Today marks the completion of my 2nd year on the forum, and to be honest, I never thought it would go this far. Initially, all I really wanted to do was to find out how to unlock characters in a game where I didn't understand the language, so I had to seek help any way I could, which at the time, was turning out to be a real adventure. When I found out (by accident, from Bart, via email), that there was an english forum for japanese mahjong that contained a review of the game I was playing, I checked it out, joined, and made my first post. viewtopic.php?f=18&t=53059#p56419
This was a great review of the game from a year before, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and the originator of the thread wasn't posting anymore.
When someone (Ignatius) generously offered to translate for me, I took advantage of it. That's how "severely in need of an english translation" got started, and after a month, I had 25 posts, and I remember thinking, "wow, that's a lot, I hope nobody minds". And nobody did. Everyone was so willing to help and that made it a lot easier to keep asking question after question after question, some of which seem so basic to me now, as I look back at them.
As I became more involved, I started asking specific gameplay questions regarding rules and wwyd situations, and about basically everything else that was related to the game. One thing led to another, and before you knew it, two years later, I'm sitting here a lot more knowledgeable and experienced, with quite a bit more posts to my name. Unbelievable!
I have to admit it feels very good to have the confidence to answer questions as well as ask them, and even to teach and promote the game to others.
A year ago, I thought that saki was just a japanese rice drink, never heard of Akagi, and thought an anime was just a cartoon. Things change.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=50617&start=15#p57996
During the past year, I learned how to navigate my way through Tenhou (viewtopic.php?f=51&t=53360#p58288) and also managed to pick up 2 more smaller mahjong sets along the way. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=53280&start=30#p58164.
Have actually started using my big-tile set on a regular basis, initially, for chinese mahjong, but recently, I finally got to remove the flowers and flip a dora and have been playing japanese with people I've taught. So far, I've managed to get 4 of the chinese mahjong players to play riichi...... most of the time....depending on who shows up. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=53318#p58721
As a side benefit of playing the game, and being involved with the forum, I also became a bit more familiar with japanese culture and customs, the language, geography, and even food. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=53353#p58213
Even had a minor forum suggestion adopted for use. viewtopic.php?f=16&t=53370#p58377
It's been a fun and interesting ride. I appreciate you taking it with me. I'm still playing quite a bit on the Kiwame app, over 4000 games now, along with a weekly live-people game, where I find myself sometimes trying to answer as many questions as I have asked,...well,...almost.....but not quite. So far, due to the excellent feedback here, I have been lucky enough to come up with the right answers.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=53413&start=15#p58753
Overall, the 2nd years journey was as exciting as the 1st, considering that two years ago, I knew absolutely nothing about japanese style mahjong. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=53313#p57746
My thanks again to all of you for your help in making this happen. You know who you are.
..........................................................................................................Steve
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