Tom's Twenty First

I am going to try and avoid a walrus sized post like last time from now on, but no promises. Especially as things begin to speed up. My semester is almost over so assignments are due and finals are looming. Once finals are over I have a pretty decent amount of travel planned and I’m not sure how my computer access will be during those times. Most notably my New Zealand excursion, which will last eighteen days. I’ll sort it out, no worries.

Friday night was my friend Tom’s (different Tom than the one I have mentioned before, this one is one of my actors in my play) twenty first birthday party. It was in this little hole-in-the-wall art gallery in The Valley. I got a little lost trying to find it. Lost is such a strong word, though. I merely walked the wrong way down the street it was on for about ten minutes, twenty once I backtracked, but I finally found it.

When I walked in I was immediately very glad I came. There were only a handful of people in the gallery and I was a bit embarrassed for Tom. After grabbing a drink and a few introductions someone suggested we head outside. A-ha! There is an outside!

Around the corner opened up to this great outdoor room flush with people. Whew.

It was surrounded by a brick wall completely covered in graffiti. This isn’t street graffiti, it was all crazy colors and really interesting to look at. On one wall there was also a fake tree house, which I thought was especially cool.

Backtrack for a moment, rewind to inside getting a drink. This was my first fore into choosing by myself when it comes to alcohol. Generally I just try what Erin or Kylie has go “Ew” and drink my Sprite. I stood, confused, for a moment trying to decide what in the heck I wanted. After I mentioned that I wasn’t legally allowed to drink in the US, I had a group of about five people offering suggestions and trying to find something I would enjoy. That’s Australia for you, coming together in the name of drinking.

I ended up with a glass of white wine which was only marginally gross.

Anyway, the party was a lot of fun. The Underground people are all ridiculously nice and welcoming, I met a lot of really interesting people. Granted, I completely forgot most of their names almost immediately, but still.

I also found out why the twenty first is still a big birthday in Australia. In the US it is the legal drinking age so people go out with friends to celebrate their new ability to get intoxicated at will. In Australia it is eighteen. Generally they don’t go as crazy at eighteen as we go for the twenty first, but it is a much more go out to have fun atmosphere. At 21 it is a more mature, rent-out-a-venue sort of shindig. Family and friends come together to celebrate the coming of age. It used to be that the birthday person would get a key to the house at 21 as a symbol of reaching maturity. A sort of Australian bar mitzvah, if you will. And now you know.

Well now I must get back to writing my thesis. I feel so fancy saying that. Thesis, thesis, thesis, thesis. Tee hee.