Drinking Customs Around the World

Drinking Customs Around the World

 

Sometimes you might really wonder how other people drink and if there are any different drinking ceremonies than ours in other countries. If so, then this article is going to help you a lot. In this article, you will learn about various interesting and even weird drinking customs in different countries.

This article will cover these topics:

1. An exotic drinking ceremony
2. Customs, customs, and customs
3. Iran; humor
4. China; complication
5. Japan; ease of the social ranks
6. Korea; respect
7. Georgia; crime
8. Europe; sex
9. Hungary; patriotism

• Kazakhstan; conservation
• The drinking world
• The ending of my story

 

 

1. An exotic drinking ceremony

I had only met her a few days earlier and I wasn’t expecting an invitation to an ethnic gathering whatsoever. She was a respectable lady of around 30 years of age and with some exotic origin; and whatever the origins, they had given her an extreme charm; she was very elegant in her manners and so when she offered the invitation, I immediately accepted.

The gathering was in a relatively big flat on the top floor of a high-rise apartment block. On the way to the place, I had all sorts of weird fantasies about the gathering; I was expecting to see a bunch of primitive outcasts dressed in tree leaves and branches waiting to dance with us at our arrival; however, I was completely disillusioned when we entered the hall; a group of very well-dressed gentlemen and ladies got up on their feet as we entered and said hello; we greeted them with a slight bow and then were led to our seats. I was both excited and frustrated at the same time when I ran an investigating look around the room; they were too ordinary! Just like us, or any other normal citizen; suits, ties, t-shirts, and jeans; so much for an exotic gathering! Well, at least, nothing extra-ordinary was going to happen, I was thinking.

I was deep in thought but almost had a blurred picture of the scene in front of me; they were putting some bottles of red wine on the table in the middle and there was a hustle in the room. I tried to keep the blurred picture for a longer time and distance myself from the coming and going happening in front of me; but what I suddenly detected happening before me knocked me out of my thoughts. Two naked guys were crouching on the floor and they had already made a fire in the middle of the apartment hall on the floor. I shook my head for a second to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, but it was right. A naked girl was also bending, pouring some fuel on the fire. My eyes were popping out of my head; but it wasn’t over, I looked more closely ad saw they were covered with some green leaves around the waist. I was doing my best to digest what was happening when I heard a very loud shriek coming from the other side of the hall; I turned and I was like “no f*cking way!” it was Layla, my girlfriend, almost half-naked with some green leaves around her head and making some kind of weird bird sound with two other similarly ‘dressed’ girls. I was too flabbergasted to even make the faintest sound; I looked more closely and saw bottles of wine in their hands and they weren’t drinking them, they were literally pouring the wine on everybody’s head as they passed and came to the middle, beside the fire. The flames of the fire had filled up half the height to the ceiling now and the crowd was gathering around it moving around in some movements that looked like some kind of dance. The girls reached the crowd around the fire and poured some wine on the fire making the flames slightly go even higher. Then everybody started making unanimous sounds like “hoooo woooo yaaaaa, hooo wooo yaaaaa” I’m not sure but now that I think, it sounded something like this. Everything happened so fast that I’d lost track of time and space; I didn’t even know that I had a girlfriend there; but the moment I remembered where I was and what I was doing there, there was only one picture on my mind; they were going to roast me on fire! I saw myself turning over the fire on a skewer.

I had now come to my senses and the only thing on my mind was to sneak out of the place while they were busy performing their ritual. I got on my knees and slowly started crawling past the crowd; I almost got stepped on by a dancer while I was crawling towards the door but luckily they were so drowned in their ritual that no one noticed me. I was finally at the door and on my knees. I looked up and reached for the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door, careful not to draw any attention to myself; the room was luckily still too noisy. I was crawling out the door and half my torso had passed the doorway when I felt a strong hand grab my ankle firmly. Not looking back, I kicked at the hand and crawled out, got up, and ran down the stairs jumping two-three steps at a time!

 

2. Customs, customs, and customs

Wine and spirits in general, have been with humans for so long that it is no wonder that there are some very distinct and unique customs connected with drinking around the globe. Here, we will review some different traditions present at the drinking table in different countries and the main theme connected with the event.

 

3. Iran; humor

Let’s start from one of the oldest civilizations that has a very old history of wine and wine drinking; that is, Persia. Iranians have some complicated and sometimes humorous traditions when it comes to wine. The drinking gathering is always a very significant event for them; it is a time of rebuilding trust and forgetting grudges; therefore, any talk about distrust or despise is strictly forbidden during the drinking ceremony.

