VN's for me are a medium of storytelling (just like some guy above me said). I read light novels, watch animes, and read graphic novels, manga, as well, so vn's are just another(successful, entertaining) way of telling the entire story, which has potential to be a major player in countries that don't know about vn's.
i don't feel that vn's are a "japanese" thing. English companies have successfully made english vn's(that are also available in japanese..), and people from english speaking countries have successfully taken to them.
i have the same feelings. Isn't that the reason we are here? get a few friends that do understand you, like i have, and this view goes away. Listen, there are many kinds of people in this world, you should not dismiss them with words like "no one will understand that". Just like no one will understand you, you will understand no one, that is the rule of this world.