Alcoholism in Japan?

[Suki]

Yeah, course I can: Japan is also wrong.

There.


Anyway, most countries drive on the right so that drivers can use the stick thingy with their right hand, as the majority of the people are right handed. That makes sense, huh?

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

20 cigs in a pack

Then it's quite cheap. ^^

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

Anyone who actually drinks on their 21st birthday has most likely started when they were at least 18. First time I had alcohol was when I was 12 which is not that uncommon in the States.

Yeah it's the same all around the world. Not like anyone gives a damn about what the drinking law says.

[gaijzilla]

Originally Posted by Suki

I heard something similar happens in the States when you turn 21, that very day your dad takes you to a pub and pays for as much alcohol as you want to, just imagine! There've been people dying that day from drinking too much.

Wha? I think most people in the US do NOT go drinking with their fathers on their 21st birthday. At that point, most people don't live with their parents. 21st birthdays are usually with friends. Your friends buy you drinks until you can't stand up.

[Suki]

Your intelligence is overwhelming...

Originally Posted by gaijzilla

Wha? I think most people in the US do NOT go drinking with their fathers on their 21st birthday. At that point, most people don't live with their parents. 21st birthdays are usually with friends. Your friends buy you drinks until you can't stand up.

I know, in the article I read it said it was a curious custom some states had, not the whole country. Apparently those parents thought that, after such experienece, their sons would never drink alcohol again. I wonder whether this works in practice... xD


[21 aged people being able to afford a house? O.O']

[jasonbvr]

If you've got the down payment and going into a college neighborhood, buying a house at that age and location is a very good idea. You can then rent it out to college kids after leaving.

[Suki]

College neighborhood? You mean those apartments you rent in the university campus? Well I don't know how it works in the US but I can totally assure you that over here very few people live by themselves at that age, not to mention if they have to combine college with work. A 60m² apartment in Barcelona costs about 400.000 euros, and an avarge rent could be 900 euros a month. It's crazy.

[jasonbvr]

Most of the time in the US, a monthly payment for a house or condo to own it will be less than the monthly cost of renting it. Therefore you get your parents to cosign and you are set. The only trouble in my case was I lived 20 mins from school before I started so I didn't need to find a place to live.

[Suki]

Originally Posted by YaksokuDa

We have the worst house prices in the friggin' world! Don't complain!

All our old people migrate to Spain and live there till they die~ =P You get all our old biddies! >=D HAH

They do due to the weather, no one likes to live in a place where it rains 24/7, that's why they come to Spain (most of them go to live in Andalusia, not Catalonia because prices here are much higher than in the rest of the country).

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

Most of the time in the US, a monthly payment for a house or condo to own it will be less than the monthly cost of renting it. Therefore you get your parents to cosign and you are set. The only trouble in my case was I lived 20 mins from school before I started so I didn't need to find a place to live.

Get my parents to cosign it... easier said that done. xDDD Anyway I'm lucky cause I have my own flat in Bcn (my parents used to live there but they moved out of town) so I won't be facing that problem either. ^^

[Suki]

Originally Posted by YaksokuDa

No, it's coz your booze is cheaper. My Nan said to me the other week, "I might move to Spain next year, the booze is cheap like over there"!

Is it? I don't think booze here is cheap, don't even want to think about what it must cost in the UK but I don't remember being alarmed at the prices when I bought alcohol in London. Then you all complain cause you don't like being thought to be alcoholics. xDDDD

Cigarettes are much more expensive there, that's true.

[takahashi2007]

i'm just curious because i used to drink like a fish, and then quit everything, because that's the best way for my lifestyle -- thinking clearly, etc. --

so, i understand about a work situation. i guess i will have to drink something, but i'm not sure how to get out of it anyway. if people are pouring it into my glass, i suppose i could drink it really, really slowly so my glass is always still full when someone comes to pour...

this is ironic because i used to drink so much, but basically i'm trying to figure out the right way to decline or avoid alcohol in japan. i definitely want to live there for a few years, just don't want to get back into drinking really...

ideas?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by takahashi2007

i'm just curious because i used to drink like a fish, and then quit everything, because that's the best way for my lifestyle -- thinking clearly, etc. --

so, i understand about a work situation. i guess i will have to drink something, but i'm not sure how to get out of it anyway. if people are pouring it into my glass, i suppose i could drink it really, really slowly so my glass is always still full when someone comes to pour...

this is ironic because i used to drink so much, but basically i'm trying to figure out the right way to decline or avoid alcohol in japan. i definitely want to live there for a few years, just don't want to get back into drinking really...

ideas?

Japan is a hard place to not drink and not smoke (but it's getting better as a non-smoker. Drinking in moderation is hard, especially at social events. Public intoxocation is not frowned upon, and is encouraged, really.

The best thing to do is decide that you won't have a drop, and then just tell everyone that you are allergic to alcohol. To be honest, (and this is changing, too) men that choose not to drink are looked on a little supiciously by some, so if you had a "medical condition" that meant you couldn't, it is a better excuse.