zacharybilton
Joined: 23 Apr 2015
Posts: 118
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 Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 11:45 am Post subject: Re: Boozin' it up in the PRC |
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| Chairman Roberto wrote: |
Hello...this is my first post, regarding my first job in China...
Currently, I'm very much enjoying my job at the Teacher's Normal College in Jishou, Hunan. Never heard of Jishou? Neither had I when I applied for the job. Suffice to say it's 8 hours from the middle of nowhere.
I am curious about anyone's experience with that infamous rotgut known as bai jiu. ("White wine"? Dude, this ain't no vintage from the Napa Valley). Maybe it's known as mao tai in your neck of the woods. Anyway, I refuse to drink the stuff. It smells like propane, with a taste to match. I mean, I like to kick back with a few pings of pijiu and just relax. I am DEFINITELY not into drinking myself into a stupor, to wake up the next morning feeling like I got run over by the Beijing-Shanghai express train. Yet as many of you already know, this is how the Chinese drink.
I just don't get it. Does the concept of enjoying moderate drinking exist in China? I've talked to a good many men who admit to me they can't stand bai jiu, but they're pressured into drinking nonetheless, usually from higher officials who insist on constant toasting. I mean, it's like being back in college, binge drinking with funnels at your local 10 keg party. Me, I'm too old for that nonsense....it was fun when I was 20, but I'm 32 now and my liver has said "enough."
I've already been to several dinners and banquets where I've been put under high pressure to drink. Hey, if they were serving up a decent rum & coke or gin & tonic, I'll drink up. But I'll pass on that revolting bai jiu, thank you very much. In the past I've told my hosts I'm allergic to alcohol, or some other lie. But at the last function, I was just fed up with this juvenile peer pressure straight out of some bad 7th grade health class film. I mean, I just wanted to scream at these people, "Grow up!!" So, I just flat out refused it. No, I don't want to drink. Sorry.
My stance is this: I'll speak the language, I'll eat the food (most of it, anyway), I'll do my best to fit in. But I won't drink that crap. I think I've offended some people with my refusal to toast with bai jiu (they weren't satisfied with my raised glass of beer or tea), but at this point I don't care.
My question is this: Will my boycott of bai jiu destroy my guanxi in the future? Will other men think of me as less "manly", and lose their respect for me? Is this a significant concern at all?
I figure in the long run, I'll have a group of friends who will judge me by the quality of our friendship, not by how many shots of bai jiu I can drink until I vomit and pass out. I hope I'm not being too idealistic.
I would be grateful for comments...
just lookin' for a buzz,
Roberto
Jishou, Hunan |
Allergic to an organic compound as ethanol is so rare, that it's ridiculous. Now, the likelihood of being sensitive to the formaldehyde and other poisonous chemicals used in baijou is more likely than you being allergic to alcohol. Remember, alcohol, ethanol is just one component in alcoholic beverages and is tasteless and odorless. Sounds like every high school and college girl who regretted a night out that ended up the next morning in some guys house blaming an alcohol allergy not personal responsibility. |
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