Public displays of ....vegetables
Who knew a cucumber could be an effective exercise tool? Ok, maybe don't answer that.
Each year, around this time when the seasons change, I get hayfever, bronchitis, and/or sinus troubles. I've had hayfever all week. Last night, I spent the majority of the night trying to sleep sitting up, because I couldn't breathe in lying down. Getting out of bed was an effort, but the show must go on and I had my course to get to, so off I went. I worried how well I was going to do today, because I knew we'd be doing a number of practical sessions. By the time I got to the city, I was feeling tired, but generally ok and class was fun.
Before we broke for lunch, our instructor told us we'd be doing some practical work in the park afterwards and it would involve cucumbers. That got everyone's attention. Once there, after having to run around the park touching ten trees that were not next to each other, we got into groups for relay races. We had to come up with names for our teams. The first team called themselves the Dickheads. Don't ask me why! My team called ourselves the Cucumbers, because hey we're there to learn about fitness, not for our creativity skills, and we couldn't think of anything else. The last team were the Sparkles. Hmm yeah.
Relay 1 - run around hats and back with cucumber in hand, pass to next person.
Relay 2 - run around hats and back with cucumber between legs, pass to next person.
Relay 3 - run around hats and back with cucumber on shoulder, pass under/over.
Relay 4 - run backwards around hats and back with cucumber between legs, pass left/right.
First team to have all runners back and sitting on the ground with arms in a triangle above their heads (simply because it looked stupid), won.
The Dickheads won the first race. My team won the next three. We may not be original, but we can run fast. The Sparkles...well, they got nothing, but at least they sparkled.
The final race was a combination of all 4 relays. Although the Dickheads won by a second or two, the win was given to my team, because the Dickheads cheated. Our instructor did give them credit for cheating together as a team. The Sparkles just kept sparkling. Both other teams had to bow down before us in the middle of the park. It was a good win.
After lunch we talked about the importance of planning and preparation, before putting something into action, then we had to construct the tallest building we could out of marshmallows and raw spaghetti. It had to stay standing for 10 seconds, unaided. We split into three different teams. My team built a brilliant architectural wonder and I'm annoyed I didn't take a photo. It was a work of art, was tall and remained standing for quite a while. Once we were back in our seats, the instructor asked which of the groups actually sat down and drew pictures and planned the design before they started building. Our was the only team that did and it was a really good example of effective planning. It made the point of the entire afternoon's discussions.
It was a good day. I do promise, though, that I won't dissect every single session on my blog, because I'm sure I'll bore even myself to tears if I do.
Oh! Funny story.... We were told we had to smile at at least 10 people we didn't know each day, so we started practicing at lunch. Most people don't smile back. I was sitting with Alysha and Leigh in a restaurant booth when Alysha looked out the window and smiled at someone then turned away. I looked out to see who she was looking at. As I did, the guy made eye contact with me, so I smiled too. At that point, the guy, whose shirt was undone, smiled (or rather, grinned), licked his finger tips and rubbed his nipples as he walked off. We decided that was the last time we'd be smiling at people in the city....especially those dressed semi Brit punk.
It all went a bit pear-shaped after class. As soon as I got on the tram, I started feeling bad. By the time I got home, my head was thumping and I went straight to bed at 5pm. Sleeping for two hours didn't help and I have a killer sinus headache that's finally starting to go. This weather change thing really does suck.
The tram line through the centre of the city was blocked off for most of the day today, for a damn Christmas parade thingy. At the beginning of November! Geeeeez! Easter eggs will be on display next week, I'm sure.
Each year, around this time when the seasons change, I get hayfever, bronchitis, and/or sinus troubles. I've had hayfever all week. Last night, I spent the majority of the night trying to sleep sitting up, because I couldn't breathe in lying down. Getting out of bed was an effort, but the show must go on and I had my course to get to, so off I went. I worried how well I was going to do today, because I knew we'd be doing a number of practical sessions. By the time I got to the city, I was feeling tired, but generally ok and class was fun.
