Work-out World

This e-mail was sent to my work out buddies back home to describe my initial experience with Indian fitness. It was sent on November 23 (Thankgiving).



Hope you are all doing well and enjoying Thanksgiving. Eric has today and tomorrow off since he is still working for the US, but I am here at work. The really funny thing is that at Northwestern I didn't regularly make it in early beacuse of my commute, but here since my commute is so short I am the first one in every day and I am ususally in a hour or more before the next person comes in. It is kind of nice. Anyway, I had my first Indian work-out last night and thought that I would let you know how it went. First of all, I stopped by the gym (which is right on my way home from work, so ultra-convenient) and asked about the classes and the costs. The guy told me it was 500 Rs (about $11) for membership, and then 1600 Rs ($36) a month for classes!!! Mind you, they only have 1 class a day, and no classes on weekends. I thought that the price was a bit much for what they are offering (considering I was only paying around $25 a month at Northwestern), but I asked if I could try a class out and think about it (I actually planned to try to negotiate a better price since you can barter for about anything here). Anyway, I spent all yesterday dreading the work out (which is at 6:30 PM) because I am really unaccustomed to standing out so much. As about the only Westerner around here, people notice me and stare which is a little uncomfortable. Additionally, no one wears shorts here, and I can not work out in pants, thus drawing more attention to myself. Anyway, I show up and change in a tiny little room and of course no one talks to me because I am a Westerner, whatever. So the class begins and the instructor is SO out of shape, and her teaching style is a mix of Marilyn (the militant kickboxer who yells) and Annie (who only demonstrates the move, then stops). The upside is that the class was a good workout, and was made even more intense due to the fact that the studio is in a third floor unairconditioned (no fans either) building in Bangalore, which is in India, which has a tropical climate. So I was sweating like a man, and my face was so red (which
also made me stand out as all the other participants were Indian and barely working). I was the fittest of all the people in the room, which made me feel great (dispite having not worked out in about three weeks), and was surprised that most of the other people in the class would just stop doing whatever they were doing and just sit on
the floor and take a break. I was thinking, "Gee, if you guys wore shorts maybe you wouldn't get so hot and might be able to keep going." It is really wierd. Anyway, after the class I asked the manager what the pricing was and he told me (this is a different guy than I had talked to previously about pricing) that the classes for three months are 2250 Rs (which turns out to be $13 a month instead of the $36 I was
quoted originally). I think that the price was so different because the second time I asked about the price at the same time as some of the Indian participants and was given the Indian price, not the Western, which happens pretty frequently here. So, I didn't love the class but it was a good workout and there are not many alternatives
here so I will join tonight and see how it goes over the next three months. They offer step, body sculpting, kick-boxing, and some other stuff so I think that it should be okay, it is a matter of them getting used to me and me getting used to the classes. But after the class was over a couple of the other participants came up to me who overheard me talking to the manager and said that they couldn't believe that this was my first class because I had done so well. I explained to them that I have been doing step in the US for about 6 years and that pretty much all step is alike, so they should hang in there and it will get easier. It was nice to talk to some of the other participants, most people here initially stare, but end up being very nice and engaging folks. Anyway, I don't know what class is tonight, the schedule is not set, and you don't know what it will be until you show up, which is also strange. Boy, who knew that I had so much to say about working out. So that's the story.