Japanese culture is something I was fortunate enough to be exposed to early in life, and has continued to grow as a passion over the years. Language is the central means of access and exploration into any culture, and so I've decided to take this course. My previous experiences include a few brief trips, as well as a home-stay while in high school, but always it's left me with wanting more time to adventure. In the future, I hope to someday work for a while in Japan - either teaching or applying myself to computer programming. Even with previous language experience, it's been almost a decade - and picking it back up hasn't exactly been the easiest. However, the difficulty always seems to be curved by the genuine pleasure of learning the language.