Wow.

That's the only word in my mind after my first L.A. lesson.

Almost everyone is 5 or 6 levels above me...The people from the L.A. class have already completed the entire Cuban syllabus. Some of them have dance experience from other schools...so they are technically competent as well as widely exposed...and they are not afraid to show it.

I stumbled around like a drunk penguin throughout the lesson. Even though I had intensive secret training, nothing prepared me for what was in store. The Cross-body turn itself was enough to make me see stars....Worse, we had to execute it with Allardes and leads, all the while maintaining our shimmies and footwork! Spotting practice was a nightmare...it made the hook turns and combi-turns that I had learnt in Salsa 1 seem really easy.

I thought The Hardcore Clique (i.e. Desche, Jon, Kelvin, Val, Clara, Angeline and me) was already the most "seow on" clique in Jitterbugs, but I was proven wrong. The L.A. crowd is much younger than the Salsa 1 crowd...and the class has nearly twice as many people...Everyone is so energetic, playful and loud...I feel old just being in the same room as them...There are a few older ladies, but even they seem more lively than me. Everybody was so enthu that our lesson was extended by half an hour! Talk about value for money! Girls in the L.A. class are less hot than those in the Salsa 1 class (*sighz*)...but they are sassier, more open and more willing to try out new things (*yeahz!*).

Fortunately, Joyce remained our female dance instructor...Barry replaced Jason as the male lead...My first impression of him was quite good...He has very high standards, is a perfectionist and pays alot of attention to details that are easily overlooked. I think he is a focused and passionate instructor. Compared to Jason, his expectations are definitely more difficult to meet.

Looks like this class will be interesting...

At this juncture, I just want to show appreciation to my family. Recently, I was down in the doldrums. My family really helped me to pull myself together and find new meaning in life. I've realised that I've placed too much attention on the wrong things in life. I guess it's time I picked up the pieces and moved on.

When I asked my dad why he was so good to me even though I am so bad to him sometimes, he just said,

" When you are a father yourself, you will know why..."

Think about it.