Most every day, I have been going to my gym. I secretly call it Globo-Gym (you know, from Dodgeball) as it is just very “interesting”. Post on the word “interesting” and its different meaning in Europe to come in the following weeks.

Here are just a few reasons why its “interesting” (European meaning):
-Women wear full fledged make-up, hair perfectly done, and jewelry to work out – I am talking gold bangles, etc.
-Other than my husband, i have not seen a guy wear a tee shirt in that place yet – all spandex outfits
-I have seen several women in “couture” gym clothes, which I didn’t know existed!
-I am the only one who ever walks in or out of this gym in my gym clothes. Everyone else who comes in or out is in suits, formal business clothes, or totally put together.
-You aren’t allowed to wear shoes from the street, you must change into special gym shoes
-There are always more trainers than people working out in the gym (at least in the hours that I frequent it, i could only afford the “off-peak” pass)
-People sunbathe topless on the outdoor part of the gym. Really.
-They are obsessed with disco lights. I did a prior post about disco spinning, but since have discovered that during all the classes, the last 10 minutes they turn out the lights and on the disco ball for the finale of class. Why, I ask?
-Oh, and the men who check you in and give you towels are wearing suits.

Anyhow, it is because of these “interesting” things that I don’t feel so bad shelling out an obscene amount of money to have the pleasure of attending this facility during only certain specified hours. It’s worth it in entertainment value alone.

Also, I am learning French better by attending. Since I go to classes most of the time and the instruction is in French, I have learned a few more words. Here is a cheat sheet for those thinking of attending a French gym class anytime soon:

Left “Gauche”
Right “Droite”

Do it again “Encore” or “la meme chose”
Let’s go “Aller”
Poitrine “Chest” as in, we are moving on to that muscle group now. I only actually know this from buying chicken breasts at the store.

Today, the instructor kept saying the word “souffle” . After the tenth time, I started to guess what he was saying. My thought process went something like the below.

See if you can guess the meaning!

a) Souffle….served at the end of the meal, maybe he is telling us we are ending this set?

a) Souffle….a yummy treat. maybe he is saying that we deserve to eat lots of it after this super hard weight-lifting class. Maybe I’ll go see if I can find the ingredients at the Migros….chocolate…check…..

a) Souffle…maybe it is some sort of reverse psychology that if we actually ate souffle last night, we should work harder in this class.

OR

a) Souffle….a derivation of the verb souffler for “to breathe”

and the answer is…….

Wow, I am glad I learned this before my first French yoga class.

Thanks, Google Translate!!!