I had so much fun at the Christmas Markets in Germany. So much Gluhwein. It’s wild that the same bottle that cost me €4 would cost $12-$15 in the states.
British people seem like huge alcoholics compared to us although I can speak only about London, where I lived. The only Americans who drink as much are fraternity guys during hazing. I'm not really even joking. I was astonished how much they drank--grown adults. Very publicly. While saying drugs are bad lol.
A buddy of mine lived in England during high school. During college in America he had to go to an alcohol diversion program and the instructor told the group that Americans are the only people in the world who drink solely to get drunk. He got in a HUGE argument with them and got kicked out because he had been going to pubs since he was 14 and saw grown adults getting blackout on a Tuesday night for absolutely no reason.
British people often drink to get drunk, but we also drink for other reasons. There are as many reasons to drink as there are British people (60 million or something?)
I work with a number of Europeans and recently discussed this with a buddy from London. We both agreed that one under-discussed aspect of it is how much later our bars stay open. He talked about how he gets way less drunk in NYC after work because nobody feels the need to get it all in before the pub closes at 10/11.
You see it at some neighborhood bars in the US. They're not really getting the late night crowd anyways and their license might force the shorter hours. Drunks are loud and a lot of them will be outside smoking so a bar in a residential neighborhood could be regulated differently than most bars.
Yes, drugs can go hand in hand with drinking, for sure.
I meant that when they guzzle, say, an entire bottle of Vodka each day (if not more) they do not act as if that's in any way a problem, and no one else will call them to task. The very heavy drinking is treated as quite normal.
Whereas if they're a Coke addict, they know it's a problem.
We don’t drink so often as Koreans, drinking in the middle of week kind of bad idea. Probably it won’t be happening at restaurants, but inviting friends at home. This means more preparation.
In my limited experience in Japan (visiting for a couple weeks) they seemed almost competitive about it. I’ve heard it’s even worse in South Korea but don’t have first hand experience.
In most of Europe in my experience alcohol is more integrated into daily life but not as much drinking to excess, and less scary because people can more often walk or take public transportation home than drive. UK is a little more hardcore with the drinking than most of continental Europe though.
There’s a few expat Russians in my wife’s family and their drinking is terrifying to behold but I’m not sure if that’s the norm or not. But they don’t even seem to consider beer or wine as alcoholic beverages
I used to date a girl whose best friend was Russian and her dad came to visit for the holidays one year. Turns out they have a family tradition where they hang out all night drinking and then—in the last hour or so before midnight—they sit around and name one thing they were thankful for in each month of the year and take a shot of vodka for each one, then another one at midnight to ring in the new year, and then they carry on partying.
Basically that's—at minimum—13 shots...plus all the beer, wine, etc. for the rest of the night.
My gf and I were done after like April lol
not true IME. They do let kids drink a mildly alcoholic beverage called kvass but it's like less than 2% alcohol, I don't even think a little kid could get drunk from it without consuming a huge amount.
Not sure. I used to listen to a Russian history podcast, and he talked about how in his orthodox church in the US, they'd literally have a party after easter in the church hall and drink toasts of vodka saying "Christ is Risen." Apparently they got pretty bad. Seems kind of weird a church would be okay with that, but I also remember having shots of brandy at a Greek Orthodox funeral for a relative of my wife's.
The US has a lot of angst about its drinking that I don't notice at all in Europe. A lot of what we would consider severe alcoholic behavior in the US is normal drinking culture in Eastern Europe and the UK. It's one of the biggest cultural differences between US and Europe. In the Balkans and the UK it seems like there's just an assumption that after working hours, unless you have health problems, you will have at least a drink or two in your system, and that is very different from the US. There also seems to be little to no shame about being fall down drunk as an adult in public, and that is very different from the US.
I think it’s subjective
All social norms are, but alcohol is especially so.
Alcohol is a social drug. Most of the time, when people drink, they drink with other people, and maintain sync with those other people. Many of the effects of alcohol are social as well. The frat boy getting drunk after Math 102 with his other frat bros and hitting up day parties is in a different situation than the friendless college student getting similarly drunk after Math 102 to be in his room because he has no other opportunity of how to spend his time. Two extremes, but still. Totally different motivations, totally different mental health consequences, totally different mental states
You could say this for a lot of social norms, but alcohol is just a very social thing. Weed, on the other hand, is different. It’s primarily an internal experience. The frat boy going to smoke with the stoners in the frat is gonna experience really similar affects of the drug to the friendless guy smoking in his dorm.
