Day 114 - Do You Even Lift?

Tuesday, May 31st, 2016

Smog Level: 2/3 Mountains

Paid Free Time

My first two sessions (classes are made up of 2-3 sessions) were cancelled due to some sort of practice. Hey, only three sessions today, and I get to sleep in. Hot dog!

Apparently from here on out, at least once every three weeks, the kids will have something that will take them out of class. More free time! Since this is a private school and the government doesn’t appear to regulate school attendance, the parents can pull their kids out whenever they want. I’ve heard of parents pulling their kids out of school a couple weeks early so that they could go on vacation somewhere. If enough kids get pulled, no class, but I still get paid. I’m good with whatever, but who doesn’t like free time?

The Reason We Came

CrossFit + Booze

Bunny had invited me to some event to do with crossfit, but was a food and drink sort of event. ¥50 entry fee (10 CAD/ 7.80 USD), but alcohol and food included. To me, alcohol at a crossfit event seems like it should short circuit people’s brains. The people I’ve known in crossfit seem to treat it like an extreme fitness cult. 

Tickets screwed up and were sold out when she tried to buy me one, but then her friend cancelled. A rollercoaster that resulted in me being able to go! Huzzah!

Uber

1h Uber ride later with Peace and Bunny.* Peace speaks in a very calm, centered tone. Maybe it has to do with her doing yoga, but I just liked hearing her talk. We do that, talk, for half of the ride before I figure I’m boring them with facts and ideas. 

Normal Tuesday Night

Crossfit Celebration

The event is to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of “Cross Fit Slash,” one of the (I think) few crossfit gyms in China. It appears to be owned/operated by Australians. Like I said, gyms aren’t a huge thing here, but people are open to the idea. Get a place that is half decent and has good, bilingual trainers and you could probably make a lot of money.

Free drinks and food, like I said, but everyone was hungry and snacks were put out. This meant that they weren’t paying attention to the presentation when it started. One of the trainers/people running the event yelled  "Get away, get away! Go over there!" to the people eating. Rude, yo.

Cult-like Tendencies

Modeling the Sign

They had some cool perks at their gym, though. Things that should come standard for a lot of places, like being able to look up and book courses online (through wechat). The event let me feel like I was getting a peek into the secret life of the crossfit cult. It’s not really a cult, but it kind of is if you’ve ever met someone who’s fully sucked into it. "Crossfit is life!", "Your workout is our warm-up!", "Once you see results, it’s an addiction!", etc.

Point: Android

Final note: because I have an android phone, I was able to program the function buttons to have additional, alternate functions. The back button can be held and jump back to the last app used. The home button can be held to open the camera. This made taking notes and snapping pictures a breeze. 

Eat it, Apple.

*Tooootally their real names

Words of the Day

English - Mandarin [pronunciation]

Up
shàng
[shah-ng]
Building
lóu
[low]
Upstairs
shàng lóu
[shah-ng low]

Literally: Up building.

Editing Music
Plug-in Baby
Muse

Bonus Discovery: 

I've infiltrated Crossfit.
This is what they eat, apparently. Spork and ALL.