Belly Dancing!

One of my new year's not-quite-resolutions was to go along to a belly-dancing class at the gym we're paying exorbitant amounts to stay away from each month.

Only took me 5 1/2 months, but last Thursday saw me venture in search of some middle-Eastern culture.

What a laugh!

The last time I tried to learn anything invoving coordinated movement was in 6th form when us girls ventured to the local boys' school to learn the art of humiliation aka ballroom dancing. I gave that up after managing to cause a 6 couple pileup when I tripped and dragged over the poor bloke who'd picked me as a partner. Like lemmings, the following crowd landed on top of us. It was bad enough being one of the wallflowers who never got picked by any of the spotty oiks to be their partner, but this was the last straw!

Anyway, I digress....
I actually had the class recommended to me a few weeks ago so this reinforced the desire to find out more. Being my usual unmotivated self, however, it took me until last week to show up. As luck would have it, it was the regular teacher's last week before going on holiday, so I got to meet her. She took pity on me and instead of launching into a routine straight away, we spent half the time working on the basic steps, clenches, rolls and other torturous devices.

I have to say it was pretty difficult to follow most of what was being done, between trying to work out which muscle was working when and where, plus getting very distracted by the shapeless blob facing me in the full length mirrors! Such things should be barred, they're only there to make stick insects feel superior to us blobs.

My stomach was clenching for Wales (much easier to clench than to unclench) and I felt like I had 2 left feet at times, but throughout the class, everyone was encouraging and had so much fun it was infectious. I even ended up learning a dance routine to finish things off, and was well and truly hooked!

My hipscarf with coins has now been delivered, so all set for lesson #2 with the relief teacher this week, bring it on!!!

So I'll never pass them huh?

Have finally paid off the faith various people had in me to pass my exams.
I registered with the ACCA back in Sept. 1990, thinking it would be a doddle based on my experience doing O and A levels at school, although the BA in Media Studies was probably trickier!
Having assumed that from the start, my first couple of exams were a nightmare. I really didn't get the hang of what this accountancy lark was all about...if it was about numbers, why did I need to know case law and what useful purpose was it to anyone knowing the date someone decided you could work to live, but not live to work?

I scraped through exams one by one until around 1996 when I passed all the exams needed for the intermediate stage. By this time, the syllabus had changed once, and was about to change for a second time. I met some people on my course last year who'd only ever experienced the one syllabus...the change in Dec 2007 will be the 3rd since I registered.

Now, with all the early stages of exams, you could sit them one at a time. Final stage is different. Boy is it different. There are 3 compulsory exams, which all have to be sat and passed concurrently. The idea behind this is that the syllabus looks at 3 intertwined subjects which need to be studied at the same time to make more sense. I'd agree with 2 of them, but the 3rd has little in common with the others. In my many attempts at sitting these exams, I really struggled to remember all the things necessary for the 2nd, and never "got" the subject matter of the 3rd. As a result, I tended to turn up for the first paper, but walk out during the next and not bother turning up for the 3rd. Even though I passed paper 1, the others were failures so the module as a whole was a fail.

Using any excuse necessary, I took a couple of years off exams when I got engaged.... I needed a good 18 months wedding planning time which would only have distracted me from the real grind of studying.

In summer 2003's exam sittings, I paid for myself to attend some 2 day revision courses. I *finally* got the gist of the 3rd paper in this one and it took away a little of the panic surrounding it. At this stage I also turned up for all 3 papers for the first time. Passed the first, did badly on the 2nd and only failed the 3rd by 3 or 4% so was quite pleased despite not passing.

By Dec 2003, I'd moved jobs and had a new manager increasing my workload, so opted out of doing exams for another couple of sessions. Couldn't avoid it any longer than that though, so I tried to do a university based course - 2 terms to give me a longer time to absorb the coursework. Wrong. The lectures lasted a pathetic 50 minutes each week, with lecturers who were born not to teach people. I turned up for the exams, and although I passed the first yet again, the others were around 10% LOWER marks this time! Bought and inwardly digested Paul McKenna's book on how to change your life in 7 days - should have read it a few months before the exams :-)

Moved departments just before the results came out, and new boss encouraged me to sit them again in December. I swore this would be my final attempt until they changed the syllabus again (removing the compulsion to sit and pass 3 at once). Boss persuaded HR to pay for my course fees at a decent college with a reputation for high pass rates, as well as giving me a few weeks off to attend revision courses. I put my husband through hell again, but didn't have as many tantrums as previously...thanks in part to positive visualisation techniques c/o Mr McKenna and some extra confidence in my own abilities.

At last, the efforts paid off - on the night of Sunday 20th Feb in the foyer of the LAX Marriott, I got the email telling me I'd passed all 3 exams! Apparently it's a close run thing on whether I looked happier that night than on my wedding day, but we're not sure :-)

All I need to do now is fill in some paperwork, get work referees to sign off, and I can put the letters ACCA after my name. I don't even want to be an accountant! Still, I've proved to myself and those who doubted me that I had what it takes to pass in the end.