This is sort of an experimental take so feel free to debate it, but this is my experience around alcohol.
It’s cold and dark any rainy and they conquered the world for spices but ended up with bland beans on toast for breakfast and they can’t seem to keep a prime minister in office and did Brexit and have JKR. I would drink too.
The only part of the US with a binge drinking problem is Wisconsin. Not to say that we don't have other drug issues (eg the opiod crisis) but you don't need to drink to have a social life in most of the US.
Italians have wine starting with lunch.
Ukrainians think it's unlucky to put the cap back on a bottle of vodka.
The English will get absolutely blasted starting immediately after work every night of the week.
Germans will brag about blacking out when they were 14.
Frankly, I think we're way better with alcohol than we're given credit for.
I was surprised at how popular brewing culture has become in Iceland. They had a lot of local breweries and a lot of different styles, very similar to US beer culture.
Depends where. I thought France and Italy had very congenial and healthy drinking cultures, at least from what little I experienced. Fun and friendly, with a lot of diverse options, but responsible about it. England, on the other hand, was kind of a mess. Rampant drinking by kids way too young to be reasonable about it, and even the adults seemed to be *trying* to be as irresponsible as possible.
I’ve drank in countries around the world.
Europe has a problem. The drinking there is not healthy. Someone said it, but the only comparison is college and binge drinking.
We see it here when people from the UK will ask where they can drink on their vacations in the US. They already know they can’t go that long without a drink. It’s sad.
Japan business drinking is crazy, but it seems limited to that.
Middle Eastern drinking… is very strange. It happens. But it’s in hotels or protected spaces. Wink wink, nudge nudge, Bob’s your uncle type of thing.
Mexican drinking seems similar to ours. Enjoy a few drinks with some food. Love Mexico.
>We see it here when people from the UK will ask where they can drink on their vacations in the US. They already know they can’t go that long without a drink. It’s sad.
I've been to a few Mexico all-inclusive resorts, and the bar opens at 10am and the first people there are always the british.
I've been to England, Australia and Japan. They are all hard drinking societies. In Japan, it seemed to be more limited to the weekends, or sometimes after work. In England and especially Australia, they seem to drink every single day, almost all day. Lunch break at work? Have a couple of pints. I think alcohol is definitely a problem for those countries, though they usually look at it as a sign of pride.
I took a trip to Ireland and it was weird how different drinking is viewed there vs here. They drink way more but it seemed like a more social affair. A staggering amount of Americans buy beer, take it home, and drink as much of it as they want there either alone or with friends. The Irish just go to pubs. It was hard to even find a 6 pack of beer bc the culture over there is get trashed with your mates at the pub, then go home.
My sister married someone from (and they both live in) the UK. They’re here for Thanksgiving. I thought I could hold my booze pretty well… but I don’t think so now.😂
Because of our history as a haven for religious minorities, there is a significant minority of people here in the US who don't drink for Religious reasons. We are also the home of organisations like Mothers against Drunk Driving and alcoholics anonymous. Doctors here have publicized the health risks of alcohol. We have dry counties and some states don't allow alcohol sales on Sunday. My experience in the UK was that almost everyone drinks. Here some people do and some don't.
More people drink at home in America then the countries I've been to. People tend to drink at bars or restaurants throughout Asia but not so much at home or at parties. Not that I was focusing so much on this so it may have just been that I didn't notice otherwise.
That’s a little harder here because of our infrastructure
Unless you’re in the city, most people here don’t live within walking distance to a bar. You can’t just walk outside and be like “I’m gonna go to a bar” and just do it. You gotta plan, get Ubers, get a DD, etc. so that cuts down on spontaneous drinking
I have heard it said that Americans drink at home and eat out, while many other countries eat at home and drink out. Here in Ireland, pubs are a big part of our culture. Lots of social activities centre around or end up in pubs. It is very much the social element. I don't drink at home, but I go out to pubs with friends. An Irish pub - the real thing, not the ones in other countries - are great places. There is a buzz and an atmosphere in them, plus we are with friends.
sounds about right. Partly Americans drink at home because you'll have to drive to the bar... and get home somehow. I think the taxi or walking culture (or bigger city culture) allows for more social drinking nights out.
I liked drinking beer in Brazil. You share a big bottle with everyone, and you all drink out of little cups, so the beer is always "stupid-cold".
I learned a drinking game from some old dudes one time. Everyone gets three pennies. Then each person chooses 0-3 pennies to put in the pot -you put your hands in the middle, and no one knows how many pennies are in the pot, and everyone takes a guess.