• Clinking

When a group of friends starts drinking and they want to clink, it is the custom to clink the other person’s glass at the bottom, near the base; the lower you clink the better in fact, as it symbolizes the fact that you consider your status and personality lower than the other person; it is a sign of humility, as a drinking ceremony is no place for arrogance!

The rudest thing you can do during an Iranian drinking ceremony is to hit the base of your glass upon the brim of the other person’s glass; some friends do it in a humorous way, which is followed by laughter though; so remember that this is a joke between close friends only and not strangers.

• Toasting

Toasting and proposing a toast is an international custom when it comes to drinking; however, Iranians have a unique way of toasting. Although toasting to the group’s health and making some good wishes for the people present or their families is very common, it is also very common that different people offer a toast to several other things or even animals! The items usually refer to things in nature or the things present in our environment. Although this tradition might have signified the need to respect the useful things in our lives, it is now used in a humorous way.

 

4. China; complication

Now let’s move onto another old civilization, China. It is apparently considered quite common if you bang your glass on the table once you finish drinking the shot. So if you travel to China, don’t get scared if the glasses are banged on the table; you can do it too, they will like it!

Besides, don’t be surprised if you find three glasses in front of you on the table in China; one glass would be for a drink of your choice, one for the wine, and one for the shots you are drinking.

 

5. Japan; ease of the social ranks

If nothing, the Japanese are famous for their strict social traditions and their rigid corporate ranks. However, being an ultimate easer in every respect, alcohol does have its own easing effects on the most rigid culture in the world as well. Drinking meetings after work are common in Japan. Coworkers from different ranks might get together after work to drink, and this meeting, which is usually held in an Izakaya (a bar or restaurant), is a time for socializing without corporate masks; the ranking statuses are temporarily forgotten and barriers are removed; still thanks to wine and other spirits.

It is also respectful in japan to fill the other person’s glass before you drink; and of course, others are in turn expected to do the same for you.

 

6. Korea; respect

Drinking could become complicated in Korea. First of all, in a drinking ceremony, the elderly must be served first. Well, so far so good. However, if an elderly offers a younger person a drink, the younger person must stand up, kneel, and accept the drink, probably with both hands; then the younger individual must drink the spirit facing away from the older one! I’m not sure if this custom is practiced all over Korea, but there are definitely places where this tradition is preserved.

 

7. Georgia; crime

You might want to work on your criminal skills if you are going to attend a wedding ceremony in Georgia (the country, not the state). It is quite customary in Georgia that a guest in the wedding reception steal one of the bride’s shoes and get away with it; if he manages to make off with the shoe, then he can have a weird request from the guests present at the wedding; he can actually demand the guests to drink from the shoe, that is, literally from the shoe! However, today, the guests can drink the spirit from a glass with the shoe attached to it; that’s a relief, isn’t it? It is only after drinking from the shoe that the shoe is freed and can be given back to the bride.

 

8. Europe; sex

The idea of indulgence has one of its roots in Europe in fact and it is not surprising that there are some superstitions revolving around it when it comes to drinking. In Spain, for instance, toasting with water is believed to be followed by seven years of bad sex!

This bad sex thing is connected with some other drinking traditions too. In France and Germany, if you break eye contact with the person you are drinking with, you are still supposed to have bad sex for seven years. Keep staring at the person you are drinking with if you travel to one of these countries; this is the case if you care about your relationship though.

 

9. Hungary; patriotism

Never make a toast with your beer in Hungary! It is strictly forbidden. The reason for this strange custom is a national defeat in the war against Austria in 1848. It is said that the Austrian victory was celebrated with a lot of beer, ruining this drink’s appeal forever in this country.

 

• Kazakhstan; conservation

Once in Kazakhstan, try to finish your kumis- a fermented drink made from horse milk. Left-over is strictly forbidden in this country and in case there is any, the remainder must be poured back in the kumis jug.

 

• The drinking world

Traditions are an integral part of human life and there might be numerous more drinking customs around the globe. However, always remember that whatever the tradition, drinking is an opportunity to get close to people, wherever they are from.

 

• The ending of my story

By the way, getting out of the apartment was not the end of my story. Later on, my girlfriend called me and explained everything. I learned that the weird drinking ceremony was a very valuable gathering and a cultural heritage in their country; in fact, the party was thrown in my honor! And that they were shocked when I ran away and they felt disrespected. So she convinced them to throw another party like that the next week, which I attended; but this time, I was prepared for the events and I actually took part in some activities too; not naked of course! My girlfriend learned to respect my beliefs too and she performed the rituals with her clothes on; most of them though!