Hello everyone, my name is Paul, I come from Romania, I am 17 years old.
1. My first question is: will I be able to speak Japanese so that I can manage, for example, order food in a restaurant and have a conversation in 8 months?
I can speak Romanian, German and Latin fluently (and I can find 5 synonyms or more for most words) and my parents made me learn (I am very thankful to them) French and Spanish.
Last year I was in Switzerland as an exchange student, I knew German before I got there, but I caught their accent and now I sound like a native. Many people have said to me that I have a talent, but I have been in Japan for 3 months, and I have studied and practiced really hard, I know the topic in the sentence, I can write and read (Kanjis are really hard) and can use fairly well the tenses, but my vocabulary isn't improving, even though I look in the dictionary each day, I just can't remember the words.
2. Last week I asked a girl I like, from school for her e-mail address, she gave it to me. I noticed her checking me out, but I thought that it was because I am gai-jin. Either way, since I only stay here for 11 months, and also felt attracted to to Japanese girls, I said to myself, I want a Japanese girlfriend. Of course I don't want to make any trouble or hurt someone, but I think it should be part of the experience. Nobody tells me here what I am allowed or not allowed to do, because for them it is all common sense. My father asked me why did I let 3 months pass without already having expeerienced it already.
By the time I got to my host families' home, realized that it is "protocol" for them to smile and praise you. It made me feel good, but I don't like it.
When I got to school, I was checked out by many girls, in Europe when a girl turns her head around you, it means clearly that she likes you (or hat she is interested). So sometimes I asked them out (even though they were strangers on the street, that wasn't a problem), I was never shy, and I never got rejected.
But I don't know how to interpret their body language and what to think about the way they tak to me.
So, back to the girl I like, we have been since then writing e-mails to each other every day, and occasionally some small-talk at school.
I was never discouraged, I thought she liked me, and I also thought that I made my intentions clear when I said I would like to go with her somewhere, and she said that she would like to show me Oomiya (took that as a shy "yes". But I saw one of your videos on youtube wich destroyed all the confidence I had, and all the hope of me having a Japanese girlfriend.
3.My friends, the guys I spend time with, they say that I am cool, but I have short hair (no fancy haircut /w huge amounts of gel on top), I don't have the typical gai-jin accent, I just keep my uniform and my clothes clean and always ironed (by myself), and have a fairly nice body shape (almost what I am aiming for, the fabled "V" shape), I like Japanese video games, I don't like mangas or animations (I bought a couple of mangas for reading practice). But we don't spend a lot of time together outside school, I know they are busy, I write the examinations too, but I still have free time (I also belong to the kyudo club).
I am very active at the physical education class, being very tall, I am a good basketball player, and I am pretty good at Judo.
How can I spend more time with them?

People, please help me, I don't want to waste the chance my parents have given me, but instead I want to use it as best as I can, and experience as much as possible (I know, 1 year is too short, but so is life).
I am forever in your debt, thank you.