Can you do both? I did. I'm doing Chinese and French. Although i know EXACTLY how you feel. Although in my case i'm obssessed with anything asian, the culture, the music, the food yadda yadda. I'm chinese myself hence i'm learning chinese, but I would love to take up jap again, but i can't....i'm doing french. Something i'm completely uninterested in.
So why am i doing french? Well China has strong ties with the EU, especially France, (they have about 300 companies in China). Everyone in China learns English, but french speakers are in demand but there is a lack of supply. Since i want to work in China, i would have an extra advantage. But i am so freaking uninterested in French as you are in Asian studies, that this makes it very difficult to continue.
Now i've realised this lack of motivation can be really destructive. You won;t be motivated to watch movies in Chinese, or actively study it on your own. Hence you will always be at a disadvantage to people who are obsessed with every aspect of Chinese culture. Your listening and speaking skills won't be as good as theirs and Chinese is already massively hard as it is. If you can't pursue it with complete dedication, there's no point in wasting your time. Your marks won;t be good and you won;t be able to compete with people who are more passionate than you.
I can not emphasise enough on how hard Chinese is. Are you chinese yourself? I'd say do french. The more passionate you are the more motivated you'll be and your marks will skyrocket. A language is very much based on self learning. You gain vocab from all those movies you love to watch. Not to mention it's easier to learn. In the end it's quality that matters. You'll surpass me who is really lagging behind in french. True many people excel at it, but not that many actually will move there and work there.
If you want to play it safe, keep chinese and learn french at Alliance Française in the city, or other colleges. That way you can start one thing and if you love it, and realise the other isn't for you, you can switch at uni without having to start from beginners. Or vice versa. Do chinese outside uni. It's the language that's important, don't worry about all that cultural shit you do in asian studies.
