're able to a movie that has yet to be released in Germany. The only catch is, walking into the movie you have no idea what it is, and if it will be good.  He's had great experiences with the movies, and equally shitty experiences but he said it is always a good way to spend your Monday night.

Since I have 2 weeks off for Herbstferien I decided to see what this wold be like. My friend was kind enough to get the tickets, since as usual, I was running late. What I forgot about in Germany is that you have assigned seating in the movie theatres, which in cases, such as this actually works out because it was packed! We also were lucky in that we got an extra wide aisle and the couples seat for our 5.50.

After watching about 30 minutes of commericals and previews the movie finally began. There was no title displayed only the credits, which began with the director Danny Boyle and then the actors, Michael Fassbender, Kate Winselt, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels and so on. Based on that, and the first few minutes of the movie we figured out it was the Steve Jobs film.

I was really impressed with the acting and thought the movie was cut and put together very well. The whole movie is based around three launch dates of products that Steve Jobs worked on. Through these launches we see how he treats friends and family alike. At the same time,  there's also flashbacks to give us the background on characters and help the audience to see the character development.

The only downside was since the film started at 9:30 I didn't get home to 1:00 am so while it was really fun night and a great film I doubt I'll be able to attend any other surprise movies when school is back in session.

It's been a while...

It would seem that since work began I haven't updated. While there's not a good reason for that, it's been very hard for me to put into words everything that I've been experiencing at work. Schools here in Germany are so different from what the 'typical' American school is like which makes it hard for me to explain. It's also hard since most of my work experiences have been in public schools in the US and now I'm working in a private school in Germany.

But the most important thing is that I love it. I've really lucked out.