January 29

Today I was super hungover…did not socialize. Poor life decision to drink so much.

January 28 – Rebecca

Today I ran bootcamp again, but being Saturday, I knew to expect a smaller crowd. What I didn’t know was that this particular Saturday we would only have one person show up that I’ve never met before. The pressure was on. I had to work her out, stay professional, and keep the conversation going for an hour or else be extremely awkward for that hour. I opted for conversation rather than awkward silence. She was a very sweet lady and the opportunity to train with just her showed me how fun it can be. I hope I see her again so we can build a trainer-client relationship. She gave me a hug when she left, so I think I did a pretty good job. I am really proud of myself for this one

January 27

Today I met a new client. Although there was no choice in whether I initiated conversation here or not, it was really good to talk to someone new in this type of situation. The communication is different, because you don’t know each other yet, but you know that you will build a lasting relationship, versus the other people I’ve met that I had no clue if I’d see them again or not. Plus you’re trying to get certain information from them, but you don’t have that history with each other to rely on. Very interesting and enlightening interaction.

January 26

A new student joined the grad program. Anton from Germany. I spoke with him a little bit, but my brain isn’t functioning properly at the end of a long week, so I could have done a better job of interacting.

January 25

Today three new people showed up to bootcamp – Jenny, Mandy, and Pam. I talked to them a little bit, but not as much as I’ve talked to others. I guess the biggest difference was that instead of asking them lots of questions, I opened up and shared with them my fitness journey. I really do think my story inspires people.

January 24

Today was a hard day for me emotionally. I tend to internalize my feelings, so I bottled up and hardly even talked to the people I know, let alone strangers.

January 23

Today I ran bootcamp. There were five new clients that showed up. It was interesting meeting and talking to new bootcamp clients as the coach rather than as a fellow bootcamper. I think I did pretty well, though, considering it was just my second time running it completely on my own. I panicked a little, given that there were a lot more people than I’m used to, and most of them didn’t know what they were doing at all. However, given that I was doing something new, I feel like meeting five new people in this new capacity was very eye opening.

January 22 – Jim

You never know what will happen when you talk to strangers. Last night we met Eric and Dierdra at Yard House. They mentioned they were going to watch the 49ers game at Buffalo Wild Wings today, and we were already planning on being there for the Patriots game. Lo and behold we saw them walk in. There were no empty tables, but we had two empty seats, so we called over to them to join us. I enjoyed talking with them again. Then their friend Jim showed up and pulled up a chair. He was on the same business trip as Eric and comes out to Hawaii 3 or 4 times a year. He was ok to talk to, but I think the bigger take away here is that if Eric and Dierdra hadn’t struck up a friendly conversation last night with a stranger, they wouldn’t have had someone to do them a favor and would have been sol for the game today. New friends are fun.

January 21

Tonight I was at a restaurant with a friend, and we were seated at the bar. Several people around me commented on my dinner when it arrived, because it looked and smelled delicious (it was an ahi salad). There was a couple sitting next to my friend, and they struck up a conversation. I sat there for a while in my own world, but did finally lean over and chat a little. Since they found out I was a local, they started asking me about some of the things around the area. I really need to become more adept at answering that question. Also, the bartender was pretty funny. He was talking about how much he likes people watching, so we swapped a few stories. It must be really entertaining working at a bar. Because of APEC last year, he ended up serving several secret service men and the prime minister of Russia.

January 20

Take your pick – Austin, Alan, Aaron, AJ, Jon, Korbin, Kaare. I met them all at the bar. Amazing how alcohol severs inhibitions.

Oh alcohol, you social lubricant. I was running around left and right, going up to people introducing myself. Right when I got to the second bar, Austin said hi to me and we danced to karaoke – really? Yes, and it was bad karaoke at that. Then I was talking to Kaare and Jon a little bit, because they were in line for the bathroom and I was sitting next to it. We chatted a bit and Kaare just moved to Hawaii 3 weeks ago, so he was asking for suggestions on where to go to meet people. Later on, he forgot what I told him, so I wrote it down on a slip of paper and told him to put it in his wallet. Jon agreed to sing Summer Nights with me, and he even was so kind as to sing Sandy’s part, because I normally do Danny. Korbin was playing darts, and we had a lengthy discussion about his cheating ex-girlfriend, which led him to move to Hawaii. Then Alan and Aaron were trying to convince me they were brothers, which I didn’t believe and kept trying to disprove, but then when I was about to tell them I believed them, they told me it was a lie. And finally, AJ was the guy running karaoke. He was really good. I talked to him a little bit about how long he’d worked at the tavern and we bonded because he used to live in Manoa, like me.

All in all, it was a great night. I loved running around introducing myself to people