first semester in belgium complete! what a funny feeling - to be half way through (though theoretically, with a thesis yet to be severely tackled - it doesn't feel in the slightest like half way yet!). and it is nice to be done. to be able to sit and type this and know that i'm not procrastinating!

snowflakes are falling outside my window. it amazes me: the huge variety of snowflakes. i mean, of course, people always say that no two are alike - and of course i believe them... but i don't just mean that...

the wind is swirling, in a kind of spiral, and large floating fluffy flakes are being swept up in the current and spinning upwards, tipping in different directions, until the wind slackens, ever so slightly, and the snow starts to gently descend, only to be caught in another waft of air.

it reminds me of when i hear my brother play the piano. the wind builds to such a speed and with such a force, and the snow tumbles and collides and turns seemingly out of control. and then things die down, become quieter, and the snow drifts and settles to the window sill and the roof and the tree that the owl lives in - and somehow moulds together with other snowflakes until a fresh white line appears. and it gets thicker gradually - yet not so gradually that you can't gaze out the window and watch it occuring.

truly beautiful.

shall i begin with some updates? i think i shall begin with some updates.

firstly i am now well. all it took were two nights of good sleep and decent food - you know, food like meat (just as an aside - nobody except me uses the term 'mince' - they all call it ground beef. interesting.).

secondly - that decent food came via a trip to the grocery store. and guess what? the 'wet your finger' technique for opening a plastic bag really does work! how brilliant. guess that means i don't need to recycle now. heh heh heh.

thirdly - the owl was white. well, more of a white-ish blur through the tree. but definitely a shade of white. not as big as hedwig mind you.

and fourthly, five exams behind me, one to go this coming wednesday. am feeling quite content with my current situation!

okay, with the updates out of the way i have discovered i have no more news. as of yet. so, until next time...

(also, after next wednesday i'll be putting up more photos...)

today is a great day.

today is a great day despite the fact that i had my toughest exam this morning (which, subsequently, wasn't so bad).

today is a great day despite the fact that i am sick and am about to go to bed (hoping that sleep + sprite will cure me).

today is a great day because i finally saw my owl.

that's right. i have an owl. okay, so theoretically he is not 'my' owl... but that's how i like to think of him.

i discovered i had an owl a few months ago. at first i was a bit confused as to what was making the 'ooo-ooo' type noises. my confusion comes from the fact that my owl is not nocturnal. nope. not at all. in fact he prefers to sleep at the same time as me. at night. and all day, when i'm awake, he's awake too. hooting and whooting and ooo-oooing and generally making rather mournful sounds. all day long.

and today we met. at least, i saw him fly from the tree he lives in - which is across from my window, to a neighbouring tree.

i think i will call this entry 'the day i saw my owl'.

yawn. tonight is one of those evenings. one of those evenings when i really don't feel like doing work. one of those evenings when i know, without a doubt, that i need to do work (after all, wednesday is looming ever nearer, and that is the day that i sit my hardest exam). but one of those evenings nevertheless, when i would much rather procrastinate and chat to all of you instead.

so. here i am.

today i had another exam.

- are you getting tired of me talking about them? sorry, but currently they are all i can talk about. unless i made something up. and i don't seem to have any imaginative abilities at the moment, i think the exams (there's that word again) are causing me to be rather boring. -

anyway, it was oral. again. however each exam i have had so far has been different somehow. i think it is a belgian thing. little surprises all the time. keeping us foreigners on our toes. so to speak. anyway i showed up at the time i was meant to, only to find that the lecturer was taking his time... like, 'really' taking his time. two hours later, i was still sitting in the room, twiddling my thumbs and feeling decidedly hungry. funny how you get hungry at those very moments when it is not possible for you to eat.

anyway it was fine. the exam i mean. the worst part about it would have to be the hunger pains i suffered from. however my stomach behaved at the crucial moment and didn't interrupt audibly as i talked to my lecturer.

afterwards, on the walk home, i scoffed down two mcdonald hamburgers to console myself. mmm. it's a rare occurrence to eat such delacacies in europe. so expensive. far cheaper to go to a restuarant.

and that sums up today. hmprh.

oh, i know what i can talk about. the 'storm'. the 'storm' that arrived suddenly last week. funny kind of storm really. i'm used to the ones where it starts raining, then you hear the thunder in the distance, then it gets a bit closer, then you see some lightning, then it dies down again. belgian storms are obviously like belgian exams. always unexpected.