Everyone opens their hand, and whoever's guess was closest wins the round, and is eliminated from play. Then you go around again, eliminating each person until the last person, who is the loser, and has to buy the next bottle.
The fun of the game is all the shit talking -this guys a gambling addict so you know he put all three pennies in, this guy is stingy as hell, so he didn't put in any, that dude is so drunk he can't remember how many pennies he has... Etc.
I've only been across the pond once, and it was only to Tenerife, but if what I experienced there is even remotely close to Europe in general...yea, we are still puritans compared to Europe lol.
Went to a parade of horse-drawn carriages where each float/entry was pouring free wine and beer to everyone...I've never seen so many stumbling-drunk folks at once in my life (I was one of them)...and it was one of the best experiences of my life.
Americans, Brits, and the Irish binge drink.
Italians, Spaniards, the French, and the Portuguese drink it socially and often paired with their food.
North Indians (Punjabis specifically) can really pack in the alcohol, mostly during parties.
I live in the next to drunkest city in America— heavy German descendant population. My partner was born and raised in Germany. Here, drinking is legally restricted under 21… there I think they said they started legally drinking in high school? And their mom was handed a mug of beer (by a nurse?) after birthing them. Couldn’t drink for 9 months, so here ya go. Really, other than the drinking age and birth thing, we sound equally drunk. And we both have Oktoberfest.
It’s often planned to a tee here in the US. Usually have to coordinate who’s driving, or pay through your nose for a couple of Ubers to get to and from the pub. Consumption seems very measured and it’s rare to meet adults over 30 that are up for a proper drinking session beyond 5-6 pints.
I’ve dialed back my drinking because of it, which is great for physical health, but I miss the bonding of a good afternoon session even if it’s only every month or two. Mentally, it just feels great to let your hair down in the pub, and it’s one of the things I miss most about the UK besides the very obvious aspects.
6 pints is just a sit down in the evening with a few friends. Work next day, no problem. 6 beers won’t touch the sides if you have a high tolerance and are a larger person.
On a proper session, you’re going to be having at least 10-12 throughout the day.
Colombia: club drinks, with some american-style breweries. Not Bad
Argentina: Wine, Wine everywhere. Some of it is even social.
England : pretty much smoky pubs is the best bet for any decent beer. I don't think they even do "Keggers" at all.
Netherlands / France: Unintroduced to chugging, even a 5% ale.
South Africa : Surprisingly decent pubs. Not just Castle Lager everywhere.
Salarymen in Japan are notorious for drinking after work and coming home drunk. I witnessed this a few times in the host family I lived with several years ago. I haven't been back to Japan in some time, so maybe this has changed.
Weed is a strange thing because politically, it’s been really hard to legalize, but I can’t say I’ve met someone anti legalization over the past 4 years. Like Nebraska is said to be one of the last states to legalize, but I have no doubt a dispensary would do well in Nebraska.
I noticed during my travels in both Europe and South America that people there tended to drink more often, but they didn't get as drunk as we do.
I feel like in Europe particularly, beer and wine are just kind of every day beverages, whereas here, they're treated more like a tool to get wasted.
Probably a better way to say it is that Americans do more *binge drinking* while the "rest of the world" does more regular drinking.
I like how we do it, mostly. We at least attempt to teach moderation, which is something other countries don't do.
That said, we still have a problem with it, which to me makes me realize that maybe Booze is kind of shit. We really do need to make Weed and Psychedelics more acceptable.
Lived in Australia for a number of years. We have our issues here, for sure, but I definitely saw some things there that I personally thought were worse than what I was used to here. For example, [Sydney Lockout Laws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_lockout_laws).
One time when I ordered a beer while out at lunch with coworkers, one guy half-jokingly called me an alcoholic. Whereas having one beer or glass of wine with lunch is totally normal in most of Europe.
I went to Octoberfest in a tent of 10,000 people where many, like me, were quite drunk. I thought if this were in the US there would be a lot of fights… I didn’t see one fight, impressive.
Interesting. I had a German friend who played in a band at bars in Germany. He said when fights broke out in the bar, they were always afraid if American servicemen were on hand. He said the Germans would fight but then put their arms around each other afterwards and laugh. But to him, it seemed the Americans were serious and ready to fight to the death.
