My name's Saj.
It's short form for Sajeeva.
I come from Colombo in Sri Lanka.
I came here as an international student two and a half years ago.
There were a lot of my friends who had already come to this country and they used to tell
me of the life here.
I currently live in Collingwood in an apartment.
Melbourne was considered to be a friendly city.
I currently work in a call centre.
I would say ninety percent of my friends, I met them from work
and they would introduce you to their friends and then you just form this whole network
of friends and the web just keeps spreading.
Does this have a name or is it just ...
Chicken cream.
Yeah, okay.
It doesn't have a name.
I've been probably, probably cooking ever since I was fourteen years of age.
I guess I like cooking for friends because you just see a smile on their faces when they
taste your food if it's good.
Does that help?
No, this is good.
Actually it's not that spicy.
Sorry!
I had to get used to public transport here, learn the routes to uni and just other things
like how you buy groceries.
I don't think I'd gone grocery shopping before, for myself.
And learn what exactly, what 'special' means, like when things are on special
and I always wanted to be independent and do things for myself.
Have you seen this movie?
No.
L.A. Confidential.
No, is it good?
She won the Oscar for it.
I guess when I look for shopping I just, I, you know,
it comes with the need to be kind of different in what you wear and having that confidence.
Yeah, I guess my biggest fear was not making many friends
because having friends in another country is probably the most important thing ever.
Having good friends kind of defines what you end up doing in the country
because as long as you're with them you have more experiences because you do things as
a group.
So that to me is very important because that basically makes up the experiences that you
have.
You know why I'm envious of Jeremy; even in economy it's like business
Yes I'm feeling very excited actually about tonight's lesson.
I'm jut hoping that I can actually keep the moves in mind and don't make a fool of myself.
So I have my first ballroom dancing lesson today.
I'm not really sure what to wear.
I'm thinking that and ...
Ah no, I prefer this one because it's a little bit dressier..
I know.
A little bit sexier.
Okay.
Jeans or tracks?
Ah no.
You have to lose the track pants.
Okay cool.
It's all about image.
It's not about comfort.
That's true.
Okay, cool.
I get what you're saying.
Yeah.
I'll go with the jeans.
Awesome.
I love dancing a lot.
We usually go dancing at least once a week, my friends and I.
But usually we hit the club scene.
Ballroom dancing is obviously something completely different, very formal, a lot of mannerisms
needed so yeah, we'll see how it goes, pretty much.
Good.
Hi, how are you.
You must be Saj.
Yeah, nice to meet you.
Do you want to pop into our group class?
Yes.
Definitely.
Excellent.
I'll jut get you to come over here and you can pop in here with the guys and we'll take
you through some foxtrot.
All right.
Thanks.
All right so gentlemen so we'll start from here.
So you've got feet diagonal.
You're stepping forward on your left
And we go forward, forward,
sidestep and close your feet.
Sidestep, close your feet,
back on the right foot
so just on the other foot Saj,
back on the right, back, yep.
Forward, side, change weight and back.
That's it.
That's better, all right.
I must say you're doing well to walk in and just start doing it.
That's really good to know because you know I feel like I've just been thrown into something
and it's just like ...
Just hangin' in there by your fingernails.
Exactly.
Walk, walk, side, close.
Walk, two, side and close.
And we're going to turn just a little bit to there like that.
That's the trick step, all right.
Just a little bit on that toe so you're there like that.
All right.
So let's try that again.
I haven't done much of dancing like ballet or this kind of thing where they actually
tell you put one foot in front of the other and make sure your hands are kept in this
position, so yeah
So everyone just grab yourselves a partner.
Saj I might just get you just to bend your knees just a little bit.
Just bend your knees and come right down, that's it.
Yes, I'm just, I'm really afraid of falling on my lesson and probably giving the instructor
an impression that you know that I'm really not worth it.
But I mean we'll just have to take it step by step, literally.
Have you done a foxtrot before?
Never.
Really?
There's a first time for everything.
Yes, I know.
Slow, slow, slide together ...
Ooh, we're going to go into the carpet.
Oh yes.
Sorry.
Move back further this way.
Okay.
Start when you're ready.
Okay.
Sorry.
We'll get there eventually.
The ballroom dancing experience was something I'd never done before.
I guess considering it was structured dancing it required a lot of technique and gracefulness,
something that I'm not very used to.
Brush, two, side together, there we go,
we've had our first bump.
My biggest fear was actually stepping on someone's foot.
Ooh, sorry.
I knew this would happen.
It's all right.
You step on my toes I'll step on yours.
That's how it works.
Okay, deal.
Done.
That's the way it goes isn't it?
Yep, I've got the heels.
It's good.
There were quite a few people there who were very serious about it
and as much as it was just a fun lesson for me you could tell there were a lot people
there who were actually in it to learn something.
And whenever I was partnered with someone that was my biggest fear
as to whether my mistakes would affect them but I guess it was all worth it.
Yep.
Quick, quick, slow, and quick, slow and quick, quick.
I think you all deserve a round of applause for that one.
Very very good.
Excellent.
Congratulations to Saj.
It's his first lesson today.
Oh thank you.
It was his first lesson today.
It was so much fun.
I actually got a chance to just have a quick chat with one of the people who I was dancing
with
and she said that dancing brings out confidence in you which I think is very true.
And certainly if I were to come here on a weekly basis it would certainly increase my
confidence as well,
in terms of just moving out there and doing what you think is right and doing the right
thing.
It's an amazing feeling.
He was navigating and leading you ladies around the room so well done.
Well, I still don't think I'm keen to try ballroom dancing.
I'm gonna stick to the Robot but Saj, I take my hat off to you.
Thanks for watching My Australia.
Here's what's coming up next week.
Preeti takes part in the annual Christmas Pageant,
Priya tries to impress her boyfriend by learning how to cook
It actually looks nice
and Raymund has a go at brewing his own beer at home.
See you next time.