CrossFitter

One of the first things I did in the Netherlands was to look for a new CrossFit gym (or box as it has been pointed out to me). My hotel does have a gym which is quite nice and offers a bar for pull-ups and even a box for box jumps. But in both cases you bump your head against the ceiling which is just far too low. Keep in mind that the Dutch are way taller than I am so I don't know who designed this gym... but getting back to topic.
Now I'm a member of the "Powerhouse 040" in Eindhoven and the location is quite nice.

But I had to learn pretty fast that they do CrossFit a bit different over here. I was used to warming up on my own, having some time to work on the technique with a trainer an then having some energy left for the actual workout. My coach in the US mentioned several times that he has been tougher in prior years and that sit ups within a workout are a phase of "active recovery" but I didn't take that too seriously. I should have...
So here everybody does the warm up together. Fine by me. But the "warm up" includes things like 20 "man makers"... just to get started. If you don't know what that is you can watch the video below.



As if that wasn't bad enough the Dutch version of the man maker includes two push ups per repetition and all the 10kg dumbbells where taken so I had to go for 12.5kg (27,5 lbs). I'm quite sure someone is already thinking of it so let me spell it out... "if that is too much for me maybe I'm not the man I want to be". For further puns on me please use the comment function. :)
Another great example was the warm up for the 70.1 workout which includes only "75" burpees. They made us do 30 burpees for warm up... the exercise (I'm quoting) "everybody loves to hate". Everybody except Sven of course. (This time you can watch a women. ;))



After the warm up we get to the part for the technique in which you practice exactly the movements you will need for the workout. That does make sense but they have 1 trainer for up to 20 people so you don't learn much if you don't already know what to do.
Finally, after burning all the energy in the warm up and tiring the muscle groups you will need in a bit the real workout starts... and they are tough. They include fun things like 3 muscle ups. You can't do muscle ups? Well then do 6 chest to bars. Oh... you can't do chest to bars... then replace with 9 pull ups. That was one of the workouts where I hit the time cap. No matter how fast I was on the power cleans and wall balls... you will not see me do 45 pulls ups within 15 minutes. Luckily they have time caps for all work outs so the torture does come with a fixed end. :)

Carnival

Some of you might wonder how the first picture in this post is connected to Carnival so let me start by pointing out that Carnival in Germany isn’t only about dressing up and getting wasted. It’s also about politics.

So while the Brazilians present the Samba schools on the parade, the Americans their boobies the Germans present political statements. Let’s face it... the Brazilians also show their boobies but they dance while doing it so it’s art. Period. Anyways... I just wanted this photo to show on my facebook timeline.

My original plan for this year’s Carnival was to be in New Orleans and experience Mardi Gras. I already had my flight tickets and hotel room arranged before it turned out that I needed to return to Europe. Therefore my phone constantly reminded me at work on the Friday before Carnival that I should be on my way to New Orleans. Flight to Atlanta ready for checking in. Flight to Atlanta ready for boarding. Flight to New Orleans ready for boarding... and so on. Every message felt like a little stab in my heart.

But I learned pretty fast that the Dutch (at least in the south) also party pretty hard when it comes to Carnival. Let's do the Trump thing and compare photos to see who's better. Eindhoven on the top New Orleans on the bottom (I stole your photo Fabian). Clearly Eindhoven had the biggest party crowd ever seen on Carnival. Awesome people. I know them. Trust me. New Orleans... SAD! (I would love to write his speeches.)
But yes, I could have had that view on the parade in New Orleans as well...

I guess one of the biggest differences between Carnival in New Orleans and Europe that you can see on the picture is the temperature. Over here you have to dress so that you can survive 10 °C (50°F) for a while. Being half naked just isn’t an option in those temperatures.

But kidding aside the Dutch go all in on Carnival. While other countries mix the „being wasted part“ of Carnival with Samba, Boobies or politics the Dutch decided to mix it with some more drinking. For some of them around here that means 5 days of straight drinking. The city of Eindhoven has even an extra holiday for the Monday so people can keep on drinking on Sunday. How nice of them. My company stopped doing that 2 years ago. So my colleagues and I just started early by putting on some Carnival music at the office around 3p.m. and having a beer on Friday.
I did one day of Carnival in Eindhoven and felt like that was sufficient. Even back in Germany I'm not a carnival reveler and out here where you can't even sign along it doesn't get better. One of the guys I went out with even tried to get through it sober and believe me he didn't enjoy it. When he tried to order some water he got a shot glass with some clear spirit (Vodka I guess) because the bar keeper just couldn't imagine him to be serious.
When we arrived in the evening a lot of people were already on their way home because they were too drunk to keep going on. And then there were a lot of people who kept going on although they shouldn't have. So the first goal was to get to the same level as the locals. Luckily they had great offers like 10 beer for 15 Euro in one bar (well guess where we went) which helped a lot with that. Seemed to be such a great offer that they even checked the ID at the door which has never happened to me during Carnival. And guess what... while the two guys I went out with did have to show their ID I didn't. I will just claim that this was due to me not shaving which makes me look waaaay older. What I really liked is that the bars played some electronic music from time to time but somehow I still didn't connect to Carnival around here. Still I will always keep it in memory as I had to park my car outside the city center because of the parade. I couldn't get a ticket as the machine didn't accept my card but I thought it won't be too bad... guess what... 61,40 Euro (64 Dollar) for parking without a ticket. That's memorable.