I am one of the many on here that is intrigued by the asian culture. I was very fortunate to be able to spend six months in Okinawa, Japan. In the time I was there it solidified my love for the country but it also made me a bit sad. I knew that every time I left base ( US Navy deployment) I was missing so much! I wanted to talk to the galley help (local japanese) but I didn’t know anything except “thank you” and I could have been saying it wrong. I remember going to Okinawa World, taking a bus somewhere and going on a tour of an old castle/mansion, and also drinking some Habu Sake. I learned from a taxi driver that they had three alphabets and it blew my mind! I got to experience a Tsunami, see some sort of huge snails that invaded our base, and some of the largest bats I have ever seen flying around at night snacking on insects. A local taught me “sagoi” or amazing after I heard her say it while watching my friend showing off. I found out that driving on the wrong side of the road is very scary and stressful! Grateful to have had my friend there to kindly yell “No, wrong side!” so I didn’t cause an accident lol. These are just a few of the memories I have of my short time there so since then I have wanted to learn the language and go back.

Now with that said here I am. I just bought the lifetime pack since you tofugu people were kind enough to offer such a great sale. Thank you.

I do want to go back so I can try some dongo, a big bowl of ramen, and enjoy some sake :) (That isn’t the only thing I want to go back for obviously)

I think the only question I have right now is, what is a realistic expectation to have for 1 year of progress? I know everyone varies but I was just curious about this.

Well, I am getting back to this learning thing so hopefully I can get this foreign language thing down.

All the best,

Larry