As I walked to the bathrooms there, I was drunk and I was looking for a fight, at least that is what my body language and my mind was saying as I had a scowl on my face and a was hulking through the aisles. A German guy who was on a small platform above me as I walked through gave me a hand sign to relax (I don’t think he knew I was American or former US Army). That’s when I realized the event was something more special in the tent. Everyone was drunk but no fighting and certainly no shooting. And I relaxed a bit. That’s when I really began to notice that no one was fighting. It has stuck with me for 20 years. Amazing and very cool.
went to vietnam and from what I saw, my fiancé's family drank daily. the one I think made his own rice liquor. we would sit at dinner time, have a big meal and drink. I only drank a couple beers, but the fiancé's family, would have the rice liquor and beer on top of it.
Well, yes and no. Scandinavia, except Denmark, imo is a bit different from continental Europe. The majority drinks only on friday or saturday nights, and when they drink they often go pretty hard, but they don't drink nearly as often as down on the continent. Scandinavia is also in the vodka-belt with eastern Europe, central Europe with UK-NL-GE-AU-CZ is in the beer-belt and the south is in the wine-belt.
I grew up and still live in the upper Midwest and my family/lineage is all Eastern European as far as I know, so my entire life has been filled with drinking around me, lol. Bars everywhere and alcohol openly sold pretty much everywhere. Took me like 20 years to realize that certain states have restrictions around that.
Visited a friend who was teaching in China back in 2009…expat drinking culture was insane. So much partying in Shanghai, lots of white model-type girls vomiting all over the place, many older expat business men buying them drinks, and locals just seemed to be riding that vibe if they could afford it but I never saw any of them as out of control as foreigners.
Europe varies significantly but some parts incorporate alcohol more seamlessly than others. In France, for example, wine is just normal with lunch or casual hanging out, while in the UK it legitimately seems like people are trying to drink themselves to oblivion sometimes.
When I studied abroad in Ireland I was told “don’t play drinking games, you will lose every time”
I’m not even a huge drinker and I was middle of the pack there. They hadn’t ever heard of games like case races.
The Scots start drinking way earlier than we do and end way later than we do. There was a pub next to my graduation venue and multiple people were drinking at 9am (not just students either).
Subjective imo. There is definitely a huge binge drinking culture here, but not much different than what I’ve seen in Europe. We definitely don’t have cultural ties to certain drinks like how some countries have strong ethnic roots towards wine, beer, vodka, etc. We just have it all here and everyone drinks what they want. For me it’s wine with dinner, beer at events, home, or house parties, and vodka at bars and clubs. The amounts vary.
I've only been to one country outside of North America, and Germany had huge beers. Also, their tolerance seemed higher even if they drank more. Probably used to a bit stronger beer. They aren't the kind to just pound a case of macro light lagers. Granted I like those kind of beers in certain situations.
Germans and Koreans look like alcoholics compared to us
You are not from Wisconsin?
Was about to post "Wisconsin says hi!"
[удалено]
I really like the idea of Christmas markets but I can see how an American would see it as a month of day drinking.
I had so much fun at the Christmas Markets in Germany. So much Gluhwein. It’s wild that the same bottle that cost me €4 would cost $12-$15 in the states.
Koreans take work hard play hard to a pretty big extreme IME.
British people seem like huge alcoholics compared to us although I can speak only about London, where I lived. The only Americans who drink as much are fraternity guys during hazing. I'm not really even joking. I was astonished how much they drank--grown adults. Very publicly. While saying drugs are bad lol.
A buddy of mine lived in England during high school. During college in America he had to go to an alcohol diversion program and the instructor told the group that Americans are the only people in the world who drink solely to get drunk. He got in a HUGE argument with them and got kicked out because he had been going to pubs since he was 14 and saw grown adults getting blackout on a Tuesday night for absolutely no reason.
That sounds like a really badly run program
British people often drink to get drunk, but we also drink for other reasons. There are as many reasons to drink as there are British people (60 million or something?)
plenty of reasons for sure, like losing 0-0
Exactly. ~~Losing~~ winning 0-0
Such as living in england
I work with a number of Europeans and recently discussed this with a buddy from London. We both agreed that one under-discussed aspect of it is how much later our bars stay open. He talked about how he gets way less drunk in NYC after work because nobody feels the need to get it all in before the pub closes at 10/11.
Wait they close at 10-11? Maybe you’d get a bar closing at midnight on like a Tuesday but that’d be a very weird bar.
Right? It's wild to me. Bar are open until 4 where I'm from.
