Month: December 2009

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Vanuatu vs. Fitness First

I had a mild case of reverse culture shock at 615 this morning while walking through Babylon. The destination? Techno-drum-and-bass-exercise-bike class @ the gym. For the 45 pulsating minutes of the class, I couldn’t stop making comparisons between Vanuatu and Fitness First. It started with differences, but then I also noticed some similarities.

Living for the sake of others

Differences:

  • People are friendly in Vanuatu.
  • Fitness First is more ordered than Vanuatu: all the treadmills, bikes and crazy spacewalkers face the TV screens; all the bikes in the cycle studio face the instructor; and all the weights face the mirror.
  • The small physiotherapy practice at Fitness First is better resourced than the best hospital in Vanuatu.
  • It took 9 days to lose 4 kilos in Vanuatu. It takes about 9 weeks to do the same in Fitness First.
  • Fitness First is all about me. Vanuatu is all about serving others (see pic above).
  • The check in process at Fitness First is more stringent than the airport in Port Vila.
  • Fitness First is littered with advertisements for various products. As far as I could tell, Digicel dominate ALL the advertising space in Vanuatu.

Similarities:

  • You need to drinks lots of water in both places.
  • I had a cold shower in both places.
  • We all pay homage to someone or something. (Check who you pay homage to: part 1, part 2, part 3)
  • Pastor Brown stood at the door to shake hands with all his parishioners in the Presbyterian Church we went to on Sunday morning. So did the Fitness First Spiritual Leader (class instructor) on our way out of the studio!

Can you think of any more?

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Goodbye November 09 | Hello December 09

The name of this monthly blog post is lame. I’m sorry. Stay tuned for a phenomenal relaunch next month. Warm fuzzy if you can help the creative process (ie – hit me up with suggestions). December is here. We know what that means. All of the cicadas are currently at my window singing an ode to Summer. Bring it. I’m resolved to toughen up my soft feet this Summer. I know you’re interested, so I’ll keep you posted.

nyc grunge from smashing magazine

Above is my fave Smashing Magazine December 09 background. Not many to choose from if you live in the snow-less southern hemisphere!

November 2009 blog stats

I’ve been out of the country (and off the blog) for 1/3 of November, but still a bit of blog growth. Thanks for reading.

Joga Bonito.