What was the other study group did you see? Was it for Genki 1?
There are a number of study groups that have formed over the years it seems. A quick search turned up these results 300+ member Genki Discord and some more study Discord channels.
I’m UK so we probably have the same time zone.
Yaai! 
I’m two hours ahead of UK but that’s a relatively small time difference.
Yah yah, when I went to Japanese evening classes a year ago they used both first and second edition and it’s almost identical to third so far! So don’t worry at all!
Have you studied Japanese for a while? How far ahead are you in Genki? I’m just asking since I’ve studied Japanese before as well (it’s been a while though) and I was hoping to speed through the first half of the book if possible. @JollyTall have you also studied before or would this be your first time learning grammar etc?