Hey guys! I guess I should reply to this thread, since everyone has such interesting things to say!

Well, as I've mentioned before, I didn't really grow up in the whole Anime/Manga/J-Pop atmosphere. I didn't grow up around Japanese-Americans or Japanese folks, I'm not from a big city with Japanese in it. Of course, I'd seen a few anime's in my day, but it wasn't that deep for me.

I really became interested in Japan when a Japanese exchange student came to my school. She was sweet, funny, kind and so interested in America and American culture. We became good friends and she taught me some of my first Japanese words, while I helped her with her English. We would chill in class, laughing at the teachers, going to parties and having fun. It was so cool. When she left for Japan, she sent me X-Mas cards and we kept in touch over e-mail. She now attends University somewhere in Japan--I have no idea where!

So, I just thought--so many students come to America from all over the world--why don't I just return the favor? I wanted to participate in intercultural/international exchange too, and to bring a little piece of me to other parts of the world.

So, I thought---why not Japan? Too many of our schools only focus on places in Western Europe, teaching only French, German, and Spanish as core languages. I was tired of learning these languages, that give us no variety. So I decided, hey, why not, when I go to college, learn a unique language? Japanese just seemed the perfect way to go!