Endings and beginnings

So next week will be my last week at my temporary job. It has been fun; I learned a lot, met some great people and had a good time. I am still continuing to get my certification in Human Resource Management and so I started the Employee Relations and Talent Management classes this past week and I am also in the middle of taking the Benefit Plans and Effective Performance Management classes. I am also doing more networking via informational interviews which is so helpful. Everyone has different experiences, advice and a different story to tell. They are all extremely helpful and I can't wait to talk to more professionals.

Last week I saw Whip It, which was a good movie. And I went to Le Bal des Vampires. There were a ton of people, in a variety of costumes, doing all sorts of dances. And this weekend I learned Argentine Tango at eastbaywaltz and went to see Othello. I had not seen the play performed since high school and thoroughly enjoyed it. I really enjoy watching Shakespeare's plays especially the comedies. Although Othello isn't comedic, it was still very moving and good to watch.

Office Parties and socializing

On Friday, my office had a Halloween party. It was a great way to socialize with other employees. These are the colleagues that you don't see everyday, the ones who work in different departments or just walk by your door and all you do is wave and smile at them and that's it. It was great to see everybody again because even though we are all together 5 days a week we are all so busy with our work that we rarely have time to really sit down and talk with one another.

Informational interviews

Last week I conducted my first informational interview and it was a great experience. An informational interview is a short meeting that you have with an experienced professional when you want more information about a field or company. It is best to get started by asking people you already know: friends, past colleagues, schoolmates, etc. about their experiences. You could also ask them about how they came to be where they are today or what it is like to work for the company and where they think it is going in the future. Informational interviews are also helpful for building your network because can ask them who else they would recommend you talk to. If you are relocating or the person you want to talk to is always busy, call them and ask if you can e-mail them a short list of questions. Don't forget to be professional: dress nicely, be punctual and have a business card ready.

Nonprofit HR Conference

Hello everyone,

Today I volunteered at an NCHRA seminar. It was about working as an HR professional in the nonprofit sector. It was at the San Francisco Marriott, Union Square area conveniently located near the Powell BART station. We had a continental breakfast in the morning where I had my first piece of coffee cake. It tasted great. The hotel was very clean and had a good atmosphere. The staff was friendly and did their part to make sure the event was a success. Lunch was a salad followed by chicken with a mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes with gravy. Many people agreed that it was good for hotel food. Now on to the seminar.

First Bill Coy and Cathy Claggett talked about why they were holding this seminar. Next, Steve Hirschfeld told us about employment law in the nonprofit sector. He went over legal issues regarding unlawful termination, reasonable accommodation, privacy rights, workplace bullying and unions. He also advise us on how to stay out of trouble and avoid or win lawsuits brought up against our companies for the above reasons. I liked his talk because he was organized, clear, funny and he used good examples. Then Dalya Massachi and Kim Coulthurst gave us some tips on improving our communication skills including knowing your audience, thinking about your tone and making sure you proofread or rehearse. Lastly, Marcia Hodges, the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area spoke to us about effectively managing people in a nonprofit context. It has a lot to do with credibility, knowing yourself, building relationships, being a good leader and being optimistic.

Boy, I am learning a lot lately. Has anyone else attended a seminar, conference or another event were they learned something recently?

My HR Classes

Last week I started the Effective Performance Management class. It is going to last until December. I have already gotten a brief overview of what performance management is, how messages affect people and the benefits of implementing a performance management system. In my Benefit Plans class I am learning all about health benefits including the difference between traditional medical expense plans and the newer, more widely used managed care plans, which consist of HMOs, PPOs, POSs and Multiple-Option plans. We also discussed the legislation around health benefits such as the HMO Act of 1973, ERISA, COBRA, the Mental Health Parity Act, the Patients' Bill of Rights and the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act. Lastly, we went over benefit carve-outs. At work

This weekend - woot woot

There was a lot of stuff going on this weekend; lots of fun activities and events. To start off with, I attended my first Cal Black Alumni Club event at Pican in Oakland on Friday night. It was a homecoming event. I met a lot of great Alums and will be attending more of their events in the future.

