Hi everyone! I too just took advantage of that awesome 50% off deal, and here I am. I lived for a number of years in Hawaii where I kinda learned some Japanese by osmosis (it’s everywhere, especially around Waikiki). I was introduced to several anime and manga series (and Miyazaki-san), and have since watched/read many more. Also one of my roommates was from Tokyo, and I got to visit her for a week! Sometimes I’d go with some of my Hawaii friends to Japanese karaoke (… which is hilarious when you can’t read what’s on the screen). ^_^”"”

Anyway, I’m in Florida now (I move around a lot), and hopefully in starting PhD in August. My outrageous plan is to learn enough Japanese over the next 5 or so years to be able to do a post-doc/work in Japan after I graduate. (If anyone has any Geographic Information Systems / medical geography contacts, I’m all ears!) I also want to travel around the country too – I’ve only visited Tokyo, but I really want to also see Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka, Hokkaido…..

I’m pretty much still a beginner at the moment, but eventually I’ll have questions on geography/scientific Japanese words, work culture, post-grad culture, etc.

Japan in 2017! (My own rally cry to encourage me to study.)
Good luck to everyone!