Ok....If I haven't mentioned it before, we're stationed in Belgium...and the Air Force shares an Air Base with the Belgian Air Force.
I workout 6 days a week, twice a day. I don't feel like I'm killing myself because I make it a point to make sure I consume enough protein to keep me going. Fuels the fire, so to speak. Plus I have snacks throughout the day to make sure I'll have more enery to burn since I'm focusing on alot of cardio.
Well, every single morning I'm in the gym..about 30 minutes after I get there, there's this Belgian who comes in. Given, the guy is in great shape and you can tell he watches everything he eats...he's sculpted. Good for him. I'll bop around on the Elliptical, then do my circuit training, then back onto the elliptical till I'm good for the morning. Eric happened to come with me to the gym yesterday since he had the day off. This was the first time he's been able to workout with me since we've been here since he normally works out on the Belgians side of base or he does PT (physical training) before I'm off of work.
So..this morning.. I did my usual cardio and weights, then again on the elliptical. This particular Belgian was in there and doing his usual weights. By the time I was finished with my workout, he had finished...hmmm..a good ten minutes before me but was lingering. When he saw me get off of the elliptical, he came over and started talking to me. I had my music blasting from my iPod so I had to take my earplugs out to hear what he was saying..no one really talks in a gym cause you're in "the zone", ya know? Anyway, first thing he says is "How is it that someone of your size is able to workout for so long on a cardio machine?" ....uhhhh....excuse me? I think the look on my face told him he said something stupid cause you can tell he was trying to figure out something to say to not make the big american gal even more angry. I said "I do just fine on the machine since I pace myself". He kept asking different things in terms of what I do, how often I workout and such.. when I mentioned that I workout twice a day, he chimed in that most Americans will give up when something becomes too hard for them. Gee, thanks.. I'm obviously putting in the effort and I'm trying to better myself. Thanks Mr. Belgie. I mean, I could tell he was trying to figure out the right words to say cause his English was pretty good..it was just the sentence building and putting the RIGHT words in there to not be insulting. I asked what his name was and he looked a lil...uhh...scared to tell me? LOL.. the Belgians have been doing some stupid crap in our Gym lately, so he probably thought I was gonna tattle on him or something cause of the unintentional insult. I dunno. Of all names, his name is Erick.lol .. When I said "Oh! My husbands name is Eric as well." ... he replied with "Oh, that's the man that was with you yesterday? He's uhhh"...then he was motioning that Eric is tall and had big shoulders, lmao. Yes yes..that'd be my husband. He said "You two are very different, yes?" ....sigh..... Yes, opposites attract...but hopefully, you're not insinuating that he's a tall guy that's inshape who is married to a lil butterball.
He managed to say "I think you're doing a good job since you are in here before me and leave after me. I don't see too many people like that in here"....thanks. I guess..lol
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
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2 comments:
Don't you just love the language barrier? :) I'm sure he wasn't trying to insult you in any way. It seems that he was admiring your efforts just didn't know how to say it correctly.
I can understand your frustration. I dealt with that a few times in Korea. *s*
You're doing an amazing job Erika!
I hated being in Japan because everyone was tiny. I felt like everywhere I went, people were looking at me like I was just another fat American taking up too much room on the train at rush hour. I couldn't do any shopping there because an XL in Japanese sizes is like a juniors medium in American sizes. My friend, Pam, and I actually got denied entrance to a fitting room at a store once. Blargh.
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