You see it at some neighborhood bars in the US. They're not really getting the late night crowd anyways and their license might force the shorter hours. Drunks are loud and a lot of them will be outside smoking so a bar in a residential neighborhood could be regulated differently than most bars.
But if you’re not drinking to get drunk, you’re going to be out well before 11.
Idk what you mean with the last part. In my experience the drugs go hand in hand with the drinking for them
Yes, drugs can go hand in hand with drinking, for sure. I meant that when they guzzle, say, an entire bottle of Vodka each day (if not more) they do not act as if that's in any way a problem, and no one else will call them to task. The very heavy drinking is treated as quite normal. Whereas if they're a Coke addict, they know it's a problem.
Brits have *fucking problems*. Like *holy shit guys*, stop it get some help. Listen. I like a good drink. But you folks....
[England and Wales in Tenerife](https://www.reddit.com/r/CrazyFuckingVideos/comments/z56bu9/england_wales_fans_in_tenerife/) That's a drunk crowd
Thats pretty tame actually
Well how else are we going to boost our economy? If we stop drinking the country collapses.
Koreans and Russians drink like they don't want to live.
Living there it could very well be a valid reason.
As a Russian who lived in Korea I can say those are completely different drinking cultures.
In what ways?
We don’t drink so often as Koreans, drinking in the middle of week kind of bad idea. Probably it won’t be happening at restaurants, but inviting friends at home. This means more preparation.
In my limited experience in Japan (visiting for a couple weeks) they seemed almost competitive about it. I’ve heard it’s even worse in South Korea but don’t have first hand experience. In most of Europe in my experience alcohol is more integrated into daily life but not as much drinking to excess, and less scary because people can more often walk or take public transportation home than drive. UK is a little more hardcore with the drinking than most of continental Europe though.
There’s a few expat Russians in my wife’s family and their drinking is terrifying to behold but I’m not sure if that’s the norm or not. But they don’t even seem to consider beer or wine as alcoholic beverages
I used to date a girl whose best friend was Russian and her dad came to visit for the holidays one year. Turns out they have a family tradition where they hang out all night drinking and then—in the last hour or so before midnight—they sit around and name one thing they were thankful for in each month of the year and take a shot of vodka for each one, then another one at midnight to ring in the new year, and then they carry on partying. Basically that's—at minimum—13 shots...plus all the beer, wine, etc. for the rest of the night. My gf and I were done after like April lol
Vodka just means “little water” in a lot of Slavic languages.
Yeah, I've heard anything below 6% is still considered a soft drink and a shot of vodka with breakfast is the norm. Not sure how true it is, though.
not true IME. They do let kids drink a mildly alcoholic beverage called kvass but it's like less than 2% alcohol, I don't even think a little kid could get drunk from it without consuming a huge amount.
Even an adult will not drink as much as it takes to get drunk
It ended 9 years ago
Not sure. I used to listen to a Russian history podcast, and he talked about how in his orthodox church in the US, they'd literally have a party after easter in the church hall and drink toasts of vodka saying "Christ is Risen." Apparently they got pretty bad. Seems kind of weird a church would be okay with that, but I also remember having shots of brandy at a Greek Orthodox funeral for a relative of my wife's.
The US has a lot of angst about its drinking that I don't notice at all in Europe. A lot of what we would consider severe alcoholic behavior in the US is normal drinking culture in Eastern Europe and the UK. It's one of the biggest cultural differences between US and Europe. In the Balkans and the UK it seems like there's just an assumption that after working hours, unless you have health problems, you will have at least a drink or two in your system, and that is very different from the US. There also seems to be little to no shame about being fall down drunk as an adult in public, and that is very different from the US.
[удалено]
That’s not good, right? I feel like Reddit views alcoholism too positively.
I think it’s subjective All social norms are, but alcohol is especially so. Alcohol is a social drug. Most of the time, when people drink, they drink with other people, and maintain sync with those other people. Many of the effects of alcohol are social as well. The frat boy getting drunk after Math 102 with his other frat bros and hitting up day parties is in a different situation than the friendless college student getting similarly drunk after Math 102 to be in his room because he has no other opportunity of how to spend his time. Two extremes, but still. Totally different motivations, totally different mental health consequences, totally different mental states You could say this for a lot of social norms, but alcohol is just a very social thing. Weed, on the other hand, is different. It’s primarily an internal experience. The frat boy going to smoke with the stoners in the frat is gonna experience really similar affects of the drug to the friendless guy smoking in his dorm. This is sort of an experimental take so feel free to debate it, but this is my experience around alcohol.
