Was/is it a rewarding and interesting experience? Any comments beyond yes/no would be appreciated.

Also, do you feel like a nerd for picking that language?

Don't have a lot of time because I'm going to the beach, so I'll post a snippet from another thread for now:

Since japanese is at the top of most lists I thought I'd demystify it a little. Spoken Japanese is relatively simple. The bulk of Japanese intimidation is the script. For one there are no verb conjugations(I eat, you eat, we eat, they eat, she eats, you eat are all the same word, "tabemas", pronouns are hardly used(in the tabemas example, it's implied by the context of the sentence), no need for articles or gender for that matter, and the whole "saying sentences backwards" thing is hardly as much trouble as it seems. There's a logic to it. The sentence leads you to the verb, and ends with the verb. There are some things that make it difficult, like the honorifics, but all in all you can start expressing yourself accurately in japanese faster than in russian. I will concede that kanjii is no joke, but heisig speeds up the process drastically.

Well, thanks for that information, but I should perhaps specify that I'm more interested in hearing if it has been an enjoyable experience to learn. Put simply, is it any fun to learn? And what do you find yourself using it for?

Also, do you feel like a nerd for picking that language?

Haha, no. Everyone gets the impression that you must be an anime/manga nerd or something like that for picking Japanese (although, just look at your average freshman-level Japanese class at any university...probably a third of the students are anime nerds who are only there because they want to do their own fan subs :D).

I choose Japanese because 1) I simply "liked the sound" of the language (hard to describe, I guess) and 2) the complexity of the writing system (which isn't too bad after you get used to it) and , and 3) it is so different from Western languages I've studied (because of the honorific/casual speech system, etc). Also, it has a ton of regional dialects that just add to the fun...figuring it out is a puzzle, and I enjoy the challenge of it. So I would say that I've found it very enjoyable.

japanese was fun to learn, but the weird culture is a drawback to stay motivated when you are not learning with native speakers.

In short, I absolutely love it. But it only started after I went to the place, before then I had little or no motivation to do it at all, but afterward I was studying it in my holidays :)
I don't feel like a nerd for doing it because I have never been into anime, and the only reason I would watch it now is to practice Japanese.

http://www.freejapaneselessons.com/

it is relatively easy to learn, but i forgot nearly everything....