And what a party it was!

First of all, when we party, we do it right. And if the theme of the party is "Kiss Me, I'm Irish", it only makes sense to actually go to Ireland! But while we're used to these kinds of festivites...

It turns out the folks in real-life Ireland tend to prefer a somewhat more subdued celebration...

It makes sense; an actual Irish person doesn't need some stupid t-shirt to get someone to kiss them once a year. Still, needless to say, we all felt a little awkward in our get-ups. Attempts to talk the locals into ramping things up a little were not met with enthusiasm.

"Leprechauns and shamrocks? Save it for the tourists, lad."
"What is the point of turning perfectly good beer green?!?"
"We don't even like the color green!"

We were all quite depressed about the situation, when some players from one of the local football (that's what they call soccer, you know) team showed up...

"We heard there were Americans here! Are you the Americans?", they asked. Jeff replied, "Ye-ow! N-ow!!-Yes!" as he was kicked once in each leg, first by Laura and then by Michael. The girls were excited because - who knew? - "America" is apparently a popular party theme in Europe right now. These girls were throwing their first American Party and having actual Americans (plus Jeff and Laura) was sure to make their bash the best of its kind. That's when... well, I'll let Michael finish the story.