Ein Bier, bitte. Nur eins.

Evidently I have been neglecting my blogging duties. I apologize, dear readers, for keeping you in suspense about my oh-so-interesting life and the adventures I have recently undertaken.

So, onward march. German beer culture.

The culture surrounding alcohol is completely different from the states. Especially in college, and especially at Penn, the theme surrounding drinking is "go hard or go home." You drink with one ultimate goal in mind- to get drunk. At Wharton, I hear people bragging about three things: how many hours they spent studying in Huntsman last night, how much work they still have to do, and how fucked up they got last weekend. It's almost like a competition. A really messed up competition of "who did the most embarrassing thing Friday night."

I'm not sure exactly how this attitude came into being. You've all seen the party pictures... and they're not pretty. Glassy-eyed, popped-collar preppy guys flash gang signs at cameras while drunk girls kiss their cheeks mid-stumble. Drunk girls + high heels = not a good combination. We keep it classy in America. Maybe we act this way because we are "deprived" of alcohol for our first 21 years of life. It could be similar to the nudity issue- we're sluts because our society is prude, and we're drunk and embarrassing because our society puts alcohol out of our reach. It's simply another form of rebellion.

I must confess that I have taken part in this sort of drinking culture. The last few semesters at college I didn't drink often, but when I did, I drank a lot. A lot (sorry parents.) I never got into any trouble, but I was pretty concerned about this coming to Germany. I can drink. There is no argument over "who is going to buy alcohol this weekend and risk getting caught" crap. I'm legal here, and I was a little scared of that.

Thankfully instead of taking a turn for the worse, my drinking habits have gotten much healthier. No more tequila shots, no more "race-to-the-chase," no more awful hangovers. Even though I only went out a few times per semester, it still wasn't a good pattern. Nicht gut. The drinking culture here is very different- although that could be attributed to the fact that I hang out with older people. Apparently, partying all night loses it's appeal after the age of 22.

Beer or wine with lunch, a beer after dinner or watching the soccer game... It's not a rebellion here. It's a way of life. From what I have seen, people don't go out at night with the intention of getting wasted. If you happen to get a bit tipsy after a beer or two (or gin and tonic) that's okay, but getting completely drunk is not. Again, my observations about german drinking culture could be biased because I hang out with people between the ages of 24 and 30. Either way, this more relaxed and responsible way of drinking has rubbed off on me in a good way.

So, I'm going to go pour myself a small glass of wine and enjoy a rainy Friday night in my apartment, watching movies in English.

Goodnight :)


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