Ireland Journal 1

For those of you who don't know, I have been in Ireland for the past week. I am attending NUIG Galway for one semester, on exchange from Willamette University. Now that you know the details of why I am here let's get down to what really matters in Ireland...DRINKING!!!

My God do the Irish know how to party. On our groups orientation the first thing they gave us was free alcohol. If you didn't get that let me repeat myself: THE SCHOOL GAVE US FREE ALCOHOL!!! To an American college student they're basically saying "welcome to Ireland, let's get shit-faced." The guy who gave us our campus tour was even hung over, and quite probably still drunk, while he was giving the tour. This man was quite a character. Picture a 5'5" black haired Irish man with a very charming accent, who was blatantly hitting on every single naive American girl on the tour - and it was quite obvious that they all wanted him. James, our tour guide, has more Game (Game: slang for one's ability to generate attraction in the opposite sex) in his little finger, than I do in my whole body. Yet drinking here is very different from in the United States, it's extremely gregarious.

In the United States drinking is marginalized, and even looked down upon in various circles. But, with the way that most people in the United States drink, and the way our laws are set up, I can see why. The drinking age in the States is quite frankly, stupid. It forces legal 18 year old adults who can vote, buy cancer sticks, and die for their country to drink in a much more dangerous underground environment. In Ireland the drinking age is 18, but everyone grows up with drinking as part of the culture, and knows how to drink. People here would not be stupid enough to drink and drive; that's what the massive fleet of Taxis that drive around late at night are for - to drive drunk people home. While it is true that essentially everyone drinks here, and that you youth will get smashed in a safe and socially acceptable way, the pub culture is very different from that of the American bar culture. (Note: I've never actually been to a bar in the States, but I read a lot and have friends that go to bars so I know what I'm talking about.)

Old people do not go to bars in the States, and with good reason. They are creepy, annoying, and like to rub it in your face that they defeated Nazi Germany. If you ask me we should take all the old people and ship them to a place with lots of oranges, where no one has to deal with them. We can call it Florida or something...In Ireland however, people from all generations go to the pubs to drink, socialize, and have a good time. And trust me, it is a damn good time. There is nothing better than for a small band to be playing traditional Irish music, and all of a sudden everyone in the pub starts to sing along. It's fantastic! (Note: I actually love old people and the wealth of knowledge they can share with younger generations, that part about shipping them to Florida was Sarcasm.)

As I look out the window, it is snowing...it's not supposed to do that here. It is supposed to be wet, rainy, windy, and cold - basically Oregon weather if it tried to get the "competitive edge" in Major League Baseball. The entire country of Ireland has ran out of salt. That is right ladies and gentlemen, an island nation surrounded by the ocean - which I'm pretty sure has at least some salt in it - has completely run out of salt for the roads. It looks like Ireland was about as prepared for this cold front as Jesus was for Mel Gibson to make a movie about him.




For those of you who actually know me, I will quickly recount some of the things that have gone on so far:

The flight was alright. I lost two of my bags on the way over, but the airport found them and shipped them to me so I have them back now. I brought my xbox 360 with me because Mass Effect 2 comes out on my 21st birthday, and I figured it would be a great way to make friends with some of the local Irish - because everyone knows the best way to make friends is by blasting the shit out of aliens together. Sadly, I have yet to get it to work yet because I have not found a decent adapter, and forgot to bring one with me. Getting sleep has been tough as well, and I have been under considerably more stress than I expected, but talking to my good friends back home has really helped me deal with adjusting to things here. Also, our group went clubbing, and I was quite surprised when a fight broke out between two very drunken Irishmen. The bouncers stopped it quickly.

Note to my mom: I know that I have been mentioning drinking a lot in this blog post but don't worry, it is just part of the culture here. When I do drink I am smart about it, and merely doing it socially. I even took a night off from drinking the other night, even though everyone else wanted me to drink. Love you, <3


Also, please give me feedback about my blogging. If it is too hard to follow, or too long to read, then let me know. I want these posts to be as entertaining as possible.


BTW, I've been writing this with an ever so slight hangover...I love Ireland :)