Well, it's not as easy as it looks but with a little practice it's not to hard to learn. Getting the rice right is important part, but not too tough if you use a rice cooker and start with short grained sushi rice. You just have to be patient with the rice- if it sucks no amount of work can save things. A nagiri mold and silicon sushi mat will also make things easier. Beyond that it's just a matter of practice.
Of course, for the money you spent it maybe would have been better to just give your itamae a hefty tip!
Tough to beat good sushi.