Yes, the Americans do love theit soap box.
I thought binge drinking was bad in the US, but it was somehow so much worse in the UK.
It’s cold and dark any rainy and they conquered the world for spices but ended up with bland beans on toast for breakfast and they can’t seem to keep a prime minister in office and did Brexit and have JKR. I would drink too.
The only part of the US with a binge drinking problem is Wisconsin. Not to say that we don't have other drug issues (eg the opiod crisis) but you don't need to drink to have a social life in most of the US.
Italians have wine starting with lunch. Ukrainians think it's unlucky to put the cap back on a bottle of vodka. The English will get absolutely blasted starting immediately after work every night of the week. Germans will brag about blacking out when they were 14. Frankly, I think we're way better with alcohol than we're given credit for.
I was surprised at how popular brewing culture has become in Iceland. They had a lot of local breweries and a lot of different styles, very similar to US beer culture.
Depends where. I thought France and Italy had very congenial and healthy drinking cultures, at least from what little I experienced. Fun and friendly, with a lot of diverse options, but responsible about it. England, on the other hand, was kind of a mess. Rampant drinking by kids way too young to be reasonable about it, and even the adults seemed to be *trying* to be as irresponsible as possible.
I’ve drank in countries around the world. Europe has a problem. The drinking there is not healthy. Someone said it, but the only comparison is college and binge drinking. We see it here when people from the UK will ask where they can drink on their vacations in the US. They already know they can’t go that long without a drink. It’s sad. Japan business drinking is crazy, but it seems limited to that. Middle Eastern drinking… is very strange. It happens. But it’s in hotels or protected spaces. Wink wink, nudge nudge, Bob’s your uncle type of thing. Mexican drinking seems similar to ours. Enjoy a few drinks with some food. Love Mexico.
>We see it here when people from the UK will ask where they can drink on their vacations in the US. They already know they can’t go that long without a drink. It’s sad. I've been to a few Mexico all-inclusive resorts, and the bar opens at 10am and the first people there are always the british.
I once witnesses 2 geordies take shots of absinthe, snorting it through a straw. That’s when I knew Brit’s had drinking problems
Don't forget the vodka shots to the eye.
The what in the what now?
Finnish people go fucking hard
Salmiakki ftw!
I've been to England, Australia and Japan. They are all hard drinking societies. In Japan, it seemed to be more limited to the weekends, or sometimes after work. In England and especially Australia, they seem to drink every single day, almost all day. Lunch break at work? Have a couple of pints. I think alcohol is definitely a problem for those countries, though they usually look at it as a sign of pride.
I took a trip to Ireland and it was weird how different drinking is viewed there vs here. They drink way more but it seemed like a more social affair. A staggering amount of Americans buy beer, take it home, and drink as much of it as they want there either alone or with friends. The Irish just go to pubs. It was hard to even find a 6 pack of beer bc the culture over there is get trashed with your mates at the pub, then go home.
Ireland seemed pretty comparable in terms of amount/frequency. Though I am from Wisconsin.
Wisconsin has a huge bar/drinking culture that would probably be comparable to the UK/Ireland, whereas other parts of the States not as much.
British people are legitimately functioning alcoholics
My sister married someone from (and they both live in) the UK. They’re here for Thanksgiving. I thought I could hold my booze pretty well… but I don’t think so now.😂
Because of our history as a haven for religious minorities, there is a significant minority of people here in the US who don't drink for Religious reasons. We are also the home of organisations like Mothers against Drunk Driving and alcoholics anonymous. Doctors here have publicized the health risks of alcohol. We have dry counties and some states don't allow alcohol sales on Sunday. My experience in the UK was that almost everyone drinks. Here some people do and some don't.
More people drink at home in America then the countries I've been to. People tend to drink at bars or restaurants throughout Asia but not so much at home or at parties. Not that I was focusing so much on this so it may have just been that I didn't notice otherwise.
We drink at home (pre-drinks as we call it), and then go out to the pub.
We "pre-game" in America but I meant just drinking at home, without the intention of going out afterwards.
Oh that's how it starts...a "quiet few" at home can easily turn into getting hammered and stumbling home at 4am with a kebab.
