The class finishes at 8:40 pm, and as usual, everyone comes out with their brains fried. It really takes a lot of effort to learn a language and I think the comparatively alien (to my European mind) format of Japanese makes it doubly difficult. It is, however, a very interesting language ( for instance, there is no future tense as we know it in English) and enjoyable in the sense that a very tiring workout in the gym is enjoyable.

I haven't eaten anything since those 3 cold slices of pizza 8 hours ago and so I am looking for something to eat. I am meeting some friends in downtown DC in a Spanish restaurant, a tapas bar. While driving, it begins to snow and I get lost downtown. I get my bearings again and look for parking close to the restaurant. Finding parking in DC is notoriously difficult but I am very lucky and I get a spot right next to the restaurant. We're going out because it is the last night in the USA for a visitor from the UK. In a tapas bar you order lots of small dishes so you can taste lots of different kinds of food at the same meal. Very tasty! I have chicken, squid, sausages, monkfish and lots of other stuff that I can't remember. DC has lots of good restaurants.

It is now 11:30 pm and I drive back home (it's still snowing). After putting the car in my garage I head for bed and open the book I am currently reading "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". It's about the Native American's view of the settler's push westwards in the mid 1800's. It's a very sad book as it details the Native Americans' trust in and betrayal by the federal government and the resultant destruction of their culture. I don't know much American history so this book is filling in a lot of gaps in my knowledge.

I'm really tired so I don't read much so I fall asleep quite quickly. And that's all I've got to say about that!