Still looking young!

The helpful "Tips for living alone for the first time" booklet was given to me

A few weeks ago, there were entrance exams at our university. Since our university is highly ranked, lots of hopeful students come here to take the exam in the hope of getting a CV including a good university. Our campus is huge (it spans 4 subway stops in the north-south direction and has a dedicated bus line that runs only inside the campus) and it is hard to find your room for the test, so already accepted students volunteer to guide people around or to stand at strategic points and point people in the right direction.

They also hand out maps, and they hand out "Good Luck" packages and other things. When I was going to work, one student came up to me and said: "Good Luck!" and gave me a bag with information about how life as a student is, tips on how to live away from your parents, and good luck charms for the entrance exam. So I guess he thought I look about right for someone who is 17... Which I was 20 years ago.

This reminded me of trying to by alcohol to bring as a gift for a friend when I was back in Sweden 4 years ago. Then the Swedish guy in the liquor store asked me to show some ID. In Sweden you can buy alcohol when you are 21, and as an (obviously :-) ) young looking 33 year old he could not be sure I was applicable, I guess. Since I do not have a Swedish ID card anymore (it expired a few years before that incident), I said I do not have an ID since I live abroad. He said a passport would be fine, but the reason I was back in Sweden at that time was because my passport expired (a few days after I reached Sweden, but a few days before visiting the liquor store). I asked if I could use my Japanese ID card, but he said he could not read Japanese so he could not understand what it said when I showed it to him. So I was out of luck.