Winter Wonderland..

Bratislava, like I have said, is a great place ... the winter here is cold, but I believe it is shorter than in Iceland .. I wait with anticipation to see what spring is like. I am told that because Slovakia is in the middle of continental Europe, the climate is similar to Mediterranean countries in summer. So, hot then.. or what?

Today we have frozen rain. It is raining, but the raindrops freeze on the point of contact. It is a phenomenon I have not seen a lot in Iceland, and is highly enjoyable. You find yourself covered with miniature isicles after a walk around town.
The streets and the sidewalks are extremely slippery. People, most of them I presume are Slovacs, keep falling down.. like flies! Everywhere there are people falling onto their bottoms.. while this Icelandic hero stands firmly, or a bit whobbly, on his feet.
I hate to say it is amusing.. but sometimes when people on each side of you fall down simultaneously, you can not help but giggle a little.
I would like to add that I have not witnessed a serious accident of the kind, and I do hope that people walk away from these embarrassing falls with at most a cute bruise on one bum cheek.

Readers under the age of twenty; look away! .. or take the following information with caution, as I AM over twenty years of age, and can legally engage in what I am about to describe ..

I have been drunk every single day since I arrived in this country.
By this I do not mean that I am drunk all day every day.. not at all .. but alcohol is very cheap here, and we have, along with many Slovac locals (who serve as our cultural models during our stay), gone out for a drink after class.. and during time off.
Every single day! .. my liver I feel is beginning to resent its host. What a job I must be forcing it through.
Yesternight we threw a cocktail party at our flat. I indulged in a bottle of blackcurrant wine. delicious! Slovac drinks are generally very good... I believe I have in a former entry complimented the beer.. well, the wine is just as good.

Absinth, the green and infamous and very special treat of Lucifer to human beings, is cheap and very available here.. we have let ourselves be tempted on more than one occasion. Who would ever think that a green coloured substance, mixed with sugar and hellish fire, could be a temptation to man? What an experience it is to feel it burn your innards to temporary damnation..

On a healthier note, I have found a very affordable vegetarian buffet.. and a similarly affordable, and quite comfortable, vegetarian restaurant run by Hare Krishnas. Wonderful food. You leave there with a smile across your body.
I have also located, and begun surveilling, my arch enemies.. the arašídy. I feel safer, and more in control as a consequence. How this relates to vegetarian restaurants, interested readers will have to guess based on their knowledge about me.. or simply do some research.

Enough babble for now.

As ever,
..kH

School has started... funny how I don't see many local students around the University .. perhaps it is because our scheduled classes (our as in us international students) are mainly in the afternoon and early evening. We are doing a specially arranged course on Anton Chekhov's work, as well as having the opportunity to do complementary classes - which are mainly dance! - and the school is trying to give four of us the opportunity to study puppetry additionally.

Bratislava is so lovely! It is calm, friendly, pretty, easy, mostly modern. The centrum is largely narrow pedestrian streets of cobble-stone.. there are loads of coffee houses, which I take much advantage of, and bars where prices are generally low. Slovac beer is very nice.

Across the street, from the branch of our school where we do most of our work, is a small cafe and bar called Depresso .. how funny .. and it is not much nicer than it sounds, but it has got character.

I have looked around a bit, and have not spotted too many cute guys.. they are okay looking, don't get me wrong, but I have been under the impression that I could expect more than this. Oh well, .. there have been a few that give a good clue as to how promising the population of young males might be .. but I have not been swept off my feet. I just recently got information on where I could find a gay club in the city, and I intend to take a sneaky look next weekend.

There is a lot that I miss from home, people mostly.. but this wonderful city is interesting enough to keep my mind off that and enjoy the fleeting moments.

Objat',
..kH

A short entry, for a change ..

I have arrived in Bratislava, Slovakia. It is a beautiful city, first impressions are that it is a weird mixture of Reykjavik and London. It is a small cozy city, but architecturally more metropolitan than Reykjavik. It looks more like a big city than Reykjavik, but it feels more like a small city like Reykjavik. If you catch my meaning ..

It is cold here, the atmosphere thus Icelandic in a sense .. at least it is not hard for an Icelander to get used to the air here. Fresh, crispy, and cold.
I live in a very nice flat, a fully furnished flat that used to belong to the grandmother of one of the students at VSMU - the art university that I go to here - and it is funkily decorated like a flat from the sixites or something. It even has an old vinyl record player. Very homey..

So, all in all .. I am happy, and cozy .. in the midst of eastern Europe .. but am, at the same time, still just getting used to everything.
No real news as of yet ...

This adventurer is signing off for now..
..kH