Why did you learn Russian?

In my early youth, I had no choice what to do: I was well taught in languages, and the sciences went well. At some point, the wild thought arose to learn Russian, to go to Russia and get involved there... science. Maybe I just read the spy novels of Jan Fleming (laughs). But in the end nothing worked, because the Russian grammar is too complicated. Too many rules and even more exceptions. I think this applies to the whole of Russian life.