Minna no Nihongo!

I don't know what that means yet, but I will soon, as I've just purchased my first set of school textbooks in, well, a very, very long time.  In two weeks, I'll be starting a Japanese language course. 

Why?  No other reason than that I want to.  I've been to Japan and loved it, Japanese is my favourite kind of food, Haruki Murakami is one of my favourite writers, I could go on, but really, I'm doing it just because I feel like it.  I'm pretty much a complete novice.  I can count to three and say "Excuse me", which is "Sumimasen", by the way, and which I actually used once at DisneyWorld to catch the attention of a Japanese woman who'd dropped her guest badge.  See?  Useful already and eager to learn more.  I wonder if Japanese will start popping up in my books...?

Greetings to the new commenters.  I'm thinking of adding an FAQ to my website, one of which will certainly be a very common question indeed:  Is 1017 a boy or a girl?  I know why you might ask, and the answer is he's a boy.  It's a big world with all kinds of people in it, thank goodness.