The Molokidan Thread~!

[psy0]

Even though it is public, like wiki, they have editors and staff to check the edits. If they are legit, they will allow the edits. Also most of the edits are done by staff with minor ones being done by the public. Massive changes aren't allowed and whoever does that will be banned...kinda like wikipedia. As for hanayome i don't think there is a public link to download the raws except for the scanlated vol 1-2. If you want I can PM the link to you for vol 3+.

[molokidan]

I see.

I'll try and find the raws for the beginning. I have a few resources I'll check once I get off work.

As always, thanks.

[~Lilium~]

Hey Lilium, thanks for stopping by the thread.

World Embryo is great! It's a great mixture of shounen-style action with a very complicated storyline, memorable, deep characters (that aren't just stereotypes one after another) intriguing romance, and tons of tragedy. Highly recommended.

i see. thanks i was thinking of reading it but i didn't know if it was good. sounds interesting so i'll go ahead and read it.

where'd u learn japanese btw?

[molokidan]

I started learning it when I lived there for a year during high school in 2004. When it's around you 24/7, it's really hard NOT to learn it. Immersion is the best way to learn a language, I think.

I actually didn't have much interest prior to going to Japan, but a friend did it for the summer and told me what an amazing time he had, and I hated high school and wanted to travel somewhere, so I decided to give it a shot. Little did I know what I as getting myself into...

[~Lilium~]

u got to study highschool in japan or is that college?
but what r u studying in japan? *like a major i mean*

[molokidan]

Yeah, I got to go to high school in Japan, it was a great experience.

Right now, I'm studying translation and Japanese literary theory. I ultimately want to translate for a living, whether it be books, manga, video games, or maybe even movie subtitles.

I'll be in Kyoto for a year very soon, so I'm pretty excited.

[~Lilium~]

ur really lucky! were did u come from before u went to japan?

are the schools in japan somewhat like manga or anime? *i mean with the bentos... etc..*

hehe i just ask to many questions eh?

[molokidan]

I come from America, I've moved around and been on the east coast, west coast, etc.

You'd be surprised, schools in Japan are quite similar to what you see in manga, TV shows, and so forth, but of course they're also pretty different. My mom packed me a bento every day and it was really tasty. And I was in kendo club for half a year and then after summer vacation, I switched to aikido club, which I like much better.

My school was in a pretty small city so a lot of the kids were laid-back. I was pretty surprised how relaxed some of the classes were. Of course, they were 2nd-years, not 3rd-years, so they weren't quite at the point where they had to start studying for college entrance exams. Many of the teachers were pretty nice, although there was one PE teacher who I saw hitting kids a few times, which was rather surprising. All in all it was a great experience.

And you don't ask too many questions, that's only two! Keep 'em coming.

[~Lilium~]

All right. Let me ask some more then

bento! is it hard cooking those japanese meals? *in the bento?*
and how did the people treat you when you came there. second year over there would be junior year in the US right? did you know some japanese already?

ur so lucky.

[molokidan]

Yeah, I really am lucky. The scholarship I got was only given out to 25 students around the country, and it was a full-ride free scholarship, at that. I guess someone must have really liked my essay.

When I came there, it's hard to say, as everything was such a blur because I really didn't understand much. Gradually, though, I formed friendships with people and of course, in their minds I assume I was always known foremost as a "gaijin," and second as a "friend," but with a year, there is only so much one can do to eliminate barriers like that.

My high school never offered Japanese as a language and there weren't any private schools around, nor did I have the money to attend any language camps, so before I went to Japan, all I could was try and cram as much of the language into my head on my own. I managed to learn hiragana and katakana, and some basic kanji, but that was it. Advanced sentence structures were still impossible for me.

I went during the second half of my junior year, and stayed through the first half of my senior year, and then came back in january of 2005. I think I was a really different person when I came back...being "alone" in a country like that really forces you to assume some level of independence. Not only that, but getting out of wherever your homeland is will really broaden your mental horizons. I recommend it to everyone, and it doesn't just have to be Japan, there's tons of other great countries to explore.

Oh yeah, and about bentos...it's not really that hard to cook Japanese stuff, you just need the right ingredients, like any cuisine. If you use the wrong ingredients (for example, Americanized "Japanese"-style food that's far from what it should be) then it's not going to taste right.

[~Lilium~]

urrr... hold on ur confusing me now did you live in Japan w/ or w/o your parents?

it must have been tough though to live in a country were you almost can't understand anyone... i would be scared. Are you fluent in Japanese now? and what's a gaijin

what does your name mean too?

[molokidan]

Oh, I lived in Japan with a Japanese family. So I was referring to those parents I had...

People always talk about it being tough and culture shock and all that stuff, but if you're level-headed and truly interested in the country, with a positive attitude, you won't run into any problems. I had a great time, did my best to see and do everything I could, and I had no regrets.

As for Japanese now, well, I speak it 24/7 with the Japanese people I live with right now, and I read/watch the news with little problem, but I'm not going to act arrogant and assume I'm "fluent" like so many people seem eager to do. There are words in English I sometimes come up when reading technical books that I don't understand, so I have to look them up, and the same thing happens for me with Japanese, albeit more frequently. I imagine there will always be words/slang I might not understand at first glance, and I'm fine with that. But I study and increase my vocabulary every day in order to try and minimize the gap.

Oh, and gaijin is "foreigner" in Japanese.

My name doesn't mean anything. It's just something I made up in 1999 with my real name, "Dan" attached to the end of it. Sorry if that was a boring explanation :P

[~Lilium~]

your name looks nice though.
do you speak english with your parents? n do still se ur real parents?

* i'm keeping ur thread active .*

[molokidan]

Thanks. This name is as real to me as my own one. Yeah, I speak english with my real parents, I go back and visit once in a while.

I know, thanks very much for keeping my thread active, I appreciate it, and it gives me something to do while at work. By the way, I see you changed your icon to a Poring...I played RO for a bit way back when it was in beta, but I don't think I got past Level 9 or something. MMOs were never my forte.

[~Lilium~]

Do you also speak english w/ ur japanese parents?
hehe. porings are cute.
i played RO for a while in the Philippines. I even had a pet poring but my sis killed it... unfortuantely i don't think they have it in the states. i was around level 20 too and i met lots of players but summer vaca was over. so i had to leave it
RO was fun though

what kinds of video games do u play ?