Je zima

Je zima.  Je veľmi, veľmi zima.
It's cold.  It's very, very cold.
It is far too cold for someone to be sitting outside, using thin fingerless gloves to work on a computer.  But that is, in fact, what I am doing.  
Why am I doing something so harebrained, you ask?  Well, it's rather simple: my new host family doesn't have wireless internet, so if I want to upload anything, or download anything, or, in all honesty, do anything in a timely or private fashion, I must swipe wi-fi from someone else.  Why am I not doing this in a nice, warm coffee shop, or something similar, you ask?  Because none of them seem to be nice and provide free wi-fi without you requiring to sign into one website or another, and (in all probability) pay up for it.  Now, at this point, I'd probably be willing to fork over up to ten euro to get some wi-fi to work with, but here's the thing: the page that gives you directions as to how to go about signing in, and paying up?  Yeah.  It's in Slovak.  And while my Slovak skills have been improving, I'm afraid to say that I still can't understand directions from websites as to how to get into wi-fi.  
Thus I am sitting in the one non-security enabled wi-fi system that doesn't ask for a login.  Guess what?  It can only be accessed outside.  Oh joy.  Frickin' zima.  

I am coming to appreciate the value of downloading manga scans instead of just going to a reading site.  It gives me something to read at night, without the internet.  It's a good thing, I think.  That, and I'm chewing through books at an alarming rate.  That I can live with, especially since môj otec (my father) has hinted that a Christmas package for me that is currently undergoing its third trip through customs contains a Kindle.  If you aren't aware of what a Kindle is, allow me to explain: a Kindle is a rather nifty invention from the lovely people of amazon.com.  It's like... having a really, really big bookstore at your beck and call, provided you have wireless access, and when you're done buying, having your own personal library to keep it all in.  The best part?  It's about the size of, if not smaller than, the average netbook, and it's certainly narrower.  If I am so lucky, I will definitely be able to go crazy with the books.  Not to mention the fact that I'll be able to get rid of a few of the ones I have now, on the grounds that weight limitations won't let me take them home... and I can always use the money I got selling them (I know of a second hand bookstore that I need to visit in the very near future to get rid of some books that I don't want.  Meant to do that before I moved.... didn't happen.  Oops.) to buy them again on the Kindle.  So much simpler.  Hell, forget about simpler, so much cheaper, both in terms of price of the book, and in terms of how much extra weight I'm going to end up flying home with!

So, that's about it.  If it seems like I'm abandoning you, fear not!  It is not so!  It has a lot more to do with not wanting to freeze my fingers off!  And thus, I bid you adieu.
Dovidenia!