Life Under 21

…has finally ended. I know they tell you not to wish your life away but 3 months in the US unable to go to bars with your friends, waving them off at the door saying ‘stay safe’, and you too would be wishing your 21^st birthday was sooner rather than later. Up until a week ago I could drive a car, buy cigarettes, and own a gun… But I couldn’t drink alcohol. Which, may I add is the only one of those three pass times I wanted to engage in!

I can now legally enter bars and clubs with my own, real ID and without using 16 year old ‘sneak in the back door’ techniques, like I can back home and it feels great! People ask the usual ‘so do you feel 21?’ and the truth is yes, although in the same respect I feel 18 all over again, which is equally as great.

When deciding whether or not to study abroad the fact I would be spending my 21^st birthday in a foreign country weighed heavily on my decision. Whether you want to admit it or not your 21^st is a big deal, it’s one of the few milestone birthdays we have in our lives and it’s nice to celebrate that with the people you love. I am thousands of miles away from the people I have loved and shared my previous birthdays with for years… But the friends I’ve come to cherish here certainly pulled through for me. In fact ‘pulled through’ would be an offensive understatement to the immense amount of effort they put into my day, I couldn't have asked for more

.

Between the constant surprises, presents and force feeding of terrible shots I hardly had a chance to feel homesick. I woke up to a scavenger hunt to find my birthday card and this little guy to the right from my house mates… Who later turned into the poor little guy below! After two classes, during which I was bought a hot chocolate from a nice boy in class, I was whisked away for lunch at the top of the Devon tower, the tallest building in OKC.  I ate a beautiful chicken salad accompanied by a rich red wine while looking out at a view of the vast expanse that is Oklahoma, it was wonderful.  I returned to reality for my last class after which I returned home to a perfectly decorated apartment fully equipped with balloons, banners and crazy picture sticks which made for fantastic photos! At 6pm I was whisked away again for dinner with three of my best friends, or so I thought. When we arrived at the restaurant 18 of my friends, most of which said they couldn’t make it, were waiting at a table where I was presented with a large bottle of Dior J’adore and the dreaded shot book…  

To the left is the first entry to the shot book. The book had only 4 rules: get someone to buy you a shot, take a photo with the person and the shot, get them to write down where and when they bought it, and repeat the process 21 times. Really there was only need for 1 rule – get drunk.  Needless to say I spent the following day recovering with plenty of food and water, but it was so worth it!