Hi! I just joined TextFugu today and I’m very excited to start learning Japanese. 2016 is going to be a huge, insane year for me at work with very little chance to travel or take much time off. When I’ve survived all that, in 2017 (probably first quarter) my husband and I are going to take a trip to Japan. We haven’t booked it or planned any of the details yet, but I want to learn Japanese so I can navigate us around and so that we can explore the country in a way we wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Learning Japanese has been an aspiration of mine for a couple of years but now that we are getting to the point of actually planning the trip, the need has become more real. We’ve been talking about visiting Japan for years, and now it’s up in the queue. I really like the idea that it will more or less be the light at the end of the tunnel for me as I make it through the upcoming year at work. (I’m an Elections Director in county government.) We live in Minneapolis with our three cats. Hello!