Why I'm studying Japanese

I'm studying Japanese because I've been to Japan a number of times, and found the country to be very different and special in its culture and behavior. So I want to learn more about Japan through the study of Japanese, while picking up a new, useful language which poses interesting challenges to beginners like me in terms of the complicated writing systems, different word usage depending on the formality of the context, etc. These are all things that I've found challenging to learn about after four weeks in Japanese class, but by the end of the semester I hope to have at least developed a strong basic understanding of them.