Zoloft - Gainful Employment? - Gambling

I went to the doctor yesterday and got a 5-time 30/100g dosage prescription. This should cover me well after I leave Australia. This pleases me!

A Korean friend of mine named Will put an ad up for me in the hopes I could find some students to teach English to. I got a call the same day and I met with her yesterday. I'm not certain whether she wants me or not, but I will find out on Monday. It wouldn't be much, but it would help.

While I was on the tram into the city a busload of mostly Asian girls hopped aboard on what appeared some sort of tour. I slid over to increase the chances that some of them would sit with me. It worked of course. One Thai girl, two Japanese and one Turkish. It was nice to speak some Thai here for once (phone calls aside). When I asked them where they were from I was pretty surprised. But I was amused by their reaction to my response that I speak Japanese, Thai and am studying Arabic. Good stuff.

I went to the casino last night after meeting with my student. Nothing big. I won 10 bucks or so. I now have over $50 in $1-coins stacked neatly on my desk. I should have left with a higher profit margin, but I got a little out of control.

I'm having a small party today. I ordered lots of food and I need to go pick up more soon. I'm gonna cook up a bunch of stuff.

Freak Basketball Accident in Australia

A boy in Perth was playing basketball on a board mounted on a brick wall and as he slam dunked the wall collapsed on him and severed both his hands and his right foot. All the headlines I've seen say something along the lines of "Boy loses three limbs in basketball accident." I found this rather misleading. When I think of limbs, I think of arms and legs. They reattached his hands and feet and he is expected to recover fully. Crazy stuff.

Gambling - Flaming Pillars of Death - Beer Tasting?

Well the drinking evening on Sunday went quite well. The day started earlier than expected because we all forgot that today was the day to set back the clocks one hour. We went to a lounge near Flinders station and had a few jugs there before moving on to Robot Sushi. Upon discovering that RS is closed on Sundays, I suggested we go to Chinatown. I had a strong suspicion that even though it was Easter and most things were closed, Chinatown is always bumping. We found this very reasonably priced Chinese-run Italian place and we stayed there until around 9.

Next we went to the Crown Casino. I couldn't find any blackjack tables with a minimum under $25, so I figured I'd better win 50 bucks or so before trying my hand there. I was up $27 before the others wanted to leave. It was good to stop at that point anyways. I got my drinking money for the evening back. I think I may head back there soon however. I got the itch.

As we left Crown, along the Yarra river (outside the casino) there are these pillars every 25 meters or so. They began eruptuing huge balls of flame in sequence at first, but then they would do it seemingly at random so you wouldn't know which one was going to shoot next. I don't know how often they do it, but it was pretty cool.

There is some major problems with the internet at IH lately. It is driving me crazy as I have lots of work I can't do. It just came after having been down for five days or. Ridiculous. This stuff doesn't even happen in Thailand.

Passive Speakin's in Japanese

Speaking in the passive - All passives conjugate into the into the dictionary form as group 2 verbs. 書かれる、かかれて、かかれない。

Group 1 かかれます (kakaremasu)

Group 2 ほめられます　(homeraremasu)

Group 3 されます　(saremasu)
　　　　　こられます (koraremasu)

Passive form is when the verb is done TO the subject rather than BY the subject. Consider the following:

1. My friend broke my ipod.
友達が僕のIpodを壊しました。
{tomodachi ga boku no Ipod wo kowashimashita.}

2. I had my ipod broken by my brother.
僕は友達にIpodを壊されました。
{boku ha tomodachi ni Ipod wo kowasaremashita.}

In the first sentence,

-friend[subject] myIpod broke-

whereas in the second sentence,

-me[subject] に [ni - particle to show direction] =
-to me[subject] friend [did the action of] broke myIpod

As there are always exceptions to any grammatical structure I suppose it is rather important to note that you shouldn't use this form if someone offers a gift-like action to you (the subject). In such cases you should use the ～て　もらいます　form.
ิ

僕は友達にIpodを修理してもらいました。
I had my Ipod repaired by my brother.
{boku ha tomodachi ni Ipod wo shuuri shite moraimashita.}　

As always, I suggest you work out some sentences that amuse your, or pick them up from alc.co.jp like I usually do and memorize them to help you solidify the pattern in your head. Nobody needs to memorize grammar anyways. However, its good to read it over on occasion so you have some clue as to why things are set up the way they are.

私は怪物に足首を噛まれました。
I had my ankle bitten by the monster.
{watashi ha kaibutsu ni ashikubi wo kamaremashita.}

Next time, I will go into considerably more useful passive patterns.

お酒は米から造られます。
Sake is made from rice.
{o sake ha kome kara tsukuraremasu.}

Wine Be Good

Well, I think we went through 6 bottles or and plenty of food. 3 Japanese, 3 Korean, 2 Australian and myself. It was a lot of fun and we had lots of good discussions. Tomorrow is beer-tasting night!! Also, we are hoping to find a reasonably priced karaoke joint as I've been itchin to sing lately.

Thats all for tonight I'm afraid. Jo, as always thanks for the encouraging message. I feel much better today. Life goes on as usual.