Germans like it hot!

Well, I joined a gym. It's right by work so I can go every day after work to get my run on. I figured this was a good idea since I also recently joined the EUMETSAT soccer club (yes they call it 'soccer' and not 'football' for some reason... probably a good sign for me). The team is actually named EUMFOOT... how cute. But I figured, if I'm going to be running around with a bunch of Europeans playing their native sport, I should get back in shape. I tried running outside a few times, but since it has now reached below freezing in Germany, my lungs have been screaming for mercy. Lucky for me this gym came into my life...

It's a small place, but one can be very easily persuaded otherwise if looking in from the street... The walls are literally covered in mirrors. It makes the place feel 4 times bigger... clever advertisement ploy perhaps, or are Germans that claustrophobic? One thing is for sure, it makes for checking other people out all that much easier... not like I would ever do such a thing. Anyways, there are some key differences between the German exercise experience and ours. Firstly, they are much more obsessed with routine. I have never seen a bigger workout plan wall in my life, and for such a small place. Everyone has their little packet, which is about 10 pages of what to do, and they follow it to the letter. When you join the place, and every 6 weeks after, you get a personal session with one of their trainers and they make a routine for you and check your 'health level' and what not... I think this is pretty cool, but I didn't really care that much for a plan, I just wanted to have a warm place to run. This confused the guy who signed me up greatly, but I managed to convince him to skip it all and get me a 50 euro discount.

The whole process is built around making you feel better, not just punishing yourself for drinking a coke at lunch like we do in the US. Included in the monthly fee is free use of a full service sauna (with a waitress), free flavoring for your water and a solarium. The part that really weirds me out is that you will see these muscle bound guys come up and fill their water bottle and then ask the attendant to give them two squirts of peach flavoring... strange. I haven't experimented with this, and I'm not sure I ever will... nothing makes me feel more manly than drinking my water without the peach flavoring.

The part that is hardest for me to adjust to is the temperature in ths place. It's like 95 degrees in there. I swear part of plan is to just make you sweat all your weight off instead of actually working it off. I thought that was what the sauna was for, so now I'm afriad to try that out... I might pass out and die. Here comes the perfect example of the lack of German common sense... no towels. They do not provide towels because everyone thinks it is gross to share towels after they are cleaned. Funny, because it's perfectly fine to get your water from glasses that someone may have used 3 minutes prior and was just dipped in hot water and put back on the table... oh well, I bought my own towel... and water bottle for that matter. I guess for a while I should avoid wearing a white shirt in fear of being arrested for indecent exposure.