I had the little rink to myself for a short time after everyone got off so spent about ten minutes doing figure of eights. It felt great. I had the space and the speed to get into a rhythm. I found counter-clockwise easier, it seemed like my inside foot was gliding out as my outside foot crossed over and moving forward seemed so natural. Clockwise felt like more effort, almost like my outside foot couldn't keep up, I think it was something to do with my inside foot not being enough on an outside edge or something. Dunno what's going on with my right foot lately, it's annoying me a bit.
I reckon I can probably shed some light on that.
As a complete beginner, both feet are equally puzzled by what is expected of them as they are very much out of their comfort zone and learning something new. This is a great opportunity to ensure that both sides work equally! It's an opportunity that's almost always missed.
Human beings are naturally predisposed to favour one side more than the other; this shows very clearly in left or right handedness, but it is less obvious in legs and feet until we start to use them for things that are more technical than walking, etc. There is also the fact that most rinks insist that people skate in an anticlockwise direction, so we naturally get to skate our crossovers that way far more. And practice makes permanent...
There are people who jump and spin the other way and there are people who can do both (yes, really!) but for most people it comes more naturally, certainly after they've been skating a while, to turn in an anticlockwise direction as that's the way they get to skate around the rink - remember what I said about practice makes permanent?
So you'll need to work far more on those clockwise crossovers. It's uncomfortable and inconvenient to try and go against the flow of the general skating traffic, but without extra work that right foot will always feel a bit unnatural and wrong. This goes for every other movement and turn, eg three turns, brackets, rockers, counters, mohawks, choctaws, pivots, drags, spirals...*
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. Please don't shoot me.
As to group lessons and learning really basic stuff, it's the basics that make the rest of it possible. I spend an awful lot of time teaching people to skate forward properly - and these are people who have been skating for years! But once they get the hang of it, their faces ache with smiling and their standard of skating rockets. (And that makes it all worthwhile.)
Also, group lessons are great for the social side of skating, and that's a great part of the adult skating experience. You don't struggle alone!
* I really wouldn't worry too much about jumping the other way! I used to be able to spin in either direction but I never had the nerve to try jumping. Oh no. Nooooooooooo...