yo wassup? life is treating me exceptionally well here in belgium. i love it. i don't believe i could stress that enough. and we have had the best weather imaginable. apparantly it will start raining soon, and won't stop until next april or something, but for now the sun is out every day and i'm walking the streets in jandals and a singlet (two words the canadians don't understand!).

i still haven't begun lectures but i will definitely start tomorrow which will be good because that was the reason i came over here, right?!! ;-) it should all be good though and i'm looking forward to meeting people who are doing my course. i've met one guy from norway who seems really nice.

i have a cell phone... it only cost 79 euros and that included a 20 euro talking card thing. and phone calls over here are like 6c a minute. not bad really huh?!! so if any of you would like my number, send me a message and i'll give it to you. not too sure about leaving it on my site... also if people wish to send me mail (hint hint - my birthday is in october remember...) then i can send my address through also. just let me know and i'll get in touch personally.

so leuven is officially the party capital of the world. every night there is a party. and every night the party is bigger than the night before. it is incredible. the whole vibe and atmosphere of this place is like a gigantic concert. continuous. like a huge school camp or something. people don't seem to go to bed. i am unsure if this will last once uni starts up for good, but i have been talking a lot to ellen, who is my flatmate from ostende (on the coast of belgium - so hopefully i'll be able to go home with her for a weekend and see the sea...) - and she declares that it will be like this all year around until the holidays. amazing.

i have now met all my flatmates and we are a very multi-cultural group. morna has actually moved just down the road to a slightly more expensive place (these fickle canadians) though i still see her at least twice a day. so there is christophe who is from france but is part italian. there is sjourd who is from holland and goes home nearly every second night!! there is katherine who is flemish, andre who is russian and ellen who is flemish. and me of course. but we get on great which is definitely the main thing.

just a side note about photos. hmmm. it may end up being cheaper to send them home, have them developed, and then be sent back to be. my friend sandra took her photos in and asked for a double set (there was only one film). it cost her 26 euros. ouch. that does not quite fit in to my budget i must say!!

today there was this awesome concert in the main park of leuven so me and eric and ellen and joe chilled out there for most of the afternoon in the sun. it seems to be the main place to go, and will no doubt be packed all the time. though remember that when the weekend rolls around, all the flemish, and often people from nearby countries like holland, go home, and leave the international students to be in charge of the town. and it's amazing when they all come back on sunday night and the streets are packed again.

i hope all is well with you all. thanks for the comments and emails. will write again soon...ish...