Then on Saturday I had my last employee recruitment, selection and placement class. Our teacher Nicole Jackson is a great educator. She really knows a lot about recruiting, especially the legal environment surrounding recruiting and how to get the best talent. I will also miss learning from all of my classmates but effective performance management starts on Wednesday so I should meet new classmates. For our last class we had to do a presentation which I posted on slideshare so go check it out. After class I was walking to the mall and ended up right in the middle of the lovefest parade. It was fun. Good music, people in weird outfits; everyone was just having a good time. After I got my pretzel, I took the BART home. It was packed because of the USC/Cal game. Saturday night I went to the PEERS Sweeney Todd Ball in San Mateo. It was fun. There was singing, dancing and a show. I particularly enjoyed dancing the grand march and being part of the chorus. I met some cool people and can't wait for the vampire ball next month.

On Sunday I got my hair done and went shopping at Macy's. Got some great business clothes. Overall it was a busy but fun weekend. I hope you had a good weekend too.

Mid week update

I went to the dentist this morning. I still have healthy teeth. I saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs last night. It was much better than 9. And it was in 3D! The story was funny and the voice acting was good. The animation style was nice, the colors were bright and the characters were drawn well. Monday night was kickboxing night so that rocked. I'm learning about social insurance and the recruiting process at my company since I have to make a presentation about that on Saturday. I'm looking forward to starting Effective Performance Management next Wednesday.

The rest of the week...

I finished my HR audit and will be auditing employees in other ways now. I also learned how to make forms in Word and I am learning how to use Outlook. I have a presentation in class next Saturday which I am a little nervous about because I have a bit of stage fright but I think with all of the presentations that my teachers are giving me, I am beginning to get over it. I got an A on my paper about star performers for my recruitment class and I wish it didn't have to end so soon.

I went to a festival today on Telegraph Ave and I might post some pictures later. I am hoping to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, go to a dance and get my hair done next week if I have time.

Networking event

I went to a UC Berkeley Alumni networking event last night. It was very informative and I met some great people. The key speaker, Ms. Robin Holt, founder of the Bay Area Career Center, said one thing that really stuck with me. I always had a hard time thinking of what to say for my elevator pitch but she told us to say it in the format of "I am... I can... I want...". That was very helpful to me and if you have trouble in this area you can use this template too.

This week's update

I just started my benefits class. I am pretty sure I will learn a lot from it since I have had no previous experience from the HR side or the employee side.

I am almost done with my HR audit for work and am looking forward to starting new projects.

I also just got back from seeing the movie '9' which was released earlier this month. I especially liked the animation and action.

Has anybody else seen any good movies lately?

My first week

I had a pretty good week. My colleagues are friendly, knowledgeable and work-oriented. I got started on a couple of projects at work. I am doing an HR audit and updating some systems. But I felt a little tired at first, still am so hopefully I can make it to cardio kickboxing tonight but we'll see. I am almost finished with my paper for class. I am learning a lot about HR from the certificate program and my job. Have a good weekend and see you next week.

New beginnings

The weekend was fun like I thought it would be. I thoroughly enjoyed returning to cardio kickboxing. East Bay Waltz was great too; I saw some old acquaintances and met some new ones while dancing the night away. The Ghirardelli Square festival had delicious chocolate and great music.

I began my new job today. I had a good first day filled with orientation and project assignments. I'm excited to start my projects. I also got started on my paper for my Employee Recruitment, Selection and Placement class.

busy busy this weekend

Lots of activities are happening this weekend. Friday afternoon, I am attending an event at my previous place of employment and that evening I am going to my first cardio kickboxing class since London. On Saturday I have class and then I am going to the first ever East Bay Waltz. I hope to brush up my old moves, learn new ones, meet people with common interests and have fun. Sunday afternoon I am going to the 14th Annual Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival and Monday I start at my new job.

I'm back

Hi everyone, I'm back from London and so I will soon be making up for lost time regarding my lack of posts. There will be a lot of London-related posts for the next week or so and then back to the usual. Get ready for a blogging bonanza.

Travelling tips

While voyaging to, from and through London I learned a bit about traveling that might be of use to other travelers. The key to having a good travel experience is being prepared.