Before we broke for lunch, our instructor told us we'd be doing some practical work in the park afterwards and it would involve cucumbers. That got everyone's attention. Once there, after having to run around the park touching ten trees that were not next to each other, we got into groups for relay races. We had to come up with names for our teams. The first team called themselves the Dickheads. Don't ask me why! My team called ourselves the Cucumbers, because hey we're there to learn about fitness, not for our creativity skills, and we couldn't think of anything else. The last team were the Sparkles. Hmm yeah.
Relay 1 - run around hats and back with cucumber in hand, pass to next person.
Relay 2 - run around hats and back with cucumber between legs, pass to next person.
Relay 3 - run around hats and back with cucumber on shoulder, pass under/over.
Relay 4 - run backwards around hats and back with cucumber between legs, pass left/right.
First team to have all runners back and sitting on the ground with arms in a triangle above their heads (simply because it looked stupid), won.
The Dickheads won the first race. My team won the next three. We may not be original, but we can run fast. The Sparkles...well, they got nothing, but at least they sparkled.
The final race was a combination of all 4 relays. Although the Dickheads won by a second or two, the win was given to my team, because the Dickheads cheated. Our instructor did give them credit for cheating together as a team. The Sparkles just kept sparkling. Both other teams had to bow down before us in the middle of the park. It was a good win.
After lunch we talked about the importance of planning and preparation, before putting something into action, then we had to construct the tallest building we could out of marshmallows and raw spaghetti. It had to stay standing for 10 seconds, unaided. We split into three different teams. My team built a brilliant architectural wonder and I'm annoyed I didn't take a photo. It was a work of art, was tall and remained standing for quite a while. Once we were back in our seats, the instructor asked which of the groups actually sat down and drew pictures and planned the design before they started building. Our was the only team that did and it was a really good example of effective planning. It made the point of the entire afternoon's discussions.
It was a good day. I do promise, though, that I won't dissect every single session on my blog, because I'm sure I'll bore even myself to tears if I do.
Oh! Funny story.... We were told we had to smile at at least 10 people we didn't know each day, so we started practicing at lunch. Most people don't smile back. I was sitting with Alysha and Leigh in a restaurant booth when Alysha looked out the window and smiled at someone then turned away. I looked out to see who she was looking at. As I did, the guy made eye contact with me, so I smiled too. At that point, the guy, whose shirt was undone, smiled (or rather, grinned), licked his finger tips and rubbed his nipples as he walked off. We decided that was the last time we'd be smiling at people in the city....especially those dressed semi Brit punk.
It all went a bit pear-shaped after class. As soon as I got on the tram, I started feeling bad. By the time I got home, my head was thumping and I went straight to bed at 5pm. Sleeping for two hours didn't help and I have a killer sinus headache that's finally starting to go. This weather change thing really does suck.
The tram line through the centre of the city was blocked off for most of the day today, for a damn Christmas parade thingy. At the beginning of November! Geeeeez! Easter eggs will be on display next week, I'm sure.
posted by E in Oz at 10:41 pm
these thoughts escaped my brain at 10:41 pm
4 Comments:
I like reading about your class experiences, but I hope you start feeling better soon!
My team's spagetti & marshmallow tower kept collapsing. Eventually we got down to the last second and ended up having to just stick one strand of spagetti into one marshmallow and make that do us. Needless to say, out team didn't win :)
Ahhhh.....the ol' spaghetti and marshmellow construction exercise.
My team loses every time.
But that probably has to to do with me initiating a marshmellow fight, huh?
Bad Mel.
Feel better, eh?
Oh.....
Ummm......ICK on the dude who thought he was hot stuff.
ICK, ICK, ICK!
:-X <--barfy look
OH MY DOG! That nipple story had me on the floor! What a dork!
I'm also annoyed with you that you didn't take pictures. Shame, shame SHAME!
My allergies are in the Fall (directly opposite of yours). So, in essence we're having our allergy fun at the same time, even though it's in different seasons. Go figure.
Post a Comment
<< Home