spring has sprung
the grass is gris
i wonder where
the birdies is

indeed. you know it's funny. before i came to belgium i did a little research. to find out about the weather and things. to know what to expect. to know what to prepare for. and the biggest conclusion that appeared everywhere i looked was the rain.

when i first arrived here i was told by some of the orientation guys that once it started to rain, it wouldn't stop until may. and that it would start sometime in october.

however i don't think belgium knows what rain is at all. truthfully the last two days have been the first two days in months that it has properly rained. good old real rain. rain you can hear on the roof. rain that you can see on your window. rain that creates puddles in the streets. in fact, without exaggeration, i honestly think it has 'rained' (by my definition) no more than 7 days maximum since i arrived here. i know! this may be quite hard to believe but rain over here is not 'rain'.

what i think is regarded as 'rain' in belgium consists mainly of grey skies. occasionally a light misty wetness will emerge from the greyness above and cast a gentle scattering of something that i could not even define as droplets. sometimes this lasts for half an hour, maximum, and then the grey skies continue to be grey skies and the ground continues to be dry. this is a large part of belgium weather, often mistakeningly referred to as 'rain'. none of this heavy pelting down of large drops that splash as they hit a surface, forming runoff down the streets. nope.

the last few days have been wonderful! i've stayed indoors writing my thesis, and have had real auckland rain keeping me comfort. doing work when the elements outside are fierce is somewhat enjoyable.

nothing much else to say. sadly my life now consists mainly of work-related activities. but in a few weeks i will be landing on spanish soil which shall be a nice, and hopefully by then, well-deserved, break!