The British drinking culture

That didn’t take long, did it? I’ve only been here in the UK for five months and already I’m cringing at another drinking event with colleagues or with friends. British drinking culture is truly something else.

I’m saying this because it’s December, and people all around are more festive than ever. There are more drinking events, more parties, more celebrations, etc. I’m slowly getting exhausted by all the social activities.

I feel like I’ve gone to at least five of these things in the past few weeks, where I’ve been drinking at least 1 litre of alcohol each time… It’s honestly taking a toll on me. I’m not going anymore, I can’t handle that much alcohol in such a short time. It’s not even about being old and grumpy anymore; it’s about wanting to stay healthy, and wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle. I can’t do that when I’m drinking every damn week. It’s too much.

My workplace’s Christmas party is next week, and I’m honestly a bit nervous about how I’m going to handle it. Colleagues don’t seem to understand the meaning of “no, I’m leaving; I don’t want another drink”, so I hope I can pull off drinking a 50/50 balance of alcohol/water that night without getting judged for not beingĀ fun.

The worst part of all of this is that I can physically feel my stomach feeling worse and worse after the weeks go on. Smelling weird overprocessed foods make feel a bit nauseous, even if it’s hours after I’ve downed 2.5 pints of cider.

I have another drinking social event tomorrow. One of my friends is moving back to Canada, so she has organized bottomless brunch for some of us. I’m nervous. I’m not a strong drinker, and especially not in recent weeks.

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