another 3 star & a studio tendu

so i just got back from my first ballet class on the island & it was good. interesting, but good. the studio is nice & the woman who taught is great..... an older woman, janet, who trained in the philippines with a man who danced for nycb & balanchine. i can tell with the use of her arms & through her corrections that she knows ballet. the students in the class are young & behind a bit, but all very positive & put forward lots of effort. janet has 2 granddaughters who demonstrate for her, asia & jamaica, both girls are nice & more advanced than the other students. it felt good to be dancing again, the only issue is tuition.

i haven't paid for a dance class since high school. seriously. & the studio is asking $75 for the month, & they offer 3 classes (ballet, jazz & rehearsal - ?) a week. i tried to get some kind of other offer seeing as i'm only interested in the ONE ballet class they offer. but the front desk lady said that was all they could do. i might be able to work something out at the end of my free coupon week..... we'll see. janet & i were talking & she said that she might have me teach some & they pay $30 a class, so if i teach 2 classes a month we're almost even..... the cool thing is that with that $75, you get open use of the studio as long as no class is going on. so that's one unusual perk.

it's weird, but cool, the way things are here..... janet teaches at this studio & another one, as well as directs the guam ballet company. various dancers from different studios all make up the guam ballet company & they all perform together at the U of guam. so different than the states where you have studios competing with each other rather than sharing & supporting. janet says she's gonna take me down to the other studio for other classes because they're more advanced & i think she wants to make me her 3rd granddaughter. albeit, much older granddaughter. she's super sweet & everyone was super impressed (not to sound conceited) & i even got a "you're pure perfection" from a 12 year old. how funny! but it felt so good to be reconnected to dancers & a studio. i just have to figure out how to get around this $75 a month thing.

now, on to the 3 star.....

it's been cope north training stuff the past 2 weeks on base..... japanese pilots & visitors are here for training exercises. & jeff gets to go around on the DV (distinguished visitor) visits taking photos & doing his thing. well on fri jeff got coined by a 3 star japanese general, which is kinda unusual & quite an honor. way cool! & jeff said that the general kept telling jeff to make him look like tom cruise in his photos! how funny!

off to jeff's soccer game tonight..... i'm already ridiculously sore..... can't wait for the 3 day. it's always the 3 day that is the worst. i've never not danced for this long & i'm gonna pay for these 5 months off. but it's worth it!