I am so torn about this. It's going to take every ounce of my willpower not to import it, that's for sure. I'm not too worried about the English version being ruined for me; back in the day, the father of a friend who lived down the street brought back a Japanese copy of Pokemon Silver about a year before it came out in NA, and my friend let me play through it. I still bought Gold when it came out, and still loved every minute of it.
I don't really think I want to pay for the import, though...it's a little pricey, especially for a game that I plan on owning when it comes out here anyways. I may take advantage of my friends' R4 cards, get a feel for the game.