1. Make sure you are early for your flight and stay near the gate around boarding time. Depending on the flight type/airline you have to check in your bags by a certain time or else they won't be on the flight with you and will get there later than you. Also, you have to be on the plane at least 10 minutes before take-off, that is when they close the cabin doors.
2. Pack light so you have enough space to bring back goods from the place you visit. Also, make sure to pack everything you need; e.g. toothbrush, medication, etc.
Make sure to know the local laws so that you don't get into too much trouble :).
3. Try to familiarize yourself with the local language. Even if you are going to a place that speaks the same language they might have different words for some things. (I will post a British English - American English list later).
4. Pre-paid phones and phone cards are a good way to communicate for cheap.
If you are going to events, shows, parks, etc that require tickets consider purchasing them in advance to save money. Some places also have bundle packs and partnerships with other places so you can get discounted prices by purchasing tickets to two events instead of just paying full price for the two events.
5. Track the exchange rate and try to get a good deal. Also, keep the exchange rate in mind when shopping to make sure you are getting a good deal.
6. Prepare a list of people you want to buy souvenirs for or exotic items you want to buy for yourself.
7. Plan out the things you want to do in advance. You might not get to all of them but at least you won't be struggling to find tickets, etc.

And the most important rule of all is to HAVE FUN!!!

What was I doing?

So sorry I have been gone so long. Been very busy. Since my last post I have basically been packing, signing up with more staffing agencies, more packing, flying to London and enjoying London, including a picnic in the park on my cousin's birthday, shopping in Dunkurque and Walthamstow, and going to central London for the London Aquarium (huge), the Eye of London a.k.a. the Millennium Wheel and a riverboat cruise of the Thames River. All very entertaining, lovely, exciting, informational. I will blog (with pix of course) when I can, mostly likely not til I get back. So, if you can wait just a little while longer I will be back in full force. Tomorrow I will be going to Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and Buckingham Palace. Pictures will be uploaded when possible. I hope you are all having a good end of summer.

Review of Japanese Summer Festival

So I went to the 53rd Diablo Japanese American Summer Festival in Concord as I said I would and now I am going to tell you all about it. It was very hot but they had shaved ice to take care of that. It started at 1pm with a variety of Japanese food to sample. They had sushi, gyoza, shrimp and vegetarian tempura, beef teriyaki, udon and some American food too. There were games for kids such as the bean bag toss, koi pond, lollipop tree, coin toss, etc. They had bonsai (tree display), ikenobo (flower arranging), and a big pagoda. At 2pm we saw a koto performance. It was beautiful music. I liked the "picks" of the instruments better than guitar picks. The kimonos were pretty too. Then we heard the rythmic beats of the taiko drums tell us stories of ancient warriors. I saw a judo demonstration where I learned a lot about the art of throwing your opponent and safely falling. FYI: judo means "the gentle way". All in all, it was great fun and I plan to go back back next year.

Final HR Systems and Tech class

So Wed night was the final HR systems and tech class. I earned an A in it. I think I also earned an A in my Essentials of HR class. We had to do presentations for our final. Mine was on how to build your professional network and you can find it here on SlideShare. Other classmates focused on solving problems for their employers such as having a policy manual to increase customer service, making paper systems electronic and paperless, comparing ERP vs SaaS, using Google Sites to create wikis and share information easily, etc. It was a great class with a lot of smart people in it. I learned a lot and I hope to keep in contact with my classmates and teacher.

Also this past Tuesday I went to SwingGoths at the El Rio in San Francisco. It was fun and I met some nice people but I don't think I'll go back because I didn't really like the instruction style or the music. Cardio Kickboxing is still going strong.

I am going to a Japanese festival on Saturday. Will report back later.

Have a good weekend!

What I've been up to

Hi Readers,

Sorry I haven't posted in a while; I've been very busy. I am reviewing 500 pages of text and 50 pages of lectures to prepare for my final exam in my Essentials of Human Resources class on Monday. I went to many cardio kickboxing classes at my gym. That is a workout; and at first all the moves seemed so complicated but I am a fast learner and now it is just fun and athletic. Yesterday, I went out to eat a dinner followed by an hour and a half of a lovely comedic film, which I recommend, entitled 500 Days of Summer. This afternoon I went to the PEERS' River City Picnic dance. Here is the "Congress of Vienna".

On Tuesday I am going to SwingGoths and on Wednesday I have a presentation for my other class. After that things will calm down a bit I hope.

