Omgosh you sound so awesome. :'D I'm a passionate anime fan as well and have grown up with it.
I'm extremely jealous of your Japanese friend and visits to Japan. XD I'm saving up to spend 6 months in Japan though as soon as I can.
I live in Texas too and was looking for a good college Japanese-language program, but couldn't find one. Where did you find such a program??? *.* Like which college/city?