Ahhh, Math. So we meet again...

This.

 When I learned that I would be starting a new life in London, there were several things that immediately popped into my head.  They were: I am going to have to learn to drive on the other side of the road, I am going to have to figure out how to think in British Pounds and not US Dollars, I am going to have to figure out Celsius, and of course, I am definitely going to meet Hugh Grant.  What I did NOT think about, however, was how this metric vs. standard situation was going to affect my experience at the gym.  And make no mistake about it; it has made something that is really already taxing enough physically, mentally exhausting as well.

As far as driving on the other side of the road, well I don't need to worry about that at the moment, but I do need to make sure I don't get hit by a car, which I am sure is just days away from happening.  It's not just that the cars are coming the other way, but the drivers are on the other side too-so when I go to stare down the driver with the whole, "Hey, I'm walkin' he-yah!" stare, I find myself simply staring into the empty passenger seat.  Effective.  The British Pounds to US Dollars has been going fairly well.  The only reason to really do it is to figure out what kind of deal you are getting at the supermarket and to compare prices to the US.  This is something that I will probably cease to do after a while.  There haven't been too many obscene differences.  Meat is more expensive, as is juice and soda.  Meals, in general, are a bit more expensive.  The difference here is that tip (10%-12.5%) is already added in most of the time.  If we had a car, the cost of petrol is (in my mind) prohibitive, but it doesn't stop people here!  If prices in the US were what they are here for gas-no one would drive!  South American wines are more expensive than in the States but French and Spanish wines are cheaper.  In this instance, proximity is a blessing.  Time to play 'Know your French wines!'  The Fahrenheit to Celsius issue is coming along.  Either they mention the Fahrenheit equivalent on the news itself or I Google it.  Sooo... it's not like I'm coming along with the math.  I am not even working out the formula on the calculator-I am calling it in.  But cut me a break because I am using all of my math brain cells on the gym and cooking these days.

I should probably mention that I am no great shakes in the math department.  I am not completely lost and if I am in the practice of doing it, I can get in the rhythm and do quite well-but it doesn't come easily.  I was a decent student, honors classes, yadda yadda; except in math.  Some time I will tell you about the great Multiplication Tables Saga of 1989.  That would be third grade and one of the first times that the great math beast reared its ugly head at me.  Now granted, some may say that was more of a failure to memorize a number set, not necessarily understand a concept, but it was merely a nod towards the struggles that were to come.  At some point in middle school, I did move down from the accelerated class and subsequently had a couple of great teachers who helped me get over my issues with math.  But, it is still a weak point for me.

Now maybe, if I just remained ignorant of cooking conversions it would pay off, in that my food would be so bad, I wouldn't eat it and I wouldn't have to go to the gym.  But that's a lie because I would just end up eating croissants from Paul all day long and end up needing the gym even more.  The first time I was met with an unexpected challenge was when I decided to use the oven.  When I roast sweet potatoes, I roast them at 425 F (toss in olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary), so when the oven only went up to 250, I got cranky.  I thought to myself, "Stupid country with your not hot ovens, no wonder your food is supposedly bad."  But then I remembered that the oven is clearly in Celsius, and the problem was that I was stupid.  So now I needed to figure out the conversion.  Let me just say, "Thank you, Google."  Google's motto when it began was 'Don't be evil.'  I kind of think that they have become evil, but I don't care.  I would sell my soul to the Google devil these days for all of its conversion making abilities.  I could ask J as he grew up outside of the US and already can do all of the conversions easy peasy, but I want to figure it out on my own, darn it (thank you again, Google)!

So now to the experience that just blew my mind, and I'm really wondering if not working is making me a moron, because it should have totally been at the forefront of my head as I am a RUNNER and I run distances in KILOMETERS, but it didn't.  I go to the gym.  I get on the treadmill.  I decide to run 3 miles in the manner that I will sometimes do at the gym, in intervals.  And... something is not right.  The gym is brand new and I am like, "They have these treadmills calibrated ALL wrong.  This is ridiculous!"  I hardly need to tell you that the thing that was calibrated wrong WAS MY HEAD.  Luckily I figured this out before I said anything.  I knew I had to run a 5K to get the same-ish distance, but the intervals were difficult.  It was basically a total crap shoot.  I contemplated continuing the gym this way, blissfully ignorant and randomly choosing weights and resistances that looked about right.  But as I like to be comfortable and not in pain, I would never push myself and end up training my body right into a 10 minute mile, which I do not need.  Back I went to Google.  And lucky me there are plenty of conversion charts to help the athletically inclined world traveler.  The thing is, you begin to internalize everything that you are studying and before you know it, after a little smoke emitted from the ears, you are doing the conversions on your own.  Today was much more successful than yesterday.  I am doing my homework before I start with the weights because that could get ugly. 

This morning I was watching the news on BBC and they were doing a piece on how we use math throughout our lives and how it is an important focus for the nation's youth.  Like the US, there seems to be the feeling that the UK is in something of an education crisis.  They are debating daily the relevance of homework, what subjects are most valuable, etc.  I can definitively state that math (or 'maths' as they say here... and no, I have no idea why) will haunt you forever.

FOREVER.

Oh!  And I have yet to meet Hugh Grant.  But I have only been here a little over a week.  Much like getting hit by a car, our inevitable meeting is surely just days away.