On the work side of things I am still volunteering at UC Berkeley's Health Services Center doing HR Assistant work. I also found another volunteer job and I am helping the firm to create a recruiting strategy for their professional and student jobs.

Oh well, see you when I see you.

Twitter and Corporate Culture: Match Made in Heaven?

With the nation all aflutter about Twitter, it was only a matter of time before corporations and big business started to jump into the microblogging sensation. A big advantage to the platform is that it gives companies and their HR departments a way to communicate and reinforce their corporate cultures to the general public. Of course, not everyone's going to get it right at first. To help with that, Sharlyn Lauby has compiled '7 Secrets to Tweeting Your Corporate Culture,' a simple series of suggestions for businesses to Tweet effectively. As the latest generation moves more and more toward relying on digital media, having a strong online presence is crucial and Twitter is a great way to reach directly to customers and key interest groups.

What is Card.ly?

Want to have business cards but not kill trees for it? Get card.ly cards. Card.ly is a Web 2.0 service that provides free business cards that you can embed on your website(s) or just share the link with your associates. Signing up is simple and they walk you through the information you need. You have a short bio (140 characters), a long bio, and basic contact information. You can easily put links to the other social networks you use and they create an automatic feed of your activity on those websites. They have different background designs you can choose from and then you are done. They give you your link and links to embed on your website(s).

On another note, sadly my waltz class ended last night, but I met a lot of good people and learned a lot about the dance. I am going to FridayNightWaltz tonight though. I hope it's fun. I'll let you know in another post.

Lifestream.fm vs. Adobe Wave

Need to know what your friends are doing every second of every day? Then get a social and media aggregator. This technology allows you to know when your friend posts a new update in facebook or twitter, posts a picture on flickr or twitxr, publishes a new blog post, bookmarks a website, favorites a video and a variety of other actions that will make you wonder how your friends have so much time on their hands or make your head explode from information overload by feeding you TMI. Lifestream.fm is a SaaS that makes all of this inane information available in a stream when you log in to your lifestream. Adobe Wave sends you desktop notifications of all these activities once you download the software and tell it what sites you want to follow. With Lifestream.fm or Adobe Wave you can fall even further into the time wasting hole of social media. While I normally find social media apps and whatnot helpful and interesting, there is a limit and these apps cross it.

Social Media Synthesis

Hi readers, today we have a guest post from Sophie. We are both members of the Ning community 20 something bloggers. Check out my blog post at her blog which is funny but may be NSFW. I'll be back soon with my own post I hope; finals and presentations are upon me.

Social Media Synthesis

As a new blogger, I've been venturing into social media with gusto. I randomly chose Wordpress as my blog platform, and from what I've heard it's one of the most sophisticated platforms available. So far I have been extremely pleased with my selection! With the many blogging platforms and social media currently available, my biggest surprise in this foray into blogging has been how easily these media interface with each other. Wordpress has made many widgets available to support applications such as Flickr, Twitter, Meebo, and Vodpod to name a few. The widgets in Wordpress sync effortlessly with their respective applications, making my life as a blogger infinitely easier. Many of these applications also promote instant updating and/or uploading via cellular device, which allows bloggers to share pictures or ideas at the drop of a hat. I think this sort of collaboration and synthesis is fabulous, and makes me excited to explore these media as I continue to my adventures in blogging!

What is Bantam?

BantamLive has developed a new FREE social CRM. It is another service that has useful Web 2.0 enterprise technology. It is like Facebook + Yammer for your company. It combines microblogging, workflow and CRM so someone or a team can collaborate and share information about contacts with each other. It has many features including your personal profile, notifications, filesharing, streaming you and your colleagues events, activities, projects, tasks, notes, workflow, deals, etc. It also streams social networking sites such as Twitter, Friendfeed, etc. You can have your contacts and information about them from the web plus notes about them that you have.

This is a very useful service for telecommuting recruiters, temporary teams or virtual teams. It is easy to learn and use. For more information visit their website (linked in title) or follow them @bantamlive.

