I was going
through my work TO-DO list in my head, as I was lifting 5kg on each side of the
barbell during the strength training class at the gym, until the class
instructor approached me and added an extra 2.5kg on each side telling me in
Danish that I look like I can do more. She was right, I could balance the extra
2.5kg the rest of the class time. It took more effort, but I no longer thought
about work.
Once upon a
time, playing basketball was my favorite thing to do. Today, the only reason I do
sports is that unless I do that, my body aches, because I am old now. My body
aches as a result of strength training as well, but I prefer that ache to the
one that happens when I don’t exercise at all. Going to a gym class is easier
than motivating myself to exercise on my own. An exception to this is swimming,
but I don’t view it as a sport, it is a part of the relationship I have with
the sea.
The attitude of
my PhDs and postdocs toward sports is completely different from mine. They are
seriously motivated. They run. They climb. They cycle. They do all sorts of
strength training. Some of them are even into Ironman events, which are
triathlons that include swimming, cycling, and running. Before I moved to
Denmark, the only Iron Man I knew was Tony Stark.
I tell people “My
team members do sports at the level of ex-drug addicts” as a joke, but no one
has laughed at this so far. The source of that joke in my head is the character
Mark Renton in Irvine Welsh’s Porno who
takes up running to replace the high he used to get from drugs. I am not sure
what this (non-)sense of humor says about me, but it is clear that I shouldn’t
get into stand-up comedy any time soon.
During my
sabbatical, I had the pleasure of being invited to various social activities
organized by the research groups that were hosting me. One was a water sports
activity followed by dinner. Another one was ice skating followed by dinner. In
both cases, I only participated in the dinner part and haven’t regretted that
decision. (In the former case, I was also on the heavy days of my period.)
I don’t bike. I
don’t climb. I don’t ski. I don’t
ice-skate. I don’t do any water sports. I hike very
seldomly. I am afraid that one day I will be deported from Europe because I
refuse to do all these activities that when thought collectively scream
“European welfare” to me.
I didn’t get to
do sports or elaborate/complex hobbies as a teenager. I had to go to weekend
school to prepare for the big university exam on top of going to regular school
five days a week, like most teenagers in Turkey do if they want to get into a
decent university, which does not necessarily guarantee a job that pays above
minimum wage today. My main weekend hobby was watching TV on Saturday nights on
our living room couch and then crashing there, and I loved it.
It is lazy to
dismiss the more elaborate hobbies or sports just because I didn’t grow up with
“European welfare” and can’t feel myself part of it. I know many foreigners in
Europe who took up skiing or climbing after moving to Europe and became passionate
about them. Also, not all Europeans grow up with welfare and can still enjoy
these things. In my case, simply: Life is short, I have limited time and
energy, there is a lot I want to do, and I am just not interested in these
things. I can’t embrace skiing or water sports or cycling the same way I
embrace raclette or avocados or fastelavnsbolle. I once watched a person
dressing up for skiing and was like “Nope! Too much.” Water sports, beyond
swimming, tend to separate you from the water, so don’t get the point. I admit cycling
could be useful, especially to reach the beach/sea faster. But I love walking,
it gives me time to think and dream.
Maybe I am not
adventurous enough or open to change. Though, having lived in four countries
long-term and a couple of others short-term in addition to traveling as much as
I do for work, my adventure and change quotas are full and buffers are
overflown as is. I will keep it to hobbies and sports that do not require
elaborate clothing, gear, expenses, and planning … at least for now.
