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Letter from Boston

Winter Exercise Plan

By MASAKO YAMADA


この冬のエクササイズ計画

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この冬のエクササイズ計画

昨年末の異常な暖冬も落ちつき、ボストンに遅い冬がやってきました。寒くなるとどうしても家の中にこもりがち。そうすると、気分もなぜかふさぎ込んでしまいます。こんな気分を吹き飛ばすには体を動かすのが一番。雅子さんはこの冬、積極的に運動する決心をしました。

The weather has finally become winterlike, and unlike some intrepid Boston bicyclers, I plan on storing my bicycle in the closet until spring rolls around.

However, since I've started taking public transportation almost everywhere, I hardly get any exercise during the week. This obviously isn't good. I often feel listless during the day — sort of gray, like the weather — even when I've had plenty of sleep. I think exercise is the best way to get the lively feeling that is often missing during the winter, and I've decided to incorporate it into my schedule.

I'm not a big fan of fancy gadgets and I dislike the idea of using heavy, metallic equipment like stair machines, stationary bicycles and weightlifting sets in order to get in shape. I prefer to concentrate on body movement. I suppose the most efficient form of this is running or swiming or jumping rope, but I much prefer dancing or doing aerobics. There is something about moving to music that seems very natural to me.

I've started many an exercise plan before, only to quit before any true benefits were reaped. From my experiences, I know that it's best to exercise with a partner. I also know that it's hard to continue if there are inconveniences, such as a poorly located gym or bad weather. I've formulated an exercise plan with these considerations in mind.

First of all, I've decided to join my friends in taking salsa dancing lessons once a week at a dance studio in Cambridge. This dance studio, The Dance Complex, is far from shiny in appearance, but it has a fascinating roster of dance lessons.

The lessons are open. This means that there are no admissions requirements, no official sign-up procedures and no real tuition system. Students need only pay a certain amount of cash per lesson. This casual system does not mean that the lessons are not authentic. The flamenco class has a real guitarist, the African dance class has real drummers and the ballet class has a real pianist. However, it does mean that beginners with absolutely no dance experience can be seen.

The salsa class that I took this week had well over 50 people in a rather small room. It was a beginner's class, and I could tell during warmup that many of the students were, indeed, beginners.

Salsa has a "one-two-three" beat with a "left-right-left, right-left-right" foundation. This sounds easy, but some of the students were like kindergartners who haven't quite mastered counting or telling the difference between left and right. The atmosphere of the class was bright and joyful, though, so the details didn't seem to matter. The teacher and his assistant were successful in bringing together a group of people with very different backgrounds.

I'm confident that I will be able to continue these lessons every week because so many of my friends are taking the lessons with me. However, this dance class is not quite enough exercise for me and the location of the studio is too far away from where I live to go more often, so I've decided to join a local aerobics studio as well.

This studio is only a five-minute walk from where I live. I have no excuses not to go there. It's a tiny, tiny studio, but it has a wide selection of dance-type aerobics classes. Even though it doesn't have luxurious amenities, it has a good reputation.

This is also a studio in which students drop in and pay per lesson, but I got a discount coupon from the Boston University bookstore that enables me to take 10 lessons at half-price, so I have an incentive to go there many times.

The only real complaint I have with the studio is its name: Your Somebody. There is obviously something wrong with the sign, because this title does not make any sense. However, it's hard to figure out what they wanted the name to mean. Does it mean "you're somebody," as in "you're a great person"? Does it mean "you're some body" (you have a great body)? Or does it really mean "your somebody" (this is an abstract being that you own)?

I honestly don't like any of these interpretations since they're all vague. But since I'm not going to the studio to study English, I'll happily ignore the sign and go on with my lessons.


Shukan ST: Jan. 29, 1999

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