And Apparently I Look Like I'm 12 in Ireland too...

A recent phenomenon:

As many of you know, the legal drinking age in the Republic of Ireland is 18.

I am 19 and a half years of age.

The other day, at Tesco Grocery store, I attempted to buy a few bottles of wine to bring over to our new friends' flat for dinner. But no. The Korean woman carded me and because I didn't have my passport or my "Irish Age Card," they wouldn't sell me the wine.

Later, my roommate Patrick went to another grocery store and bought wine no problem. He, of course, doesn't look like a little boy. He has a beard. Thus, I have decided that I will not shave any more.

This problem furthers itself when I was carded at pubs and at the Guinness storehouse when I received my free stout at the end of the tour. Many pubs in the Temple Bar area require people to be 21 or sometimes 23. Both of which, I am not. Not only am I not. But I look like I'm not. And being the youngest lad in the group from Arcadia, I sometimes feel like I am holding everyone back from hitting the pubs that they want to hit. Oh well, I guess they can just deal with it.

So far, the only "sites" I've hit are St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Guinness Storehouse. Both of which were very cool. St. Patrick's was very beautiful and old. And then at the Guinness Storehouse, you walk through a bunch of different levels and it tells you about the ingredients used in making Guinness and about Arthur Guinness (who, we found out on the bus tour, had 21 children -- "Yes, it's true. Guinness does give you strength.") It was really fascinating and I just wish that my dad could've been there. I think he would've really enjoyed the tour. And then at the end of the tour, you make it to the top of the storehouse on the 7th floor to a 360 degree panoramic view and, of course, a bar with a complimentary Guinness. The other Arcadia students and I sat, had a chat, enjoyed the view and watched the sun set over Dublin city. It was a pretty good day.



I am now officially moved into my flat. I have two roommates, one goes to Evansville (Harrison) and the other is from Massachusetts (Patrick). It was nice to finally not be living out of a suitcase in a tiny room with four other guys like I was in the hostel.

We had a few days of Orientation with Arcadia, which was nice. They fed us nicely and the staff was really cool. We went to a show on Tuesday night at the Abbey Theatre, The School for Scandal. It was definately interesting. The set was like a perspective drawing of a room, but bright white and they lit it all sorts of colors. Panels opened from the walls to reveal more lighting effects. The costumes were very bright and colorful and period, but not. (You UET kids know what I'm talking about). However, after long days and short nights, my tiredness got the best of me and I kept nodding off. It didn't help that the language was archaic and hard to understand sometimes. And so, I fell asleep. I was just worried that I would fall forward, thwacking the woman in front of me's head with my own and cause a big old ruckus. But I didn't. It was okay.

So, I'm moved in and everything is grand. We are all registered for classes that start on Monday. I think this weekend, we are all taking some time to sit back and relax and still get into life here at UCD. Tonight, a group of us are going to a pub to watch a rugby match on TV. They get pretty riled up here, so that should be exciting.

Next weekend, we do our Irish homestay near Galway, so that'll be an adventure. But I should go because this is getting rather long, but thanks for checking in. I am still kicking over here and I'll be sure to update sometime next week.