last night was canadian thanksgiving. of course i have been fully accepted by the canadian embassy and partook in the celebrations. why doesn't new zealand have thanksgiving? i think new zealand should have thanksgiving. i really do. thanksgiving seems like such a nice idea. and the food is good too.

hmmm the food. chicken and mashed potatoes and lots of 'almost' roast vegetables (we had to improvise as none of us have an oven) and apple pie and so much food that our (16 of us in total) plates were overflowing. and there was even icecream... definitely the first time since i left new zealand that i have had a meal like that.

so we sat around and ate and conversed and reminded each other what we were thankful for. beautiful. reminded me a bit of christmas - which is usually when we have the big dinner back home. and then all these phone calls were had as the canadians got in touch with their families, all in their own respective cottages, overlooking lakes and snow-capped trees. an experience i will never forget, and one that i felt very much a part of.

jasper has been here for the last few days so i took him in to brussels and we explored the streets, the markets, the gardens and just the general atmosphere which was nice. it is always so crazy how everyone in leuven speaks flemish, but then you head to brussels and everyone speaks french. strange phenonomen.

in fact, speaking about this division; did i ever mention just how serious it is? leuven is a dutch speaking (okay so obviously there are some english speaking courses otherwise i would be in serious trouble as i can only say hello, please, thank you, ask for bread and give directions) university. louvain-la-nerve is a new french speaking university that is just up the road. when the two split, everything within the university was split. it is exactly like a divorce between two people. the books in the library, for example, were split according to their cataloge number. all odd books moved to louvain-la-nerve, and all even books stayed here. this can cause big problems for people like me, trying to write a thesis.

on other news - i had a wonderful birthday. about 20 of my friends were there, we had a lovely dinner and partyed the night away. a couple of my friends have digital cameras so i will get on to posting up some pictures of amsterdam, my birthday and other random nights when we have been together. yes, i really should do that soon i think!

hope all is well back home. am looking forward to watching the all blacks play canada in the world cup in a week or so...