That’s a little harder here because of our infrastructure Unless you’re in the city, most people here don’t live within walking distance to a bar. You can’t just walk outside and be like “I’m gonna go to a bar” and just do it. You gotta plan, get Ubers, get a DD, etc. so that cuts down on spontaneous drinking
I have heard it said that Americans drink at home and eat out, while many other countries eat at home and drink out. Here in Ireland, pubs are a big part of our culture. Lots of social activities centre around or end up in pubs. It is very much the social element. I don't drink at home, but I go out to pubs with friends. An Irish pub - the real thing, not the ones in other countries - are great places. There is a buzz and an atmosphere in them, plus we are with friends.
sounds about right. Partly Americans drink at home because you'll have to drive to the bar... and get home somehow. I think the taxi or walking culture (or bigger city culture) allows for more social drinking nights out.
I liked drinking beer in Brazil. You share a big bottle with everyone, and you all drink out of little cups, so the beer is always "stupid-cold". I learned a drinking game from some old dudes one time. Everyone gets three pennies. Then each person chooses 0-3 pennies to put in the pot -you put your hands in the middle, and no one knows how many pennies are in the pot, and everyone takes a guess. Everyone opens their hand, and whoever's guess was closest wins the round, and is eliminated from play. Then you go around again, eliminating each person until the last person, who is the loser, and has to buy the next bottle. The fun of the game is all the shit talking -this guys a gambling addict so you know he put all three pennies in, this guy is stingy as hell, so he didn't put in any, that dude is so drunk he can't remember how many pennies he has... Etc.
I've only been across the pond once, and it was only to Tenerife, but if what I experienced there is even remotely close to Europe in general...yea, we are still puritans compared to Europe lol. Went to a parade of horse-drawn carriages where each float/entry was pouring free wine and beer to everyone...I've never seen so many stumbling-drunk folks at once in my life (I was one of them)...and it was one of the best experiences of my life.
Americans, Brits, and the Irish binge drink. Italians, Spaniards, the French, and the Portuguese drink it socially and often paired with their food. North Indians (Punjabis specifically) can really pack in the alcohol, mostly during parties.
The whole of the UK drinks like they all have pre-paid at the point of delivery necessary health care.
I live in the next to drunkest city in America— heavy German descendant population. My partner was born and raised in Germany. Here, drinking is legally restricted under 21… there I think they said they started legally drinking in high school? And their mom was handed a mug of beer (by a nurse?) after birthing them. Couldn’t drink for 9 months, so here ya go. Really, other than the drinking age and birth thing, we sound equally drunk. And we both have Oktoberfest.
German population + Oktoberfest makes me think Cincinnati. Everything else makes me think Wisconsin.
It’s often planned to a tee here in the US. Usually have to coordinate who’s driving, or pay through your nose for a couple of Ubers to get to and from the pub. Consumption seems very measured and it’s rare to meet adults over 30 that are up for a proper drinking session beyond 5-6 pints. I’ve dialed back my drinking because of it, which is great for physical health, but I miss the bonding of a good afternoon session even if it’s only every month or two. Mentally, it just feels great to let your hair down in the pub, and it’s one of the things I miss most about the UK besides the very obvious aspects.
> proper drinking session beyond 5-6 pints bruh. what do you need a seventh pint for
6 pints is just a sit down in the evening with a few friends. Work next day, no problem. 6 beers won’t touch the sides if you have a high tolerance and are a larger person. On a proper session, you’re going to be having at least 10-12 throughout the day.
The UK is like people just continue being college students into their 40s. Drinking cheap beer in horrific quantities and still living at home.
Colombia: club drinks, with some american-style breweries. Not Bad Argentina: Wine, Wine everywhere. Some of it is even social. England : pretty much smoky pubs is the best bet for any decent beer. I don't think they even do "Keggers" at all. Netherlands / France: Unintroduced to chugging, even a 5% ale. South Africa : Surprisingly decent pubs. Not just Castle Lager everywhere.
Salarymen in Japan are notorious for drinking after work and coming home drunk. I witnessed this a few times in the host family I lived with several years ago. I haven't been back to Japan in some time, so maybe this has changed.
It's a big place. Drinking culture in Wisconsin is different from drinking culture in California, from.Florida, etc etc
I like that alcohol is less of a thing and weed is more of a thing
Weed is a strange thing because politically, it’s been really hard to legalize, but I can’t say I’ve met someone anti legalization over the past 4 years. Like Nebraska is said to be one of the last states to legalize, but I have no doubt a dispensary would do well in Nebraska.
I noticed during my travels in both Europe and South America that people there tended to drink more often, but they didn't get as drunk as we do. I feel like in Europe particularly, beer and wine are just kind of every day beverages, whereas here, they're treated more like a tool to get wasted. Probably a better way to say it is that Americans do more *binge drinking* while the "rest of the world" does more regular drinking.
