Ask HN: How did you learn Scala? And are you finding it useful?

I am taking a break from reading "Programming in Scala" http://www.artima.com/shop/programming_in_scala_2ed Man, that's a huge book, and scala is one kitchen-sink of a language. I would wager it's bigger than C++(quite a feat), but smaller than Racket(not racket core but the myriad of language modes which Racket has).

So, far I didn't have a a-ha moment. May be that's because I already knew C++(haven't programmed in C++ for some time but used to), Java(used to do heavy Java), F#(have a beginner level grasp), and Scala seems to mix and mash ideas from these 3.

So my questions is:

1. How did you learn Scala? Book? Which book? Please don't point out that I need to do a project(many projects actually) to grasp any language. I am asking about the groundwork needed for tackling a project.

2. Did you have an "a-ha" moment while learning Scala? If yes, what was it? If no, did it not meet your expectations, or you were expecting no "a-ha" moments all along?

3. Are you using it? For what? Compared to your earlier choices, how is it faring?

4. How about tooling? I am using vim for now. I tried searching for an omnicomplete plugin, found a couple of links which required some housekeeping to get it running. Dropped them for now.