<p>Hi!
I'm a 17 year old girl form the Netherlands and next year I'm attending a college in the USA for a year. I was wondering how the social life at college is, especially with the strict alcohol rules in the USA. In the Netherlands it's legal to drink beer and wine when you are 16 and other alcoholic beverages when you are 18. But even here a lot of people start drinking occasionally when they are younger. </p>
<p>The point is, I'm used to drinking a beer or a glass of wine in a bar with friends.. I realise that that won't be very likely to happen in the states.
I was just wondering how normal it is for people in college to drink a beer or two (or more at a party;) I don't wanna seem like "the alcoholic dutch girl"
so you gotta fill me in a bit ok? Help me out!</p>
<p>Don't worry...in college everyone is an alcoholic. If all you drink is a one or two beers or a glass of wine, you will probably meet lots of people that will be outdrinking you ;)</p>
<p>ah, to live in the Netherlands....sigh
17 years in NYC, and a single week in Spain last year trumped my love for the city.<br>
I'm very envious. </p>
<p>which school will you be attending next year?</p>
<p>In the US the culture is that people, and specifically college students, feel the need to drink in order to have a good time. There will be plenty of alcohol at parties and clubs... so you should fit right in.</p>
<p>Ten years ago you might have been able to get into a bar with a good fake ID, but many places now are actually scanning the ID to make sure it is authentic. Next to impossible to make a fake. You will probably be regulated to partying in the dorm or at a frat party.</p>
<p>Joe is right. The bar that i go to takes your ID at the door and scans it through their system. it verifies the ID and brings your information up on their computer and everything.</p>
<p>That is why you get an ID from a friend that kinda looks like you but is over 21 and they get a new ID. Since I turned 21, I have gotten three more ID's and given the extras to really good friends.</p>
<p>I don't think I will get a fake id then.. it seems to hard indeed. but from what I hear I think I will fit in just fine. In the netherlands most people my age are past the "i'm drinking so i can have a good time" fase.. but i'm not sure about the outdrinking, I can hold my liquor;) </p>
<p>Don't you think it's weird that in the USA people can drive when they're 16 but can't drink. That only leeds to more drinking&driving.. young people are sneaking out to get extremely drunk (because they didn't "learn" to get used to alcohol) but while they do it they can use their car and they will..
your alcohol policy just doesn't seem to work to me but hey, that's only my opinion..</p>
<p>Yeah my German foreign exchange student friends felt the same way. I hear ya about the alcohol policy. Also it depends on what college you're going to. If it in the city you might not be going to any bars but if you are going to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign you will be able to get into bars at 19. You are easily able to ask someone to buy it for you if you can't get it yourself. I hope the alcohol policy isn't too overbearing, I know my one German friend hated it! (but that was high school)</p>
You are certainly entitled to your opinion ... yearly 20,000-25,000 people are killed in accidents involving alcohol; most of the victims are not the driver who was drinking ... while I may not agree with all the positions MADD takes ... overall I have a hard time arguing with one of the organizations that has helped drive a substantial improvement in horrible social problem.</p>
<p>Enough on the preaching BS, I am also not a fan of MADD. They lobbied Congress and took away the states rights in making alcohol laws. Many states used to have 18 as the drinking age until these whining ninnies came in. The legal drunk driving limit also used to be .1% before MADD lobbied to get it to .08% that is not drunk I do not care what anyone says. Of course noone says anything because if you do, people like 3togo (no offense dude) start throwing out BS statistics about crashes and blah blah. I also find it funny that troops on active duty can get their heads blown off but cannot drink an ice cold beer.</p>
<p>Get over it, you MADD haters. The group is just trying to reduce accidental deaths. You can still get drunk and have a designated friend drive you if you're that desperate. As for the state laws, the death toll went down dramatically after the drinking age increased to 21. </p>
<p>Troops on active duty are actually trained before they are allowed to fight. It's much more difficult to train every potential drinker to drink properly, so there are laws against drinking until you're supposedly mature enough to figure out how to do it on your own.</p>
<p>People in the US are much more immature when it comes to alcohol. Probably because it's such a taboo among the younger population, and everyone wants to be a rebel.</p>
<p>" I also find it funny that troops on active duty can get their heads blown off but cannot drink an ice cold beer."</p>
<p>Evidently, voting and killing require less responsibility. I have no statistics to prove it, but I suspect that there are fewer alcohol-related social probems in Western Europe than in the U.S. Alcohol isn't a taboo there.</p>