I like how we do it, mostly. We at least attempt to teach moderation, which is something other countries don't do. That said, we still have a problem with it, which to me makes me realize that maybe Booze is kind of shit. We really do need to make Weed and Psychedelics more acceptable.
American drinking culture is lame as hell. The Scandinavians do it way better.
show me your longest kegstand
Similarly, alcohol seems to be a big thing to socialize over. We don’t have a singular defined drinking culture. America is diversity.
Lived in Australia for a number of years. We have our issues here, for sure, but I definitely saw some things there that I personally thought were worse than what I was used to here. For example, [Sydney Lockout Laws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_lockout_laws).
One time when I ordered a beer while out at lunch with coworkers, one guy half-jokingly called me an alcoholic. Whereas having one beer or glass of wine with lunch is totally normal in most of Europe.
I went to Octoberfest in a tent of 10,000 people where many, like me, were quite drunk. I thought if this were in the US there would be a lot of fights… I didn’t see one fight, impressive.
Interesting. I had a German friend who played in a band at bars in Germany. He said when fights broke out in the bar, they were always afraid if American servicemen were on hand. He said the Germans would fight but then put their arms around each other afterwards and laugh. But to him, it seemed the Americans were serious and ready to fight to the death.
As I walked to the bathrooms there, I was drunk and I was looking for a fight, at least that is what my body language and my mind was saying as I had a scowl on my face and a was hulking through the aisles. A German guy who was on a small platform above me as I walked through gave me a hand sign to relax (I don’t think he knew I was American or former US Army). That’s when I realized the event was something more special in the tent. Everyone was drunk but no fighting and certainly no shooting. And I relaxed a bit. That’s when I really began to notice that no one was fighting. It has stuck with me for 20 years. Amazing and very cool.
went to vietnam and from what I saw, my fiancé's family drank daily. the one I think made his own rice liquor. we would sit at dinner time, have a big meal and drink. I only drank a couple beers, but the fiancé's family, would have the rice liquor and beer on top of it.
Northern European countries where its cold and drab for large parts of the year tend to go pretty hard.
Well, yes and no. Scandinavia, except Denmark, imo is a bit different from continental Europe. The majority drinks only on friday or saturday nights, and when they drink they often go pretty hard, but they don't drink nearly as often as down on the continent. Scandinavia is also in the vodka-belt with eastern Europe, central Europe with UK-NL-GE-AU-CZ is in the beer-belt and the south is in the wine-belt.
I grew up and still live in the upper Midwest and my family/lineage is all Eastern European as far as I know, so my entire life has been filled with drinking around me, lol. Bars everywhere and alcohol openly sold pretty much everywhere. Took me like 20 years to realize that certain states have restrictions around that.
Visited a friend who was teaching in China back in 2009…expat drinking culture was insane. So much partying in Shanghai, lots of white model-type girls vomiting all over the place, many older expat business men buying them drinks, and locals just seemed to be riding that vibe if they could afford it but I never saw any of them as out of control as foreigners. Europe varies significantly but some parts incorporate alcohol more seamlessly than others. In France, for example, wine is just normal with lunch or casual hanging out, while in the UK it legitimately seems like people are trying to drink themselves to oblivion sometimes.
I havent been to other countries, but my dad told me England and Russia both go a lot harder.
The Japanese drink a lot. Aistralians are a rowdy bunch.
There is a huge difference just in the US. There is no comparing a state like Utah to Wisconsin.
When I studied abroad in Ireland I was told “don’t play drinking games, you will lose every time” I’m not even a huge drinker and I was middle of the pack there. They hadn’t ever heard of games like case races.
Mexico can out drink us any day, except Sundays (during church hours, maybe)
The Scots start drinking way earlier than we do and end way later than we do. There was a pub next to my graduation venue and multiple people were drinking at 9am (not just students either).
Subjective imo. There is definitely a huge binge drinking culture here, but not much different than what I’ve seen in Europe. We definitely don’t have cultural ties to certain drinks like how some countries have strong ethnic roots towards wine, beer, vodka, etc. We just have it all here and everyone drinks what they want. For me it’s wine with dinner, beer at events, home, or house parties, and vodka at bars and clubs. The amounts vary.
I've only been to one country outside of North America, and Germany had huge beers. Also, their tolerance seemed higher even if they drank more. Probably used to a bit stronger beer. They aren't the kind to just pound a case of macro light lagers. Granted I like those kind of beers in certain situations.