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StayingPower · Joined: 18 Aug 2006 Posts: 252

I've been drinking quite a bit, but I had this week off and just hit the bottle like crazy.

Anyone else have this problem?

I see a group of foreigners hanging out where I live, drinking all the time. Don't know how some of them can handle it. I've tried to avoid these guys, since I know I drink too much. But seeing my AC doesn't go on but eight hours a day, I'm pretty much without anywhere else to go.

Anyways, is there a way I could get in touch with a group of people here who have the same problem?

craigzy · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 87 Location: taichung

seriously (and this is coming from a fellow drunkard), dude, you gotta cut back. you sound like a MOD EDIT

but feel free to stop by later for some tsingtao and poker.

Serious_Fun · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 1171 Location: terra incognita

tedkarma · Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:10 am Post subject:

I enjoy a good drink myself.

There does come a time though - when it is best to not keep it in the house - and to keep yourself in the house.

Time to dry out!

StayingPower · Joined: 18 Aug 2006 Posts: 252

Thanks you all, I didn't really expect any replies. Serious_fun-your comments were encouraging.

I drank heavily in Korea, almost to the point of five bottles of soju a day, and then beer.

Anyways, I've faith in God and am turning things around.

Thanks.

Miyazaki · Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 635 Location: My Father's Yacht

nice to see you're still alive.

you were hanging off the edge of the cliff, by the sounds of it, a few weeks ago.

in korea, when did you drink - throughout the day or mainly in the evening?

Did you ever go to work drunk?

tedkarma · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 1:03 am Post subject:

Maybe it is time to pick up a few well paying side jobs. If you are working you won't be drinking. And - you'll be saving more money! Or - you can buy a better quality of booze that will hurt your body less . . .

mspxlation · Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 44 Location: USA

What we seem to have here is a failure of imagination.

If I were in a new country and had too much time on my hands after work, here's what I'd do:

1) Take language lessons! I can't emphasize this strongly enough. Not only do you get out of the house and meet new people--but each lesson brings you closer to being able to interact with the locals.

2) Join expat groups that aren't based on drinking. I don't know Taipei well, but in Tokyo, I would have a whole range of choices of English-speaking outdoor adventure, political, musical, theatrical, self-help, religious, and professional networking groups. Ask around.

3) Catch up on my reading.

4) Walk around and explore my new city on foot. When I lived in Tokyo, I used to take out the map every Sunday afternoon, pick a main street, and just walk its length. I always found something interesting.

5) Stay away from negative expats, you know, the kind who have lived in the country for twenty years and hated every minute of it. Sure, it's helpful to know that the things that drive you crazy also drive other foreigners crazy, but you need to learn to see the good things about your temporary home, too. Seek out happy expats and learn to see what they like about Taiwan.

6) Become a regular customer at neighborhood shops and restaurants. In traditional societies, being a regular customer gives you status.

Above all, stay away from the booze. Alcohol is a depressant, which means that if you're depressed, it makes you feel worse. If you can't stay away from the booze, I would seriously suggest trying to find an English-speaking chapter of AA.

chienkun · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 16 Location: Southern California

I couldn't agree more with what Mspxlation posted. And I think I know something about this. I lived in Taipei for 5 years, progressively drank more (especially in the last year or more) and am now a member of AA. In fact, I have one year of sobriety as of today, on the date.

But I'm not here to 'toot my horn'. I just found Mspxlation's 2 cents so valuable. In my early days in Taiwan, it was an everyday adventure, and it continued that way for me as I intergrated in the local culture, through language and deeper social networks. I used to love to explore new places on my scooter and rely on my Mandarin to get me back to taipei city. I always had things to keep my interest, and when I lost interest, I hit the bottle more. Which comes first? Who knows - but it sounds like you could be heading in a similiar path that I am on now. I've been home for over five years now (and still think of my time in Taiwan, daily). It's not that its bad here, it's just that the adventure and newness is gone - and that actually started happening to me when I was in Taiwan.
So the long and short of it is I became an alcoholic, but I've been sober for a year (I needed family and significant consequences to wake me up to this). People in the program would all agree with the previous post exactly (he must be in the program, himself). If finding new interests doesn't get you out of the bottle, it might be time to get some help before you get pulled too far down the hole. As it was said before in even simplier words: Reach out to others - find the commonalities with you and others and not the differences, and definitely don't ISOLATE.