The first college party I went to was during winter term of freshman year. When my friends and I arrived at the apartment, a group of people were playing beer pong in the spacious hallway. Inside the apartment, there was music and dancing in what little space there was left. Among the small crowd of people in the apartment, the host somehow noticed that we had arrived, immediately handed us plastic red cups, and poured each of us a cocktail.
Since then, there have been plenty of parties, plenty of alcohol, plenty of fun nights, and a handful of nights throwing up. Chances are that you drink alcohol when you go out. And chances are that you, or someone you know, drank at parties before they were legally allowed to.
When I decided to study abroad, a couple of friends told me about the food they ate and the sights they saw when they studied abroad. Some told me about the people they met. They also mentioned how cheap beer was in the countries they went to compared to the US, which led to consuming more alcohol while studying abroad.
Consuming more alcohol while abroad is not a new or isolated phenomenon. In a 2010 study funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, researchers from the University of Washington found that students under the age of 21 nearly tripled their alcohol intake, while those 21 and over doubled alcohol consumption.
The data corresponds with the experiences of many students who have studied abroad. Connor Flynn, University junior, studied abroad in Mexico and drank more alcohol when he was abroad. “I did more drinking while studying abroad than I had before going abroad, but about the same or even less than I do now,” he said.
The study also found that the amount of alcohol consumed varied depending on where students studied. Students drank more in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand than those in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.
In Taiwan, where I am studying right now, some exchange students go clubbing two to three times a week. Cover charge is cheap at the places students go, and all-you-can-drink clubs are popular choices. Inside, the clubs are dark, and you can feel the bass if you stand close enough to the speakers. As the night goes on, more and more bodies fill up the dance floor, the line at the bar, and the bathroom. The rooms begin to smell like cigarette smoke and body odor after a couple hours.
Many students go out and drink alcohol more than once a week, which is more than what I see in the US. Holidays and birthdays are even more reason to go out. A lot of students who do not go to the club also increase alcohol consumption. Two major reasons are price and legal drinking age. In Taiwan, local beer is cheap, and it tastes decent. For a 12-ounce can of local beer, I spend about $1 (which converts to about 30 New Taiwan dollars).
Like many other countries, the legal drinking age in Taiwan is 18, instead of 21. Flynn said age was also a factor in his alcohol consumption. “I was aware that my [drinking] habits would be different, but mostly because I was not legal to drink before I went and was [legal] when I got there,” he said.
Though I drink more alcohol while studying abroad than I do at home, I am not sure what my drinking habits will look like when I return home. I am not the student who goes clubbing every night of the week – it adds up! – but I enjoy going to the bar and having a drink with friends.
So, when I return to Eugene, I hope some of my friends will join me at Rennie’s.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Oregon chapter.