so yeah i was sitting in my room. as i do. it is raining quite heavily outside, but i'm fairly used to that. then all of a sudden there is the biggest flash of lightning i have ever seen, followed (split second i assure you) by the loudest, most rumbliest thunder i have ever heard. i wish i had words to describe the noise. perhaps imagine a big construction drill digging into concrete. or something. anyway i had a headache for half an hour afterwards. but the crazy thing was that everything shook. all the things on my shelves fell off. the house was vibrating.

it seems the lightning stuck the library's clocktower (which reminds me a little of the clocktower that you see in back to the future). this makes sense as it is the highest point in leuven. the clock still isn't working. the library is, hmmm, two minutes walk from my house perhaps? maybe three. depends on my speed...

so at 2:45 i wander up to the arts building to get ready for my third exam - this time it's written and i feel quite prepared. written exams, after all, are what i am accustomed to.

at 3:10 we're all sitting there. outside the room. waiting. waiting. no lecturer. hmmm. this is not exactly what i am used to.

3:15 and in we go, only to be told that pens are not necessary... hey, wait a minute... how do you write an exam without a pen? this exam is not going at all the way i thought it was going to go...

(i should also inform you that this guy is an austrian with a thick accent that always makes me laugh - so instead of saying "site conservation" it's more like "zite konzervaation".)

so instead we have a "group discussion". and what happens in a "group discussion"? so he asks us individually a question and when people want to add more information, we add more information.

that's it. that's the exam. the "written" exam.

but wait, there's more. oh yes, there's more. after "discussing" for 2.5 hours he returns to the front of the room, sits down and ponders...

"zo, vot do you thinkz you zud get?"

silence.

"vell, you must have zome ideaz vot you zud get?"

i meekly ask "do you mean as a group, or individually?"

finally a conclusion is reached. we all get a 15 (out of 20 - an exceptionally good mark by belgian standards) and if we want more, we say so and he will ask specific questions and then give us an extra mark if we answer correctly.

of course i would like another mark so i answer a question or two, and wham, there you have it - my first mark - a 16!!

one down, five to go... six exams is quite a significant amount i feel. quite significant. but it was fine. the exam i mean. for those interested. and i made the lecturer laugh. a good laugh too i might add. that must be a goodish sign, and i was wearing my orange woolley hat and not looking very formal at all...

also, what is wrong with me? why is it that i can't open plastic bags? no, don't laugh, i'm quite serious. every time i go to the supermarket, i dread the 'opening the plastic bag' process. you know how they have them, on the counter, all joined together in a big heap? and once you're done paying, you pull one off and open it and put your groceries inside? yes, that's what i'm talking about. i just can't figure out the technique. and i've tried a variety. it just doesn't open for me. ever...

it can be incredibly embarassing when there's a big queue (and there nearly always is...) and people are waiting for you to collect your food and leave so that they can leave too...

i think my new rule is to recycle more. who needs plastic bags anyway, right?

so, wish me well... tomorrow i undergo the belgian examination process.

this is how it supposedly functions. in formally dressed attire one student enters the room and is handed questions by a formally dressed lecturer. student then sits down and has 20 minutes to prepare for examination. student then speaks for 20 minutes regarding questions. lecturer intervenes as they feel necessary - asking for clarification or for more information or just generally opening up a discussion. formally dressed student then departs from room.

i don't have any formal clothes! the only shoes i have are sneakers (well i have jandals but it's raining outside)! and i certainly don't have time to check out the shops right now... but surely they'll let me get away with it?

did i mention that i met a guy in the czech republic who knew my grandmother in tauranga?

who would've thought...

so here i am once more. sitting in my pyjamas in my room in leuven. pondering how best to fill you in on my two week trip. pondering how much procrastination i can do before feeling exceptionally guilty about the lack of study i have done (first exam is one week today). so i'm going to try the bullet point entry for a change. not sure if i can pull it off. but i'll give it a shot.

21st december: start the day at 5:30am walking through dark quiet (perhaps the most quiet i've heard it) leuven to the train station. me, eric, sandra, peter. me and eric nearly missed the train. a sign of things to come...

saw a squirrel! highly delighted! the trip is off to an excellent start. little grey squirrel. running up the branches and down the branches. its grey fluffy tail making little wavy movements.

and then snow! yep. it starts to snow. what a way to begin a trip across germany. little snowflakes drifting through the air as the train speeds through german countryside.

