I\'m an old (but not too old) Java programmer, that decided to learn C++. But I have seen that much of C++ programming style, is... well, just damn ugly!
I worry from the tone of your question that you may be reading some bad C++ code in learning C++. Well-written code is usually not ugly in any language. As a starting point, you might try the online C++ FAQ, especially the chapter on learning C++.