of pilates, rueda and more

Haven’t written in awhile… not so much because nothing much has been happening. Also realized that althou this journal is called streaks and scribbles, I haven’t really being scribbling much. So today is going to be an update of much randomness in the spirit of scribbling anything recent that comes to mind…

Went to the brand new Google campus today for a pilates audition/interview. It’s the best audition/interview I had since I got here and began trying out for auditions ~ and I went for A LOT of interviews/auditions. I had it easy back in Philly because my certification instructor was also the head of the pilates studio where I was doing pilates. So the minute I passed the certification and before I even got the piece of paper in hand, I was hired. Connections are really important, in China or not.

After landing in Kirkland and not knowing a single soul, not to mention having connections…. I thus began my pretty much month-long experience of pilates auditions/interviews at a wide variety of places.

I’ve went to gym auditions/interviews, physical therapy clinics, a childcare centre-like place with idea of holding pilates classes for moms while their children went for art or language classes… basically anything with an idea for pilates.

The Google gym was the best audition, because it was one that the lady in charge of hiring actually had me take her through a half-hour pilates session, instead of sitting down and just having me talk about my experience and aspirations. She actually changed into work out clothes and went through all the exercises! In the many previous auditions, I only had to teach once. And the guy in charge of hiring then did not go through the exercise but only observed. I have to say, it really makes a difference. I haven’t taught since July, and teaching today again makes me realize that I actually really do enjoy teaching. The lady commented that I give good cues, which makes me happy ☺

Of another note of reviewing past interests, today is also the day I revisited one of my old loves – salsa rueda! There’s a rueda dance class on Thursday evenings that I’ve been meaning to attend for forever. However, because of various reasons including the fact that evenings are reserved for P, I haven’t managed to make it down even after two months. But this evening, P is going out with his friends for a bachelor’s party, so I decided to take the car and try it out.

And I realized how much I have really missed rueda. I haven’t danced rueda for, I don’t know, 2 years? To think of the fact that I’ve actually went through Rueda 1-3 at JJ and also took the casino bootcamp at Jitterbugs. Giving up rueda after all that is one thing I really regret. There is something magical about dancing rueda. Salsa is something so sexy and passionate, but when you dance in the context of the rueda, it adds an element of the whimsical, of fun – everyone dancing the same move and moving within the circle. You might not know anyone in the circle, but everybody is sharing the same moment and there’s a feeling of closeness. Sometimes, it reminds me of village dances – the old traditions of dancing around a tree or a bonfire. There is something about such dances that makes them special… However, it’s hard to find a group of people that knows the same amount of calls and are of the same standard and this makes rueda something that’s very difficult to keep up with.

I’ve also realized that muscle memory really does exist. I may not remember the names of the calls or the exact steps. However, when dancing in the circle, and the instructor calls the move, somehow, my body knows the steps and can execute them without thinking! This proves that the many, many hours of practice at union sq isn’t for nothing. The instructor decided to start a series of consecutive lessons for the next six weeks and I’m going to join. Rueda is simply too fun to give up, although I don’t know if I’ll really go dancing that often – seeing as P still refuses to learn. The dance center also offers modern and lyrical jazz, and I might try those out as well.

In addition to the pilates and dance, P and I also started our Japanese classes. I think this is the first time P and I are actually taking classes together! This actually used to be a dream of mine – to be able to take classes together with him. I’ve often wondered what it would have been like – to be classmates. But I always thought it would never happen. Even back in JC, we were in totally different faculties, not to mention our utterly different unis and majors. But now, after my relentless insistence, my dream actually came true! Hahaa, albeit after many, many years. But this also made me realize that P’s 10 A1s and perfect GPA scores did not come for nothing. It might actually be a good thing that we were never really classmates, because if we were, the stress might have caused us to break up. He is darn hardworking! I went into the Japanese class having took Japanese for six months back in my past life of 2002. Thus, I actually do recognize a number of hiragana and know some phrases. P, being forced into the class by me, did not know a single hiragana and only know a single phrase of “anatawa inu desu” which I taught him during our Europe trip. Despite much complaining and saying he isn’t going to put in any effort at all, he came home from class and began practicing hiragana every night, and even went online to find test sites and repeatedly took the tests to learn and practice. And after only 3 nights, he now recognizes more hiragana than me!

And thus, life here is starting to truly settle. It’s with the beginning of these activities that I actually really start to feel that we are living here, and not just passing through.

Kirkland is really a lovely place to live. The lake is lined with parks that are beautiful to stroll through after dinner. P and I tend to take after-dinner strolls once or twice a week at different waterfront parks or beaches, and it’s usually during sunsets. The light is stunning, and there are sounds of waves breaking over the shore… strolling along the beachfront or on the jetties while chatting about our day is one of the best ways to end a day. I already know this is the one thing I’ll miss most about Kirkland when we leave… Downtown Kirkland also has a number of interesting galleries that are fun to browse through and there are occasional art fairs. There are enough sushi restaurants to keep me happy on days I don’t feel like cooking as well as a couple of waterfront cafes with gorgeous vistas of the lake.

On days we want something different, we'll drive across the bridge to Seattle and find KTVs at the university district or unique teahouses. On weekends, we have semi-regular meet-ups with a group of P’s Singaporean colleagues which keeps our social life somewhat active.

I’ve also began to get more into my work, which really says something considering how much I complained about it the last couple of weeks. Perhaps, it’s the settling in that’s helping… And the fact that friends and family are coming to visit in the next couple of months gives me something to really look forward to.

So, life is okay ☺