I've officially started my Japanese lessons at Soko Gakuen, a private Japanese language school here in San Francisco. Incidentally, "Soko" means San Francisco. The spoken text is coming along nicely, but the written text is taking me some time to figure out. Luckily I've found Bryn's handy Hiragana and Katakana online flashcard system to quiz myself. Check it out if you're interested in learning Japanese. Well worth the $.25 PayPal donation.