What is DinkyPage

With the advent of Web 2.0, many different services have made it far easier and more accessible for people to create a presence on the web. With blogger, typepad, wordpress, and other blog-hosting services you can easily publish your thoughts, post news, etc. in a simple to use format. With social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter you can connect to other people online, share pictures, and meet new and old friends at the touch of a button. If those social networks don't capture your interest, you can create your own with Ning. With so many new capabilities, it was only a matter of time before web pages themselves could be created as quickly and easily as blogs and other Web 2.0 platforms. Dinky Page is one of a handful of new web services offering the bold new possibility of creating a custom web page in seconds. You can make a temporary or permanent, big and complex or simple and small website conveniently. Dinky Page allows you to put all types of media content on your page such as audio, video, images, etc. Editing the page is like editing a Word document if you use Easy Mode or if you know some HTML you can go to that mode and make more advanced changes. After you click "Create Page", they give you an URL to the page and that is all there is to it. Compare this page, which was made with only a few clicks, with the laborious process of seeking out a webhosting server, registering a domain name, and countless other slow procedures that needed to be completed in the past to create a webpage. And there you have it, 10 minute webpage.

My HR Systems and Technology class

What is technology and how can we solve problems (using it)? That is what we are learning in my HR systems and technology class taught by Pixar’s project manager Jun Cruzat. This is the second class I am taking for UC Berkeley Extension’s certificate in HRM program. So far we have learned about HR systems and technology, the future of work, project management, change management and processes. In two weeks I will present to the class a problem I (and many others) have had. That problem is how to grow your professional network (I will post my presentation on Slideshare after I have presented it).

Our homework in this class has been to write blog posts that relate to class topics. That is why I started this blog and many of my classmates including Roy, Lara, Vicki and Venni have blogs too. I look forward to learning more in this class and I can’t wait to take the other classes in the program.

Social Networking: Generalization vs. Specification

Today I am going to talk about online social networks. Most people have heard of the big ones like Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc but there are tons of smaller ones that are out there. One in particular that I am fond of is Ning. This online platform lets you create your own social network and many have done just that. There are Ning networks for job seekers, pet lovers, book lovers, movie enthusiasts, people that love exercising, writers, social philanthropists and all types of career gurus. A couple that I belong to are TalentBar, Recruiter Earth, Recruiting Blogs and 20 Something Bloggers. Like most social networks, ning allows you to customize your page within your ning community. You can have a personalized background, banner and/or text/background colors. Another great feature is being able to manage all of your Ning networks by going to ning.com. Ning is a great place for people to socialize with others that share common interests. Is there a Ning community for your specific interest? If not, create one!

Wicked

I went to see Wicked last weekend at the Orpheum theatre in San Francisco with my boyfriend. I give this musical an A. It had many great qualities. It stayed true to the book, which I suggest everyone read. The woman that played Galinda the Good Witch was a great performer. She brought the role to life and really embodied what I imaged the character to be when I read the book. The costumes and stage setting were well done. The songs had wonderful lyrics and all of the performers sang well. It had some comedy thrown in and it was very engaging the whole way through. Overall, there was nothing I didn't like in the about the musical and I suggest everyone in the Bay Area check it out.

For those who still question the useful of social media sites

Social media allows you to connect with others but these sites are about more than letting you know what your friend is having for breakfast. They give us a forum to share knowledge with each other and unlike the past it is knowledge that you want. You seek out this knowledge by subscribing to someone who posts what you want to know about and if you don't like it you can easily unsubscribe anytime. Following people has increased my world view, introduced me to new topics, allowed me to keep in touch with friends and family all over the world, keep abreast of current news, the benefits go on and on. So if you want to keep learning subscribe to others today, who knows what you'll find.

Older people flocking to Facebook

Are older people using Facebook more? A new study by online marketing firm iStrategyLabs says they are.

It is great to see older people embracing technology. Peter Corbett, chief executive of iStrategyLabs, told the Chronicle that the influx of older users could be attributed to job networking during a struggling economy but I hope this is a permanent change instead of a recession-inspired fad. When there have been elderly people in my life that have not used modern technology such as past colleagues, bosses, my parent's and their friends, etc. it felt like it took longer to accomplish the littlest tasks. I hope the new Facebook users will have a good experience and branch out to other forms of modern technology.

