WHY JAPANESE?

I am from Korea, a very close neighbor of Japan. Therefore, I had a lot of exposure to Japan, and it has always been a familiar place since I was born. I've grown up learning history we share with Japan in school, watching tons of Japanese animations, visiting my aunt in Tokyo several times, and making Japanese friends in girl scout camps.
As I went to a boarding school in Pebble Beach, CA as a 9th grader, I met a Japanese roommate. We were perfect match for each other; we were both eager to share each other's cultural background. So, many nights we stayed up all night watching Japanese or Korean movies, tv shows, and animations and spent numerous hours chatting. Whenever we went back home for breaks, we brought tons of food like ramen and ate together. So I spent 3 years with her as roommates, and that led me to be somewhat absorbed in Japanese culture.
Even now, I watch more Japanese tv shows than Korean ones, listen to a lot of J-pop music, and keep in touch with Japanese friend in Nara. However, since I have never learned Japanese, our conversation has always been limited. Therefore, I would like to learn Japanese in order to have deeper conversation and more interaction with friends in Japan.