The Molokidan Thread~!

[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 ?

 

[molokidan]

No, I speak Japanese with my Japanese parents. They can't speak English..haha...

That's cool. As for video games, I really pretty much only stick to older-gen games, like NES, Super NES, and stuff like that. SNES games are probably my favorite. I have a big collection of Japanese Super Famicom (SNES but in Japan) cartridges. I don't like the Final Fantasy games now, but I love the older ones. Same thing with Dragon Quest games.

How about you?

 

[~Lilium~]

they can't speak english? that must've been hard when u just first came there then

the recent FF games suck but i like the old ones from PS1 alot. they're really good. i'm also a big FF-fan basically almost RPG games. i like shooting games too and driving games. but i prefer playing those in the arcade. oh and right now i'm addicted to guitar hero

 

[molokidan]

Yeah....I have Guitar Hero II, which is incredibly addicting. I think my little bro's getting GH3 for christmas, so I'll be excited to check that out too.

Yeah, if you're a FF fan, you should check out Romancing SaGa 3 for SNES. It never came out to the states, but I'm pretty sure it got a fan translation somewhere on the net. It's very similar to FF fighting style and graphics, the only difference is the level-up system (It's similar to the sphere grid from FF10) and how the story is very open-ended. But it's a great game, I really recommend it.

 

[~Lilium~]

how far are you on guitar hero? my friend introduced me to it a month ago. Ever since hten i've been constantly going to her house to play w/ it i still can't do hard. its tough to transfer to the orange buttons and i also hate the double buttons

sure i'll try that game. i need an SNES emu for it too right?

oh i've always wondered. ... how do 'breaks' work ther ein japan. their summer breaks seem so short. maybe its just time-skipping from the manga/ anime that made me confuse this though

 

[molokidan]

on Guitar Hero 2, I beat it, and was working through getting 5-stars on all the songs. I was about 75% done with expert, and then I let my brother borrow my PS2 for a few weeks, and during that time he yanked the memory card out while it was saving by accident. So all my data got corrupted. I haven't touched the game since...it's just not worth doing all that work over again.

Yeah, you can get it on a SNES emu.

Well, Japanese schools differ with their schedules and stuff...but normally, the school year runs from mid-to-late April to February, at least in my experience. During summer, there's about a month and a half off. And then again around winter, there's another month-and-a-half off. And then in between school years most of March is off, and part of April. The breaks are rather sporadic. I had to go to school on Saturdays, and one time, we even had to go to an assembly on Sunday...

 

[~Lilium~]

that sucks... I did that with my KH file. I turned it off while it was still saving. after that the file got corrupted and i had to start all over

you have 2 long breaks then. That's much better than just having 1 2 month break during the summer... dividing it makes the breaks seem longer
>____> my cousins *who live in the philippines* have school on Saturdays too. They have their gym during the weekend some of them even have classes. But do you have to go to school regularly on Saturdays? or is that just sometimes?

 

[molokidan]

Ouch, that sounds bad about your KH file.

Yeah, I guess the Japan breaks make you realize you have more time off. And it never really gets you out of the "groove" of school as far as sleep cycles, etc. go.

When I had school, we had it every Saturday, but it was only a half day. I imagine it differs between schools, though. And I never had to go to cram school, which is what second and third-years go to after real school to prep for exams.

 

[~Lilium~]

i've seen alot of these 'cram' schools in anime/manga but what are they exactly... are they classes like test prep?

oh yeah remember the manga i asked you about? World Embryo? I just read it yesterday it's really good! How come it was dropped though...

 

[molokidan]

Yeah, basically cram schools are specialized seminars in material that will be necessary to score well on the exams. In other words, more focused than simple high school courses...it seems pretty intense, though.

I'm glad you like World Embryo!! Keep checking it out, because I think it's a wonderful series that only gets better with time. M7 dropped it due to lack of staff, as well as receiving a cease and desist from the publishing company to remove the chapters themselves from their website.

 

[~Lilium~]

aww... its liscenced... i hope the Edited Mangas will continue... i read uptil chap 16... furthest chapter so far?

so are there any weird food there in Japan? *i saw a show that showed a man who bull testicles in Japan once... *