On another note, I had a busy week. In my HR essentials class I was very pleased after learning that I got an A on my midterm. I am keeping up in my reading and am currently studying Total Rewards and Compensation, Variable Pay and Executive Compensation and Managing Employee Benefits. I'm starting a new recruiting project at my volunteer gig. And while salsa class ended this week, I finally got to try my dance steps out in the real-world by attending Shattuck Down Low's salsa night and learning some new moves and waltz is still going strong.

My weekend and the future of transportation technology

Hello all,

This weekend I read up on Training, Talent Management & Development, and Performance Management & Appraisal. I also went to the Berkeley marina. Tried some new food, saw circus acts and dancing, paddled on a Dragonboat and saw fireworks.

While surfing around on WSJ I came across this article "Electronic Tolls Trump Cash on the Highways" (link in title) which says that some states are considering moving toward a new toll system. The new system would have commuters install a transponder in their car which pays the toll automatically instead of having them stop. It would free up congestion on toll roads and bridges. This sounds good in theory because traffic is bad in places like the Bay Area which have one access point per area however there are still many kinks to be worked out like tourists.

My low-tech weekend

This past weekend I traveled to my home town to visit my parents. While there, my access to modern technology was severely decreased; I had low to non-existent internet access and it was very hard to get information. We had to print out maps instead of using GPS and there wasn't a smart phone in sight. It was time-consuming calling all of my friends one by one to plan out the evening. But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because I spent most of my time studying for my intro to HR midterm. I realized that if I had access to internet it would just have been a distraction.

Is Facebook Copying Twitter?

Ha, Facebook's status updates are becoming more and more like Twitter every day. The article "Facebook vs Twitter Its On!" (link in title) says Facebook is beta testing a way to let you make your status updates available to everyone, not just your friends. This sounds like it could be a good and bad thing depending on how people use it. I use Facebook to share with my friends and tell them what I did over the weekend or review the last movie, anime, tv show I watched or the last book, manga, comic I read. I also use it to get "friendly" information such as what is a good, cheap, Indian restaurant in Berkeley. I use Twitter (and my blog) on a more professional basis to tell the world what I'm doing at work, learning in class, etc. The information I ask my followers relates to my field and I click on news links I am interested in to stay informed.

It also sounds redundant, that is what Twitter is for. If you want everyone to be able to see your updates then just join Twitter.

On another note, I just started Waltz class today and it was fun. I learned the basic box step, hesitation, half-hesitation and a turn. I met a lot of great people, saw some old friends and was able to work out.

Technology in the classroom

(Title is link to AOL news article Schwarzenegger seeks online revolution)

As far as I know, most schools try to teach children how to use technology in the classroom but a lot of resources are still published on paper. Digitizing resources are cheaper, easier to access, greener and they have more interconnectivity to related resources (links to related content). I believe that a greater emphasis on online or digital content will improve learning in the long run. Although there are still many logistical problems in terms of implementing a shift from textbooks to digital content, it is the direction that we should be moving towards if we want to maximize educational effectiveness.

My week and the future of HR

At work this week I helped digitize employment records, worked with a payroll system for the first time and got my first sourcing assignment. For my HRM essentials class I am learning about the various discrimination laws and compliance issues HR professionals face. I made a Google profile and I am learning how to use Outlook. I watched Did You Know 3.0 on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8) and felt it was accurate, mind-boggling and like the US is really behind. The world is changing so fast and technology is a big part of that change. Also read "Memo to CFOs: Don't Trust HR" and it reinforced what I am already learning in my essentials class; that HR has to be more strategic and focus on using human capital to help the organization fulfill it's goals instead of just doing transactional/operational activities which will most likely be outsourced. I'm learning more than I ever imagined and it feels great!!!

Also, learned plenty of new salsa steps and saw Terminator: Salvation which was awesome. I highly recommend if you like action movies.

A little bit about me.

Hi readers,

My name is Asha and this blog is about my Human Resources career from start to finish. My interest in HR began last year when I was a junior in college trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my psychology degree while working as an assistant in a Diversity Office. I researched the profession online and talked about it with HR professionals and decided that it was something I wanted to pursue. Then I focused on graduating from college and accomplished that goal. Now I am taking HR Management courses in a certificate program and gaining HR experience in a volunteer role. I'm also taking salsa, waltz and cantonese classes.

This is going to be a fun summer.