Learning Japanese

Japanese is a ridiculously difficult language to learn. According to a survey of its diplomats, the British government reports Japanese as the second hardest language to learn, behind Hungarian. Although I read this on Wikipedia and didn't fact check it, so take it with a grain of salt. One thing is sure, learning Japanese is no cake walk.Why do I love learning Japanese so much? Is it because I love a challenge? Maybe. Perhaps I like encountering something foreign and exotic. It's certainly not because I've seen any immediate usefulness from being able to speak Japanese. I'll probably never fully understand why I love Japanese. So much of what we love is fundamentally unexplainable. Why is a sunset beautiful?
Beauty, love, and fascination are ultimately beyond logic and understanding. That doesn't mean we shouldn't examine our loves and fascinations. But more important than examining your loves, is pursuing your loves. Despite causing me many headaches and being virtually useless, I have pursued Japanese for several years and I'm now sharing that passion with my wife. That is why most of our house is now labeled in Japanese. There is nothing greater than pursuing your love, and it will pay off. In my case, I'll be living in Japan in a few years and speaking the language will make many things much easier. But even if I were never to go to Japan, the pursuit alone has brought me enough joy.