My first day back in America. I'm staying at the "Loews" hotel in Santa Monica. It is gigantic and impersonal, but beautiful and shiny as well. It's on the beach, looking out over the ocean, and the weather has been unusually calm. The ocean looks like a mirror. When we were flying in, the ocean was so clear you could see the reflection of the plane below, and see straight into the water to the bottom when it got shallow enough. It made LA look somewhat tropical...
Being back here brings with it all the usual culture shock, which I suppose has ceased to be shocking since it happens every time I return. The place is so BIG, so crowded, so manic, etc. My favorite "America" moment so far has been the commercial for a painkiller on TV. It showed a woman playing tennis, and Mr Voice said, "Alice is a TENNIS ELBOW PAIN SUFFERER" (with a note of disapproval from Mr Voice that anyone should feel pain). Alice says, "When I hit the ball, the pain hits ME". Then the painkiller is introduced - blood red box - and the voice over notes that the effect on pain INCREASES with each dose. A handy graph fills the screen, demonstrating that the amount of pain killing goes UP as you take 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 doses. Then Alice returns, smiling, and says "After I took PRODUCT, I can't feel the pain!!!". She grinned a bit maniacally and went back to her tennis. There was no opponent. Just balls rocketing towards her from off screen.
But, every complaint must be balanced with appreciation: MEXICAN FOOD. I had huevos rancheros for breakfast as I sat on the balcony and watched the waves crash on the shore, past the boardwalk. And breakfast was SPICY AS HELL. And it was served with perfectly brewed filter coffee that just kept coming. I'm wired as hell - the perfect way to begin yoga boot camp.
I'm still really nervous, and convinced that I won't be able to make it. But there was something I saw yesterday that made me really glad to be here at this time and place learning to be a yoga teacher. There's a sorta "designer yoga" place (not unlike where I did yoga for the first time in Larkspur Landing) called Exhale near the Santa Monica Boardwalk. Meticulously designed, very shiny - expensive yoga clothes for sale in the foyer, and outside, a GIGANTIC SIGN showing a very bouncy dude with a ponytail and the words, in huge block letters, HIP HOP POWER YOGA. I nearly fell over in the street laughing. Sweet.
Last night, while sitting in the hot tub and looking out over the ocean, I met a very friendly guy named "Kyle", who's a freshman at Southern Oklahoma State University, studying Business Management. He was visiting California, for the first time, to see his older brother graduate from Marines Basic Training camp. He had the stereotypical reaction to LA and California, but without the stereotypical disapproval. He seemed genuinely pleased at seeing all these different kinds of people. I was happy that he was so friendly and introduced himself. He wished me luck in my yoga adventure.
3 hours to go...
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1 comment:
How was the hotel? Beds fluffy enough?
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