Drinking culture in America?

[Michael Collins]

Hey guys,

I'm from Ireland and (without wanting to perpetuate a stereotype!) have been drinking socially since I was about 15 or 16. The legal drinking age is eighteen, but many pubs are pretty lenient when it comes to checking for ID, even more so in the more rural areas. In any case, I've been drinking 'properly' for a few years now (I'm twenty in April) and it's a pretty big part of my social life, especially as I'm currently at college in England, which is the prime boozing period of any young male's life.

In August I'll be moving to the US for a year (university exchange program), but unfortunately I'll be 20 for the majority of my time there and so won't be legally allowed to drink, which will be strange, and a bit of a culture shock. How does this work? I assume kids drink before they are legally allowed to, as they do back home, but how? In Ireland it was a case of getting your big brothers to buy it for you, getting a fake ID or just risking it in a pub hoping you wouldn't be asked to prove you were 18. I can't really imagine the same sort of immature situations happening to 20 year-old history students, for example, in America.

As an aside, what do you all think about the legal drinking age? Is 21 too old?

Lastly, a disclaimer! I know that college isn't just about drinking. I can't wait to travel around the SW, to study new things, meet American people, try new sports etc. It's just something I've been thinking about recently.

MC.