Why am I here?

Well, not quite the existential question, but rather why am I here in First Year Japanese at Columbia?

I have been interested in learning Japanese since 7th grade, but I haven't had the opportunity until this year. Unfortunately, I only have one year of my undergrad career left, so this is kind of a last-ditch effort to learn while I'm still in the school setting. Why wait so long? you ask. Strangely, perhaps, I spent a great portion of my life devoted to learning Spanish, which ate up the majority of my language-learning time. I actually haven't spoken Spanish for the last two years, so there goes all that education.

Regardless of my past language failures, Japanese holds a special place in my being. I recently interned in the Film department of the Japan Society and have thus been exposed to many Japanese films, classic and contemporary, all spoken in Nihongo. Also from that internship, I have a number of friends from Japan, and learning Japanese would definitely make karaoke much easier. I should also mention that I am determined to wander the Japanese countryside next summer, and I figure knowing at least a bit of Japanese will be useful in that setting.
 
I am mainly looking forward to the point where I can have short little conversations with my Japanese friends without their smiling at me patronizingly. I suppose that's a sort of test I've placed for myself.

So far, I haven't found anything too difficult, though I suppose that's because I have the unfair advantage of having taken a Japanese class this past summer. However, I know that pretty soon I'll reach the limit of what I already know, and I can't wait to fall into the sea of the unknown.