14 hours of switching trains later... munich.

excerpt from diary: 21-23 december: "i felt like i was inside one of those glass balls that you shake and then watch the snow float through the air... climbed up a big church tower to view the city... very very beautiful... ornate old churches, palace gardens, old and new town halls..."

saw lord of the rings - jumped, laughed outloud and cried. proud to be a kiwi.

ate sausages in a very typical german beer hall with big heads of deer with antlers on the walls. one litre mugs of beer.

23-26 december: christmas in salzburg! snow everywhere. most beautiful little town i've been in to date.

walked up to the castle and into the abby used in sound of music. saw where they hid from the baddies near the end of movie. also saw "you are 16 going on 17" gazebo. hurrah! not to mention archway that mum and dad always say "we've been there kids" when we watch it...

spent christmas with eric's cousin and his family. absolutely perfect. shared christmas eve and christmas day with them and their two kids fiona and julien (5 and 7) and took delight in them running around and squealing as they opened their presents and then proceeded to jump on top of me and try to pull off my socks. loved it.

despite cell phone issues, was able to get in touch with family back home.

went to christmas mass in the big dom cathedral - gorgeous building - liked it more than st peters in rome to be honest.

went sledding!

26-29 december: grunau - little skiing hostel type place up in the mountains in austria. meet many aussies. walked through the snow. i spend time on my own (eric is skiing) and try to study a bit. nice, relaxing - let my feet rest from all the walking we do.

excerpt from diary: "saw both the big and little dipper - reminded me of the fact i am on the other side of the world - viewing the stars upside down. in a different place. stars hold such a peace. a peace and a clarity at the same time. the night sky is so deep, not only literally but how it can penetrate - right inside my eyes and almost through me... i marvel at the enormity of creation sometimes. the creativity, the uniqueness, the openness. no straight lines, no systematic patterns. it's all random beauty. in a world full of straight lines and codes, where people try to keep their surroundings manicured. the stars defy that thought process."

29-30 december: vienna. despite what so many people say - about how beautiful vienna is - it just wasn't a city for me. the extravagance and excessiveness - everywhere. every direction i turned was another huge building, trying to outdo the building on either side of it. more windows than i could ever count. too much and i felt out of place. vienna to me seemed to be a place that worships money.

the parks had too many park benches in line - so i moved one of them into the middle of the path - just to try and make things not so perfect.

did go to a concert and hear mozart, beethoven, strauss, brahams. that was good. in a place mozart had performed in when he was younger.

highlight - meeting up with sandra and peter and spending an evening in a far too classy for us bar, listening to old american jazz, drinking a drink that was called casablanca and catching up with good friends.

excerpt from diary: "as we walked home in the rain - i finally caught a glimpse of a pretty vienna. perhaps the rain washed away some of the immaculateness. perhaps it washed away some of my negativity and cynacism. but a mist lay over the city and the lights - lighting up the palaces - no longer with an air of disdain. the rain somehow glistened through... vienna isn't the place for me, but it wasn't so bad afterall."

31-2 january: the czech republic is awesome! and it begins with cesky krumlov - little town right on the border...

went to a bar that had a live snake under the glass counter. it was green. it was big. but it didn't move. all very exciting.

wonderful hostel where i met kiwis and spent new years eve dancing with them and people from all over the world. fantastic fireworks display that involved utter randomness and slight danger as people held up strange wand type devices that spurted forth fire and magic into the sky.

hello 2004.

walked up, over and through the castle - to read a sign saying "watch out for the bears" who sadly seemed to be hibernating. instead i made a snow bear much to my delight.

thick powdery snowy snow. fun fun fun.

2-4 january: onwards to prague. gorgeous. far nicer than vienna. most beautiful city in the world. fell in love with it. amazing buildings, bridges, castles, churches...

walked for kilometres and kilometres in freezing conditions where i had to hop and jig to keep myself moving.

went and saw don giovanni - a marionette puppet performance of opera. mozart's gift to the city of prague. funny and very very good.

found and bought orange earmuffs.

missed our train connection (was bound to happen as we had so many close calls along the way) and ended up taking a bus right through germany and back to leuven - a good 14 hour ride i guess, including a crazy 3 hour wait at the border whilst the germans inspected us...

excerpt from diary: "checked out the huge metronome - ticking back and forth, keeping the music of prague in time like a giant conductor - overlooking the orchestra which is all of prague itself. bitterly bitterly cold. could hardly feel my nose. ouch. fingers dying. literally i'm sure."

and here i am. off to study now. hope you all had a lovely christmas and welcome to 2004!!!